# Do any of you take AV seriously? The AV Thread.



## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Very interested to hear about all your TV and Audio set ups.

Recently I moved from a 1080p LG IPS Non-HDR TV to a new 65" Full Array 4k HDR Sony. I know there is what is essentially a 7 year gap between the TVs but the difference is monumental. OLED wouldn't suit our viewing habits.

I have a 5.1 optical surround system that decodes Dolby Digital and Dolby DTS? I think. Which is even older than the LG TV I mentioned. It is THX Certified and to my ears, at the moment, sounds fantastic. Of course it is not lossless though.

However, given how much of a difference movie viewing is with full array dimming and HDR and all that jazz (even 1080p). I am now considering buying a proper AMP set up for lossless Audio when it permits and Atmos capable for 7.1 surround?

I find I am watching things I have seen before just because it looks so much better. 

So what set ups do you have? What are you excited for in the AV Space over the next few years? Have you always been 'into' AV? This is certainly new to me, I don't know the first thing about AMPS but have been reading up over the past week.

Do you have 4K HDR Movies? Do you use Plex etc? Really interested to hear and talk about it all.


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Current line-up is:
LG 65" OLED 4K
Denon AVR1910 Amplifier
Harmon Kardon 5.1 Surround System
Apple TV 4K
Logitech Harmony Elite Remote

Movies via Netflix (UHD) & Prime

Interested to hear why OLED wouldn't suit your viewing habits.


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## JoeyJoeJo (Jan 3, 2014)

I *used* to be well into it (when I was single lol) but these days the balance between cost/quality/features is firmly at the cost end so for the past few years have tended to get slightly older kit where the model line has been refreshed and it's heading towards end of line. I do remember being the first person I knew with DVD, sending the machine off to be chipped, browsing the single 2 foot wide rack of DVDs in HMV and ordering reg1 discs from Play.com and that all seems very long ago now!!

Moving house 2019 was a trigger for a few bits and after many hours of browsing and hunting bargains, ended up with:

Philips 9002 OLED (which has since been replaced with a 934 by Philips) and I honestly don't think I could go back to watching TV without ambilight, especially blockbuster movies.
Sony STR-DH970 AVR which supports all the formats I'm interested in and can do Atmos 7.1
Mission M-Cube 5.1 speakers which are very neat and fill my lounge nicely. They also get spousal approval as not monstrous. 
A pair of pseudo atmos height spekers being Boston Acoustic soundware XS and while not being true atmos, do add a great deal when it's available.

For sources, mix of PS4, SkyQ (which is slowly adding features like UHD and HDR, tried the HDR with weekend and the difference is subtle but apparent), apps on the TV and and Apple TV 4k box. I have half a dozen disks maybe, everything is streamed these days so nowhere near maxing capabilities or bitrates but does me nicely and is so much more convenient than when I was using media players or a PC with XBMC to play my collection of *cough* legitimately ripped *cough* movies.

Next thing is I'm replacing cables with certified ones and running from devices straight to TV so the AVR becomes audio only rather than acting as an HDMI switch. I'm hoping the eARC will be enough to support the nice formats but ready with optical as a backup. They should be here this week but are coming from Germany and with the brexit/covid shenanigans, who knows.

Ultimately, I would like a fully fitted proper atmos speaker setup and a single source that can play the best formats from the various sources well as jumping between platforms and apps can be a PITA.

So not anywhere near top spec and likely to offend absolute purists but I'm really happy with it.


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## AnthonyUK (Jul 25, 2018)

I've gone in the opposite direction to some degree.

Gone for a mid range QLED as I think the Samsung interface is the best and also not a fan of OLED in brightly lit rooms like ours. OLED is great in the right location though.

Sound is from a matching Q series soundbar so no more additional speakers or cables except for the wireless sub.

With the right content is looks stunning. Decent content is from iPlayer and 4K Bluray as Netflix/Prime is just too low a bitrate TBH.


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Used to have full separates and still have Sony AV amp and q Acoustics 5:1 with separate sub other brand.
Know kitchen family room, I have gone Sonos Playbar with Sonos sub and two rear sonos one's , its far more flexible and intuitive to use for music and movies for me know, also very good sound without all the cables
Have free sat & Apple 4K tv for all my pictures on cloud as well works great for youtube as well


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

GeeWhizRS said:


> Interested to hear why OLED wouldn't suit your viewing habits.


TV is pretty much left on 24/7.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

I'd fall somewhere in the middle. I love good picture and sound, but don't have an expensive set-up. 

At the minute I've a Sony 49" 4k telly and a Canton DM55. Sound is fantastic for a in-box system, and got a 5star what hifi rating, so that's largely why I went for it.

I had a Sony amp and 5.1 set up, and even took the botger of running cables under our living room oak floor to each corner, and made little sockets to plug the speakers into. 

I recently bought a 1080p projector, and have found myself looking at 5.1 and 7.1 systems... like detailing, it's a slippery slope. 

N

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## shl-kelso (Dec 27, 2012)

75” Sony FALD LCD wall-mounted
Tannoy Arena Highline 500 x 5
SVS cylinder subwoofer

Fed from Sony AVR in central hub with Sky Q Silver, Apple TV 4k, Firestick 4K, and Panasonic 4k UHD Bluray. Sony AVR is temporary unit until new Anthem AVR arrives. 

