Adds two rear speakers for better depth in medium to large rooms.

Look for built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for streaming music via Spotify, AirPlay 2, or Chromecast.

The first decision is deciding what you are actually hooking up.

A "channel" represents one speaker. The more channels, the more immersive the sound.

If you have a 4K or 8K TV, your receiver must be HDMI 2.1 compliant to pass those high-resolution signals through without losing quality.

The back of a receiver can look like a maze. Focus on these essentials:

If you might add more speakers later, buy a receiver with more channels than you currently need to "future-proof" your system. 3. Check Your Connections