Home audio in the context of Power amplifiers

A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. Normally, they refer to small, battery-powered devices utilising flash memory or a hard disk for storing various media files. MP3 players has been a popular alternative name used for such devices, even if they also support other file formats and media types other than MP3 (for example AAC, FLAC, WMA).

Generally speaking, PMPs are equipped with a 3.5 mm headphone jack which can be used for headphones or to connect to a boombox, home audio system, or connect to car audio and home stereos wired or via a wireless connection such as Bluetooth, and some may include radio tuners, voice recording and other features. In contrast, analogue portable audio players play music from non-digital media that use analogue media, such as cassette tapes or vinyl records. As devices became more advanced, the PMP term was later introduced to describe players with additional capabilities such as video playback (they used to also be called "MP4 players"). The PMP term has also been used as an umbrella name to describe any portable device for multimedia, including physical formats (such as portable CD players) or handheld game consoles with such capabilities.

An entertainment center (or centre), also known as an entertainment complex or a home entertainment center, is a piece of furniture designed to house consumer electronic appliances and components. It is sometimes a large cabinet with an exterior styled to appear like upscale furniture and an interior dedicated to electronic gear, such as home audio, television sets and video game equipment.

Antique or modern reproduction armoires or standing cabinets are used for entertainment centers, as are shelves and shelving systems. Part of the purpose of an entertainment center is to neatly house the many wires and cables that are associated with audio and video components, and they often contain dedicated areas (either drawers or other spaces) for storage of records, videotapes, CDs and/or DVDs.

Wireless speakers are loudspeakers that receive audio signals using radio frequency (RF) waves rather than over audio cables. The two most popular RF frequencies that support audio transmission to wireless loudspeakers include a variation of WiFi IEEE 802.11, while others depend on Bluetooth to transmit audio data to the receiving speaker.

Apart from the employed RF standard, such speakers can basically be distinguished by their dedicated field of use. Portable wireless speakers for outdoor use are typically designed for ruggedness, portability and battery life, whereas stationary wireless speakers with a focus on good sound quality are meant to be used in home audio systems or surround sound systems for TV or video. Further, types for special applications like waterproof speakers for use in the shower or speakers for a voice assistant may intermix between the properties of the two former.

Sharp Corporation (シャープ株式会社, Shāpu Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese electronics company. It is headquartered in Sakai, Osaka, and was founded by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1912 in Honjo, Tokyo, and established as the Hayakawa Metal Works Institute in Abeno-ku, Osaka, in 1924. Since 2016, it is majority owned by the Taiwan-based manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., better known as Foxconn.

Sharp makes and has made throughout its history various different consumer electronic products, including kitchen appliances such as microwave ovens, cookers, washing machines and refrigerators; home appliances such as solar cells, vacuum cleaners, air purifiers dehumidifier and lighting; home and office devices such as printers, computer displays, TV sets, camcorders, VCRs, as well as calculators and various audio products such as radios, audio systems and wireless speakers.

An audio power amplifier (or power amp) amplifies low-power electronic audio signals, such as the signal from a radio receiver or an electric guitar pickup, to a level that is high enough for driving loudspeakers or headphones. Audio power amplifiers are found in all manner of sound systems including sound reinforcement, public address, home audio systems and musical instrument amplifiers like guitar amplifiers. It is the final electronic stage in a typical audio playback chain before the signal is sent to the loudspeakers.

The preceding stages in such a chain are low-power audio amplifiers which perform tasks like pre-amplification of the signal, equalization, mixing different input signals. The inputs can also be any number of audio sources like record players, CD players, digital audio players and cassette players. Most audio power amplifiers require these low-level inputs, which are line level.

In electronics and radio, a tuner is a type of receiver subsystem that receives RF transmissions, such as AM or FM broadcasts, and converts the selected carrier frequency into a form suitable for further processing or output, such as to an amplifier or loudspeaker. A tuner is also a standalone home audio product, component, or device called an AM/FM tuner or a stereo tuner that is part of a hi-fi or stereo system, or a TV tuner for television broadcasts. The verb tuning in radio contexts means adjusting the receiver to detect the desired radio signal carrier frequency that a particular radio station uses. Tuners were a major consumer electronics product in the 20th century but in practice are often integrated into other products in the modern day, such as stereo or AV receivers or portable radios.

High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) frequency response within the human hearing range.

High fidelity contrasts with the lower-quality lo-fi sound produced by inexpensive audio equipment, AM radio, or the inferior quality of sound reproduction that can be heard in recordings made until the late 1940s.

A home cinema, also called home theater, is an audio-visual system that seeks to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood in private homes using consumer grade electronic video and audio equipment for watching home video or streaming.

In the 1980s, home cinemas typically consisted of a movie pre-recorded on a LaserDisc or VHS tape; a LaserDisc Player or VCR; and a large-screen cathode-ray tube TV set, although sometimes CRT projectors were used instead. In the 2000s, technological innovations in sound systems, video player equipment, TV screens and video projectors changed the equipment used in home cinema set-ups and enabled home users to experience a higher-resolution screen image, improved sound quality and components that offer users more options (e.g., many Blu-ray players can also stream movies and TV shows over the Internet using subscription services such as Netflix). The development of Internet-based subscription services means that 2020s-era home theatre users do not have to commute to a video rental store as was common in the 1980s and 1990s.

JBL is an American audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing, an American audio engineer and loudspeaker designer. JBL currently serves the home and professional audio markets. Their home products include home audio speakers, waterproof Bluetooth speakers, and high-end car audio. Their professional products include live PA systems, studio monitors, and loudspeakers for cinema. JBL is a subsidiary of Harman International, which is owned by Samsung Electronics.

An audio/video receiver (AVR) or a stereo receiver is a consumer electronics component used in a home theater, home audio, or hi-fi system. Its purpose is to receive audio and video signals from a number of sources, and to process them and provide power amplifiers to drive loudspeakers, and/or route the video to displays such as a television, monitor or video projector. Inputs may come from a TV, FM, or AM tuner, satellite receiver, DVD players, Blu-ray Disc players, VCRs or video game consoles, among others. The AVR source selection and settings such as volume, are typically set by a remote controller.

Chromecast is a line of digital media players that were developed by Google from 2013 to 2024. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The user can control playback with a mobile device or personal computer through mobile and web apps that can use the Google Cast protocol, or by issuing commands via Google Assistant; later models introduced a navigable user interface and remote control. Content can be mirrored to video models from the Google Chrome web browser on a personal computer or from the screen of some Android devices.

The first-generation Chromecast, a video streaming device, was announced on July 24, 2013, and made available for purchase on the same day in the United States for US$35 (equivalent to $47.24 in 2024). The second-generation Chromecast and an audio-only model called Chromecast Audio were released in September 2015. A model called Chromecast Ultra that can display 4K resolution and high dynamic range was released in November 2016. A third generation of the HD video Chromecast was released in October 2018. The final models, called Chromecast with Google TV, were the first in the product line to feature an interactive user interface and remote control; a 4K version was released in September 2020, followed by a 1080p version in September 2022.