Novice lovers of good sound, deciding to purchase the first serious audio system, often face a difficult choice – an integrated amp vs receiver? Different sources and different people give different definitions of these two devices, so it’s worth it to understand what a receiver is and what an amplifier is.

Descriptions

The function of the amplifier is, which is quite logical, the amplification of the audio signal received from any external source. The structure of this device usually includes a preamplifier and a power amplifier itself.

The preamplifier plays a very important role – it is he who corrects and adjusts the preliminary signal before transmitting his amplifier.

Alas, in matters of sound settings, amplifiers are not distinguished by anything special – the controls are very, very mediocre.

The receiver is an amplifier equipped with additional equipment – such as, for example, a radio tuner. The receiver is the main link in any serious sound system, including home theaters.

Often, receivers include other nice additions besides the tuner – say, decoders or modules. Accordingly, if you purchase a high-quality receiver, you will get very flexible control over the sound.

In general, a good receiver is an expensive pleasure, but even models of the middle price segment are very attractive in terms of quality and capabilities.

Comparison

Before comparing the amplifier and receiver, it is worth remembering that the function of these devices is one.

The thing is that the amplifier is more suitable for people who are not going to burden themselves with painstaking work with musical settings and do not want to give too much money for some kind of “incredible sound”.

The receiver is definitely better than a simple amplifier, at least in that it gives the user very flexible control over the sound, and in some cases – depending on the model – is almost unlimited.

At the same time, the price of receivers is on average an order of magnitude higher when a good amplifier can be purchased for a very reasonable amount.

The thing here is what exactly a person wants to get from his sound equipment and understand the difference between an integrated amp and a receiver. If someone is satisfied with just a powerful and high-quality sound, an amplifier is quite enough.

By the way, another difference between the integrated amp or receiver is that it can include a DVD player (this is often found in home theaters). The amplifier is always aimed only at working with sound.