An AV receiver is an audio/visual receiver that is used to create a home theater experience. They allow users to have multiple video and audio sources all routed through one system, such as video game systems, DVD/Blu-ray players, and speakers, rather than hooking up a bunch of cables to your TV. This makes for a better quality and more convenient way to set up a whole home theater and operating system. It also amplifies the incoming sounds and adjusts the volume for speakers. It also allows for surround sound.