You might go for massive floorstanding speakers in the front, or a pair of convenient bookshelf speakers. You could choose dinky little surround sound units, or put your faith in a soundbar or soundbase. You'll definitely be needing a subwoofer too. Whatever you choose, we've got you covered, with our full, in-depth guides and reviews to the best home theater speakers and receivers - no matter how big, or how small.

Powered by Drupal

Speakers & Receivers

AV Receiver

Best AV Receivers of 2024

An audio-video (AV) receiver is the quarterback of your home theater. It’s not just because it tells everything where to go, routing signals to different speakers and screens. It’s because a good receiver will bring the best out of your home theater...
Floorstanding speakers

Best Floorstanding Speakers of 2024

Floorstanding speakers have one of the most recognizable profiles of all speaker types. They're designed to slot in next to bookcases and TV cabinets, and their shape has two major advantages...
Subwoofers

Best Subwoofers of 2024

You can survive with just a regular set of speakers. You don’t, strictly speaking, need a subwoofer. But you cannot believe the difference having one will make. This big box of wonder will do incredible things to your sound.
Soundbar

Best Soundbars of 2024

Soundbars are the easiest and most affordable way to improve the sound of your TV. They’re a single-box solution that can produce some truly stunning audio quality, and for less than half the price of a basic home theater system.
Best Soundbases

Best Soundbases of 2021

Soundbases don’t often get a lot of respect and audio world. This is a landscape dominated by huge tower speakers, feature-heavy home theater systems and sleek soundbars.

How-To Guides

AV Receiver Setup Explained

AV Receiver Setup Explained

Setting up a home theater system can be daunting as hell. Not only do you have to contend with miles and miles of speaker wire, as well as figuring out where exactly you’re going to put the damn things and whether or not you need to drill holes in your...
10 Common Home Theater Problems

10 Common Home Theater Problems

There’s no denying that home theater systems can be complicated. Actually, forget can be; they are complicated. When you’ve got a system with this many wires and settings, it’s surprisingly easy for things to go wrong.
5.1 vs 7.1 Home Theater

5.1 vs. 7.1 Home Theater Explained

We get it. Home theater can be crazy confusing, especially if you’re just starting out. In one of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make is whether to go for a basic five-speaker system or a more powerful seven-speaker system.

A/V Receiver Reviews

Marantz SR7011

Review: Marantz SR7011

Sometimes, you just need to go big. Sometimes, you need to cash in the retirement savings, throw your neighbours’ concerns to the wind, and invest in a sound system that is going to blow your windows off. Step forward, then, the Marantz SR7011...
Sony STR-DN1060

Review: Sony STR-DN1060

Sony’s A/V receivers have always been good, but they haven’t always managed to stand out against competition from the likes of Marantz, Onkyo, and Denon. With the STR-DN1060, and its subsequent iterations, they intended to change that.

Floorstanding Speaker Reviews

Review: MarkAudio-SOTA Cesti T Floorstanding Speakers

Review: MarkAudio-SOTA Cesti T

MarkAudio-SOTA is a name that not a ton of people outside of the hardcore audiophile world know. It’s a collaboration between Mark Audio and SOTA Acoustics (obviously) and over the past few years, they’ve been putting out some seriously good stuff.
Review: SVS Prime Towers

SVS Prime Towers Floorstanding Speaker Review

When speaker maker SVS asked if they could ship us a pair of their Ultra Tower speakers to review, the response was an enthusiastic yes. But what actually arrived, courtesy of a distributor mixup, was a pair of their older Prime Towers...
Review: SVS Ultra Towers

SVS Ultra Towers Floorstanding Speaker Review

If you’re going to call a floorstanding speaker the Ultra, then you’d better have a set of brass balls backing up that particular claim. Then again, the Ultra Towers are easily among the best floorstanding speakers out there.

Subwoofer Reviews

SVS PB16-Ultra

SVS PB16-Ultra Review: Holy Mother Of GOD.

There are some things in life you can’t say no to. Threesomes. That’s a good one. A ride on a private jet. A chance to meet Samuel L. Jackson, courtside seats to a play-off game. The SVS PB16 Ultra is one of those things.

Soundbar Reviews

Polk Audio MagniFi Soundbar

Review: Polk Audio MagniFi

Despite its lack of subtlety, there’s no question that the MagniFi soundbar system is a cut above. It offers extraordinary value for money, delivering both an excellent bar and a very capable subwoofer in one package.
Review: VIZIO SB3851

Review: VIZIO SB3851

Although perhaps better known as creators of superlative televisions, VIZIO also have a nice line in audio gear. While they’ve yet to plunge headlong into full, surround home theater, the Californian company certainly knows what it’s doing.
Review: VIZIO SB4051 Soundbar

Review: VIZIO SB4051

VIZIO, who set their store by making excellent TVs, also dabble in producing speakers for said TVs. Their biggest area of expertise is in surround soundbars - I.e soundbars with multiple included speakers. The SB4051 is an excellent example.

Soundbase Reviews

Raumfeld Sounddeck

Review: Raumfeld Sounddeck

There’s something very aggressive about the Raumfeld Sounddeck. We’re not talking about the sound. We’re talking about the sheer aura that surrounds it, like a surly football player propping up a bar.
Review: SONOS PLAYBASE

Review: SONOS PLAYBASE

We’ve never understood why more people don’t use soundbases. They are an absolutely perfect bridge between a basic TV speaker system, and a full surround home theater setup. They solve every problem. SONOS want to change that.