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LF a receiver (Home theater question)

MMOman101MMOman101 Member UncommonPosts: 1,787
in Hardware

I have an old receiver speaker setup that has been in the basement for a long time.  It works perfectly fine and there are no issues.  I also have a family room on the main level that has a really nice Samsung curved TV, but the sound is kind of meh.  I am not an audio file and the TV is mostly used by the kids to watch animated shows, movies, and play the switch.  The TV is supposedly "smart, but the software on it is garbage.  The sound just stops working and sometimes we have to hard reboot it to get the volume to work correctly.  We also have issues with changing inputs via the remote sometimes, also requiring a hard reboot. 

I thought I would make life easier and just get a receiver with some speakers, plug everything into the receiver and cut the TV input and volume out of my life.  As I said I am not an audio file so I don't need anything to high end.  I have some limitations though.

I hate entertainment centers so the TV is actually on an antique hutch.  Looks great but it does not lend itself to placing a component inside. 

The TV stand is only ~2.5" tall so if the receiver is in front of the TV it needs to be short and if it is behind the TV it needs the remote IT sensor to still work.

My wife hates wires so getting wireless speakers would be great.

3.1-5.1 is probably fine. 

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good receiver/speakers setup that would work well for me?  If I am missing any information that would help you make a suggestion please post your questions and I will check back in a back later and update the main post or just quote you. 

Thanks for your time and suggestions. 





“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

--John Ruskin







Comments

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    edited February 2021
    Sound bars are the easiest and probably cheapest way to add better sound to a TV. They either set right under the TV on the stand, or for wall installs,  you can get brackets to install them directly underneath or over top of the TV set.

    Most of them are going to be 2.1 setups, but 5.1, even wireless 5.1 - exists.


    I can't speak to the quality of this - just a quick amazon search to give you an example:
    https://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Surround-Performance-Subwoofer/dp/B0753ZLK2H

    I had a Yamaha 2.1 a few years ago, it was a decent unit. I think the YAS-109 is the nearest modern model, but that didn't have rear channels, just some virtual surround mode that kinda sorta did something.  But it was set it and forget it, and worked well.

    Prices range from low $100s to +++++

    The alternative is as you are saying, an actual Receiver, with discrete speakers. Your getting into a lot more money and a more complicated installation there. The bonus is that it will be better sound, and you can mix/match components, and it will likely last you for your next 3 or 4 television sets before you need to upgrade anything. Wireless channels in those configurations aren't as common, but are possible, again, if you are willing to spend even more money. Your probably looking at (least) double what a sound bar will cost, and it will take up more space.

    Going the receiver route, the sky is the limit, and prices are all over the map. And speakers are often sold separately, so that's an entirely separate conversation.

    I've done both ways in the past. Sound bars are vastly better than built-in TV sound. And a good Receiver with good speakers is vastly better than a sound bar. It's a matter of budget, of installation space, and what you are comfortable doing. The sound bar is plug and play and forget it. The reciever is... less so and needs some tinkering and a separate remote, and a lot of wiring (I nearly killed myself running rear channel wiring through the ceiling to make it look good).

    I'm currently running a Yamaha RX-V1600 (circa '05?). I don't run video through the unit, so the fact that it only has HDMI 1.0 doesn't affect me. I'm running a custom 250W dual 12" subwoofer, and Elac Debut mains, center, and rear channels. The receiver is capable of 7.1, but I'm only running 5.1 out of it. It sounds great, and my wife only complains because she can't use the TV remote to adjust the sound...

    [Deleted User]
  • MMOman101MMOman101 Member UncommonPosts: 1,787
    I don’t have an issue spending 600 on the setup.  I do want something that will last, have hd capabilities, and have the ability to take input from 4 different sources.  Like I said the TVs software is garbage so I want to set it on an input and use the receiver for all input and volume changes

    “It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

    --John Ruskin







  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    edited February 2021
    MMOman101 said:
    I don’t have an issue spending 600 on the setup.  I do want something that will last, have hd capabilities, and have the ability to take input from 4 different sources.  Like I said the TVs software is garbage so I want to set it on an input and use the receiver for all input and volume changes
    Polk is a decent brand for audio - you could certainly do a lot worse, although the sound bar I linked only has 3 HDMI inputs. Most only have 2.

    To get 4 inputs on a sound bar, you need to step it up quite a bit
    Crutchfield

    With your space limitations that you talk about, I do think a sound bar is probably your best bet. But if 4 HDMI inputs is a minimum - you can get receivers that have up to 8 inputs.

    You could try something like this, it's pretty thin, and has 4 inputs. You would need to add speakers though.
    https://www.crutchfield.com/p_164DSX3/Integra-DSX-3.html?cc=02&tp=179

    There are some wireless rear speaker kits that will go on any receiver to enable wireless rears, so you could pick up anything that fits your entertainment setup. I've heard of issues with then (sound sync, dropout, hiss/pop, etc) -- YMMV. Here's an example

    https://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketfish-wireless-rear-speaker-kit/6254098.p?skuId=6254098
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