No, you do not. In fact, some users prefer to select options that do not come with a receiver because that means they can select their own design that might be of a higher quality. Sometimes when you buy these units as a package, the receiver may not be of the highest quality. Think of sound like a body of water. The receiver acts as the processing plant that gathers all of the sound information and divides it up into separate parts. The wires that connect all of the speakers act as rivers that deliver the information to the speakers. If you have a faulty processing plant (or receiver) it means that some information may get lost along the way to the speakers, and you may not be getting the best sound as possible.