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The 5 best home theater receivers with HDMI

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A lot of ideas and planning goes in to buying and setting up a home theater system. It must give the ultimate pleasure of perfect sound that can please your ears and make you feel like you are watching a movie in a theater. To enjoy a complete home theater experience, you would need an audio video receiver. An audio receiver with HDMI differs quite a lot from the normal audio receivers as it allows you video switching, a minimum of 5.1 speaker system, Dolby sound, and surround decoding etc. These receivers use HDMI inputs. The power usage varies from 50-100 watts every channel.

Some of the HDMI receivers that are in mid-range of $300-$600, now offer Dolby True HD. They also provide DTS HD Master Audio decoding which has two high resolution modes of soundtrack. They also provide high resolution like that of game consoles. Thus it is beast to buy that HDMI receiver which has many inputs and also offers HDMI UP-Conversion i.e. analog to video conversion.

On the other hand, you should avoid buying those HDMI receivers that provide for HDMI video pass-through that only means that the soundtrack needs a separate cable. Other high end receivers that fall in the range of $600 and above, offer Wi-Fi connectivity and Ethernet connections as well.

The five best home theater receivers with HDMI are:

1. Onkyo TX-SR308

The first best home theater receiver with HDMI is the Onkyo TX-SR301. It is priced at $268 onwards and it is very pleasant looking with a great black finish of all its units. Its bis buttons make it very easy to control if you do not have your remote nearby. It uses 3 HDMI inputs and 5.1 speaker system with 100 watts per channel. Its 3D compatibility allows signals to pass from even Blue ray players. It has a decoding system for DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD. Its transparent screen displays makes it possible to view the video programming behind on-screen menu. It also has radio tuners and i-pod connectors. The significant feature is that it manages 3D signals via HDMI 1.4 sockets which is a great feature for such a price. Thus it’s a must have because not only it is fairly affordable but the features that it offers at such a price is barely available in the other categories.

2. Pioneer VSX 520-K

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The second best home theater receiver with HDMI is Pioneer VSX 520-K. It is priced at $229 and uses five channels of sound with 110 watts each channel. It uses pre amp output to provide Dolby Prologic llz which is placed at the top that also adds height channels or surround back channels to go for an ultimate 7.1 set up. However, the impressive part is its input system. It offers a mini jack that lets you connect to your i-pod or i-phone and mp3 player easily. It boasts of Bluetooth ready that can be used by buying an additional adapter for Wi-Fi or blue-tooth connectivity. The best feature is not its auto level control or advanced sound system but that it can decode almost all the major formats of audio which makes it a must buy at this kind of low price.

3. Pioneer VSX 820-K

The third best home theater receiver with HDMI is Pioneer VSX 820-K. It is priced at under $300 and includes a USB cable. It has a 5.1 receiver carrying 110 watts per channel. These receivers are certified to be used with i-pods and i-phones. It uses 4 inputs and gives a 3D video view. The wireless connectivity could also be made possible by buying a blue-tooth adapter which can be purchased separately. The attractive feature of Pioneer VSX 820-k is that it uses sound retriever technology that makes your mp3 to have a close CD quality even if they are compressed.

4. SONY STR DH510

The fourth best home theater receiver with HDMI is SONY STR-DH510. This SONY STR DH510 is priced between $160 and $168. This receiver uses three HDMI inputs. Firstly, it is compatible with Blu-ray players, the play-station 3 and any DVD player, secondly, it has a high definition when it comes to picture quality and thirdly, you can easily connect lots of devices all at the same time. It has a 5.1 speaker system with 100 watts every channel. It uses 2 components for its video inputs and uses HDMI standby pass-through.

5. Denon AVR 591

The fifth best home theater receiver with HDMI is Denon AVR 591. It is priced at an affordable mid range of $350 and offers two simple speaker system that offers 5.1 speaker system. If you want the speaker system of 7.1, then you can attach more speakers with it. It gives 120 watts per channel coming from 5 various amplifiers that are internal. Denon AVR 591 can easily decode Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby True HD, DTS Decoder etc. Thus you can easily enjoy the five surround sound system with Denon AVR 591. Another high range version of Denon is also available at $525 onwards that offer a 7 surround sound system with 125 watts per channel.

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