My Sharp Aquos LC-60C6400U has been a cost-effective solution, with a good image and nice flexibility. It reads MP3 files from a USB stick, so one remote does video and audio very well - including program selection. A USB stick with ~40GB of MP3 music is read by the TV, and files are displayed for selection.
Audio from video and anything plugged into the set goes to a well-calibrated Yamaha YSP4000* sound bar and a Velodyne servo woofer. Most LIVE audio from most LIVE television programs sounds amazing, evidence that the speaker system is doing its job.
HOWEVER:
Recorded MP3s don't sound so hot - a bit of fuzz accompanies certain transients, and despite my advanced age IT IS AUDIBLE. I see that this issue has been beaten to death, and is usually resolved by switching to .FLAC. I cannot figure out how to get .FLAC files through this system unless I buy a separate player, and then music selection/control would require YARC (yet another remote control).
The television set has unused HDMI inputs, and I have a fairly competent HDMI-connected DVD/CD player that works with the existing remote, but menus are not available so this is inconvenient.
The best solution by far (maybe the only one?) is to convince the Sharp TV to decode FLAC. Has anyone every accomplished this?
Thanks, gurus
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*FYI: Yamaha's YSP technology uses multiple small drivers (40 - forty! - in this YSP4000), each separately amplified and with each signal independently generated by a clever DSP engine to permit manipulation of phase as perceived by the listener. To me the result is excellent, and my speaker judgment is based upon an audiophile history that includes Quads, LS3-5a, and a first generation pair of Hill Plasmatronics (from almost 40 years ago).
