Updating or Gutting System and Need Advice

[Dcislander]

Hello all. I’m looking to do a system overhaul and seeking the advice of those more experienced and learned than me.


Last time I built out my home music/video system was in 2004 when I got a state of the art 45” Sharp LCD ($5,000!!!), connected to a Pioneer Elite receiver with a record breaking 2 HDI ports, all hooked up to B&W bookshelf speakers with matching center channel, LM1’s as rear speakers and a BA subwoofer. We live in a narrow city house (14’ wide on the inside) so the rear speakers are mounted directly over the couch (up against as wall) and fire down.


Now that the modern era is here, I cannot watch Game of Thrones (or most shows) on our TV because everything on the Wall looks like gray mud. We also have a PS4, Blueray player, Apple TV, SONOS all jerry-rigged because of lack of HDMI inputs… It’s time to upgrade.


I’ve settled on either the LG OLED 55” curve or the 55” 4k panel (still deciding between the two) but the rest of the system is up for grabs.


I’ve been combing through the forums and reviews to try to find the optimal system but the more I read the more I realize that I’m out of my league. Money is a factor but sound quality, system size and ease of use is the BIGGEST factor. I was looking at the Sonos Playbar and Amp but not sure if I want to lose the rear speakers (even though ours aren’t optimal) in favor of a soundbar and pretend surround. Then there is the Yamaha YSP with audio that can supposedly replicate surround. For the receiver, I’m realizing that the Elite I own is way more than I need input wise, and probably need something more basic for our needs. I liked the output power on our Elite, but always felt like it was power overkill for us—we only use the 4 inputs (for Apple TV, Sonos, DVD, PS4).


What would the experts recommend for:

Speakers: front, rear (if needed), sub, stereo, soundbar?

Receiver, amp


I really appreciate your expertise and feedback. Many thanks.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Sounds like a new TV Is definitely in order. However, I’ll join the folks at Sound and Vision magazine in questioning the usefulness of a curved screen, especially if you will have anyone viewing it from anywhere but dead-center.

No sound bar can do surround sound nearly as well as a full speaker set, so know that going in.

Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t see spending good money to downgrade. So you don’t need all the inputs on the Elite – would you sell a Porsche that can go 200 MPH just because you never drive faster than 80 MPH?

An overabundance of inputs is unfortunately part and parcel to higher-end receivers. Even if you don’t need them all, you’re getting other benefits for your money, such as better build quality and reliability (how many HTIBs are still running after 10 years?), more robust amplifiers, better and more flexible remotes (if you use the stock ones), etc. Your typical lower-end receiver, such as the Onkyo HT-S5800 has a more “reasonable” number of inputs. You think you’d be making an improvement going with something like that???

Another potential issue is HDMI. I don’t know how old your source components are, but a new receiver coupled with older source components that have previous incarnations of HDMI might not “play nice” with each other. Do some research on the “HDMI handshake” issue. Personally I avoid HDMI like the plague. We get all kinds of questions on this and other Forums from people with HDMI issues of various sorts. Fried HDMI boards in some receivers seems to be a recurring theme.

Of course if you have a “real estate” issue – i.e. don’t have the physical room for the Elite or all the speakers, that’s a different issue. But if not, I wouldn’t trade down just because of too many inputs. Instead I’d upgrade the sub to something from SVS or HSU, and maybe get better front speakers, if they are lower-end B&W (if not, keep those too).

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Dcislander]

Thanks for the input Wayne. I agree on not demoting the system. I do need a new receiver though as I've officially run out of HDMI inputs. Th flat panel OLED only has 3 HDMI in and my current Elite only has 2. I'd rather send all of the inputs through one source and send that to the TV vs fumbling between changing TV and receiver inputs based on what I'm using. I think I'd need a receiver that could handle 4 HDMI in (DTV, AppleTV, PS4, BlueRay) and one audio un for Sonos.

Any suggestions on best receiver to handle that load without over or undergoing it? Also, RE rear speakers, I've read numerous forums on placing rear speakers when the couch is right up against the wall. Think that the LM1s still cut it being right overhead and firing down or would those be better replaced by another product?

On the panel, the ONLY reason I'd go curved is that the lower end non 4k OLED only comes in curve right now. The flat 4k is about $1000-$1200 more expensive and it seems that most people say that 4k on a 55" tv is overkill. Any additional thoughts on that would be appreciated as well.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

I don’t know that any receiver offers a distinct performance advantage over another; just about all of them get 4-star or better reviews on Amazon. I always pay attention to the few 1-star reviews to see if what they’re complaining about is anything I care about or not (“I can’t believe it doesn’t it have S-VHS inputs?”) Might pay extra attention to reviews for the streaming or blue-tooth features, as they seem to be a problem area in some cases (if that’s something you’re even interested in).

Things like user-friendly operation, and especially user-friendly manuals (read lots of pictures), is something people don’t pay much attention to. Personally I’ve always found Pioneer and Yamaha a cut above in those areas, but then I haven’t checked out their offerings in recent years. And a remote that runs macro commands and offers button-by-button programming are must-have, “make or break” options for me personally.

