educate me about amps, pre/pro, etc. (1 Viewer)

[Rob_Z]

As the title says. Looking for a little education. I see all the treads about separates and receivers, being a novice I would lean toward a receiver, but I would like to find out about separates so I can make a good decision.

Ok, we have amps, I know this one.

What about A/V Preamp?

Intergrated Amp?

Preamplifiers?

And for the radio, will I have to buy a tuner?

 

[Greg_R]

Preamplifiers (preamp): Contains circuitry to select an input & output the line level signals to an external amplifier. Has volume control and possibly some digital decoding algorithms. This does NOT come with an amplifier.
A/V Preamp: A preamp with bass management features, video switching, & other decoding algorithms for multi-channel sound.
Integrated Amp: A preamp + amplifiers
Receiver: A preamp + amps + tuner
There is also a great thread here that should answer most beginner's questions...

 

[Saurav]

He pretty much covered it. A receiver will usually have a built-in tuner. A preamp usually won't. I don't know what most pre/pro's or A/V preamps do.