Please help me design a simple home theater system.

[revdarkwing]

I've been saving to purchase a home theater for my HiSense 55" 4K TV. A long time ago I purchased a Bose home theatre and it was awesome but it's analog and can't adapt to my new TV which only has an optical cable unit and HDMI slots for output to the sound system. I know I can purchase a decent soundbar for $300 or under but think I can probably piece together items that would do a better job than plug and play system. I don't need surround sound but if I did it, I would like wireless so I don't have to drill holes in the floor to run wires but I do want a subwoofer. Would love some input as to what components might make me happiest.

The room is about 15 X 15 and carpeted
Thanks

 

[shadyJ]

$300 is a very tight budget when you need something that can handle HDMI. Or, at least something good that can handle HDMI. If it were me, I would get a couple of these and use them vertically, and add this subwoofer. And then buy the best receiver you can afford from here. That is a 2.1 system that would be a lot better than most soundbars, even a lot more expensive soundbars.

 

[revdarkwing]

Thanks so much for the advice. This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It has, however, brought up another question i'm hoping you (or someone) can answer. I notice on one of the receiver's description it says "WILL NOT SUPPORT 4K TV'S OR SOURCES! "
Perhaps I don't understand how one configures external sound, but I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that I would be hooking up the external sound system directly to the TV and the TV would direct the audio portion of the programming to the sound system. With that statement, I am getting the idea that the way to hook up an external sound system to the TV would be to connect the audio receiver directly from the AV source. Is this the way to do it?
I have three sources of programming that I play on my TV. One is DirecTV with the receiver and DVR box, another is the Smart TV itself which does Netflix, Youtube and perhaps later.. other offerings and the last one is my external HD where I keep my videos and which is connected via HDMI cable to my TV through my Android based media box with KODI.
Right now, there isn't enough 4K programming on DirecTV to temp me to pay for it and my broadband is too slow for me to stream anything 4K but I'd like to be able to accommodate it should things change in the future so would like to better understand the configuration setup. (See, now you know what a total noob I am)

 

[everettT]

There are a couple of AVRs @219 that are 4k ready on their site.
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/pionvsxlx101/pioneer-elite-vsx-lx101-7.2-ch-x-80-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html
Good entry level unit.

 

[snakeeyes]

Thanks so much for the advice. This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It has, however, brought up another question i'm hoping you (or someone) can answer. I notice on one of the receiver's description it says "WILL NOT SUPPORT 4K TV'S OR SOURCES! "
Perhaps I don't understand how one configures external sound, but I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that I would be hooking up the external sound system directly to the TV and the TV would direct the audio portion of the programming to the sound system. With that statement, I am getting the idea that the way to hook up an external sound system to the TV would be to connect the audio receiver directly from the AV source. Is this the way to do it?
I have three sources of programming that I play on my TV. One is DirecTV with the receiver and DVR box, another is the Smart TV itself which does Netflix, Youtube and perhaps later.. other offerings and the last one is my external HD where I keep my videos and which is connected via HDMI cable to my TV through my Android based media box with KODI.
Right now, there isn't enough 4K programming on DirecTV to temp me to pay for it and my broadband is too slow for me to stream anything 4K but I'd like to be able to accommodate it should things change in the future so would like to better understand the configuration setup. (See, now you know what a total noob I am)

They are focusing on streaming. I have the DirectTV Now with the Apple TV 4K and it is sweet!

As far as hooking up hdmi, if you have all hdmi 2.0 devices, they can be off the receiver and then just connect once to the tv.(no you don’t have to do it this way but it is cool when it works) My Sony x800 and Apple 4K TV work well like this with my Yamaha then connect once to my Samsung TV, but the old TiVo DVR doesn’t support hdmi 2.0 or HEC so I always had to connect it directly to the tv or the Sony x800 would keep taking over the hdmi and not letting the TiVo stay connected... But I’m turning service off with TiVo and Comcast now that I have the direct tv Now app with the Apple 4K.