Home Cinema for (absolute) beginners

[jc.com]

Can anyone pls explain the difference between a multichannel amp and a receiver?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

jc.com:Can anyone pls explain the difference between a multichannel amp and a receiver?

A receiver has a tuner on board.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Receiver has a radio built in, multichannel amp doesn't.

There are also multichannel power amps, which have to be used with an external surround sound decoder/processor.

 

[jc.com]

Andrew Everard:

Receiver has a radio built in, multichannel amp doesn't.

So to make your TV sound good, you buy a radio....?

Andrew Everard: There are also multichannel power amps, which have to be used with an external surround sound decoder/processor.

On a slightly more serious note, the Sony BDPS550 has multichannel out. Does this obviate the need for the decoder/processor?

 

[Anonymous]

A receiver/multichannel amp will have several inputs, making it more versatile. If you just used a power amp, it would only have one input so wouldn't be able to be used with anything else, unless you unplugged the blu-ray and plugged in somthing else. I'm not sure if a power amp would have a volume control either, that would be down to the processor.