my friend gave me a subwoofer & 5 speakers with no receiver. I think it's a lil old cuz I couldn't find the model on Panasonic's site. I'd like to get a receiver that will work with my tv and/or dvd player. Is there such a thing as a universal receiver?
There are loads of receivers on the market. However, the question is whether those Panasonic speakers are typical speakers. Some of the big brand speaker packages are designed for particular systems. If the speakers just have bare wire connections, then they're probably fine to use with any receiver you find. If they have special connections, then you may not be able to use them.
Another thing you may need to check is the way they connect together. With most typical systems, the receiver plugs directly to each satellite speaker, and separately to an active (powered) subwoofer. Some, use a passive subwoofer. In this case, the receiver is plugged into the subwoofer and this feeds the satellites. Check your connections...!
The speakers connect to the subwoofer with bare wires. I don't have any satellites. We run our tv with a basic antenna. The guy at Panasonic said the subwoofer was meant for the certain system/dvdplayer SA-HT800v but I couldn't find any product with that model number on their website so I'm assuming it's old. Do most receviers use speakers with the bare wires? Do I just need to leave out the subwoofer. This is my 1st experience with surround sound so I'm clueless.