As far as speakers, it’s always optimal to have the rears surrounds match the fronts, if not the same speaker then maybe a smaller version from the same model line. If yours are out of production, then ebay the ones you need.

Others obviously have their own opinions, but I don’t think much of 4k, as most content providers aren’t even taking full advantage of what even 720p or 1080i have to offer. And again, there is the screen size issue you mentioned. OLED, that’s another story. I think it’s infinitely more desirable than 4k, but not in a curved screen. But it sounds like you need a new TV like, right now. If that’s the case I’d Craigslist something to get you by until more options are available.

And again I’d recommend upgrading the sub. I don’t think BA has ever been a serious contender in that department.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

And again I’d recommend upgrading the sub. I don’t think BA has ever been a serious contender in that department.

99.9% agree, but sometime ago they managed to make a decent sub like this one:
http://www.bostonacoustics.com/US/Product/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?catId=HomeAudio(BostonAcoustics_US)&subcatId=Subwoofers(BostonAcoustics_US)&Pid=VPS210(BostonAcoustics)
Granted it was heavily overpriced, but at 1/2 off my friend got it and it actually plays bass nicely, not room reshaping, but nice low bass fill

 

[TLS Guy]

I would update your system.

No sound bar.

Choose your TV carefully for picture quality. A TV does not need a bunch of HDMI inputs. All these days have enough. Personally, I'm yet to use more than one HDMI connection to a TV.

I have not had an HDMi issue for about 10 years now. I think HDMI is pretty reliable now, as long as you buy HDCP certified units. There are a few rogue units out there.

Think of a TV as the video equivalent of a speaker. In a well set up system a TV just needs a power cable and one HDMI cable. Once the TV is set up the only button you really need on a TV is the on off button.

It is the pre/pro or receiver that needs the versatility. So at least a half dozen HDMI inputs is nice.

Get a receiver from Yamaha, Denon or Marantz. I think you can avoid the rest. Choose one from the upper end of the range. Cheap receivers are likely to disappoint in numerous ways.

I would leave you speakers alone for now and just significantly upgrade your sub, since you are using bookshelves. Look at SVS, HSU and rhythmic, they are the usual suspects to look at.

You will then most likely be set for the next 12 years or more.

You could upgrade the speakers at your discretion.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Keep an eye on the Denon X3100. It was on sale for a long time on Amazon for $499 (MSRP $1000).

 

[Auditor55]

Hello all. I’m looking to do a system overhaul and seeking the advice of those more experienced and learned than me.


Last time I built out my home music/video system was in 2004 when I got a state of the art 45” Sharp LCD ($5,000!!!), connected to a Pioneer Elite receiver with a record breaking 2 HDI ports, all hooked up to B&W bookshelf speakers with matching center channel, LM1’s as rear speakers and a BA subwoofer. We live in a narrow city house (14’ wide on the inside) so the rear speakers are mounted directly over the couch (up against as wall) and fire down.


Now that the modern era is here, I cannot watch Game of Thrones (or most shows) on our TV because everything on the Wall looks like gray mud. We also have a PS4, Blueray player, Apple TV, SONOS all jerry-rigged because of lack of HDMI inputs… It’s time to upgrade.


I’ve settled on either the LG OLED 55” curve or the 55” 4k panel (still deciding between the two) but the rest of the system is up for grabs.


I’ve been combing through the forums and reviews to try to find the optimal system but the more I read the more I realize that I’m out of my league. Money is a factor but sound quality, system size and ease of use is the BIGGEST factor. I was looking at the Sonos Playbar and Amp but not sure if I want to lose the rear speakers (even though ours aren’t optimal) in favor of a soundbar and pretend surround. Then there is the Yamaha YSP with audio that can supposedly replicate surround. For the receiver, I’m realizing that the Elite I own is way more than I need input wise, and probably need something more basic for our needs. I liked the output power on our Elite, but always felt like it was power overkill for us—we only use the 4 inputs (for Apple TV, Sonos, DVD, PS4).


What would the experts recommend for:

Speakers: front, rear (if needed), sub, stereo, soundbar?

Receiver, amp


I really appreciate your expertise and feedback. Many thanks.

I recommend OLED over the 4K LED set. The 4K thing is mostly marketing (a hugely successful one at that), is useless for most real world applications since most can't take advantage of the extra resolution do to limitations of human eye sight. The deep blacks and contrast of advantage of OLED is clearly visible to the end user.

Having said that, if you get the 4K set I would definitely want to get a new receiver with 4K pass through and HDMI switching, you would want to get that in anticipation of 4K Blu Ray's and other 4K content and source material coming down the line. If you care about 3D TV, a 4K set with passive glasses allows you to get the full 1080p resolution.

If I were you, I wouldn't worry about upgrading the speaker system right now. I would (1) upgrade the display (Game of Thrones would look great on an OLED or and new 4K LED set) (2) Get a new A/V receiver that's come with new advanced calibration systems that could make your current speaker system sound better.

 

[Dcislander]

Thanks guys. For the TV it is either the OLED 1080p (curve panel only) or the OLED 4k (comes in a flat panel but $1k more). I'll look for a receiver with 6+ HDMI inputs and ease of set up. Not loving the BA sub so will most likely replace that too. Thanks all.