4k distribution from hub to TV via uncompressed 4k fibre optics baluns. 

8x8 HDBaseT matrix for 1080p distribution to all other rooms. 

Synology 8 bay NAS doting music library for Sonos, and running Plex server for ripped DVD/BluRay/UHD library.

Full Ubiquiti Unifi network - Dream Machine Pro router, variety of Unifi managed switches, and variety of Unifi wifi access points.


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

I got really interested in Hi-fi in the 80s whilst at college.
I got Hi-fi Choice every month reading all the bench tests etc even wanting to be an electrical Hifi engineer.
From college through to uni I added budget best buys to build up my separates system.

With my first paycheck after studenthood I was straight down to Richer Sounds and got some Kef Coda 7 bookshelf speakers. 

In the late 90s I upgraded to my first AV system adding a Yamaha processer to my stereo amplifier which drove just the centre speaker and the rears giving me all singing/all dancing Dolby Pro Logic :lol:

Then added an active subwoofer, upgrading to Jeff Coda 9 floor standing front speakers relegating the Kef Coda 7 to surround duties.

With the arrival of the PS2 and HDMI my system became obsolete 

So got a new Onkyo AV amp , then a plasma TV.

20 years on I'm still using the Onkyo amp, 
my Kef Coda speakers but have added some small Q Acoustic center surrounds and upgraded from an REL Q200(which died after about 15 years loyal service) sub to a BK Monolith Plus one.

These are all in a man cave now with a budget 1080p projector.

Soon the amp will be obsolete again as I'm now getting tempted by the idea of a 4k projector

Friends take the Mick out of my old speakers wrapped in typical 90s black ash vinyl, saying how dated they look.
But had them so long that they're part of the family now and with my mancave painted black and the lights off........you can't see anything but the screen anyway:lol:


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

Projector was only £170 Apeman LC650
Screen £30.
With the lights off the image was passable.

Then I painted the room matt black.
This made a HUGE difference to light pollution from wall and ceiling reflections






























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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

65" Samsung, Arcam Separates, Yam 685 receiver with pass through for stereo, MA6 main speakers bi-amped, 5.1.2 ............and a son who enjoys this soooooo much playing xbox that i cant get near it:wall:

none of it is particularly high end, used to be really into it about 25 year ago, but things have just gotten in the way - and technology moves so fast.


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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

I love anything techy and sciency that can satisfy my ADHD hyperfocus. Detailing does it, so does hi-fi and AVR stuff, computers, gadgets, bikes, drums, golf and of course cars.

AV wise, it is a compromise as the old ball and chain has a very weird aversion to big TV's. As such, the set up is a Samsung QLED Q60 fed with a Virgin V6 box, plus a PS4 and an Amazon Fire 4k, fed into the tv, which then ARC's into a Sony str dn 1050 AV amp. Annoyingly, the Samsung TV only gets up to Dolby DD+/Atmos levels of sound so I have to send an optical from the PS4 to get DTS stuff. The difference is quite a lot. This amp replaced a Marantz SR5300 which is now in the bedroom with a Sony ESF670 stereo amp in a vinyl/digital hybrid set up.

Speakers, I have Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo's - the 5.0 set up with the towers up front with the centre and the bookshelves at the rear. The sub is a BK Electronics Monolith. She doesn't like big TV's, but somehow, I've managed to get big sound!


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## Leebo310 (Sep 30, 2013)

Looking at getting a 65in TV to hopefully christen with the Superbowl. 
Any thoughts or recommendations? Budget is limited at only around 600-700. At the moment I'm tempted between the Samsung tu7100 and the LG UN7300 but not sure if the Samsung is worth the extra as is 700 compared to 600 for the LG. My thoughts then if I spend 700 on the Samsung, I can get a nano cell lg for the same price but then is that worth the extra over the other lg.. 
Help would be appreciated 

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## Crabbie (Jul 22, 2019)

Unfortunately I Had the Bug a few years ago. I currently have Pannasonic OLED TV, Arcam 550 AV Receiver, Dali Opticon Speaker's along with Dali Atmos Speakers, SVS Pb200 Subwoofer, Epson 6700 Projector onto a motorised 102" Screen, NVidia Shield Running Plex from a central server in the house, All Accessories are Hard Wired Ethernet into a 48 port switch. I do have pics somewhere but I love Films and the setup really helps you get immersed.


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## bigcarpchaser (May 6, 2008)

My Av setup is starting to sound a bit “harsh”, not sure if my avr is on the way out or if it’s Sky having shocking sound generally. Even on Netflix it sounds terrible. 
It’s a Denon Avr, about 7 years old now, I cannot for the life of me get it to sound like it used to. Bowers Wilkins CM series speakers and they’re fine. Fronts are bi-amped, Center is a CM1. 
I should probably try and borrow another avr I suppose and see if that is the actual problem 


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## Starbuck88 (Nov 12, 2013)

Leebo310 said:


> Looking at getting a 65in TV to hopefully christen with the Superbowl.
> Any thoughts or recommendations? Budget is limited at only around 600-700. At the moment I'm tempted between the Samsung tu7100 and the LG UN7300 but not sure if the Samsung is worth the extra as is 700 compared to 600 for the LG. My thoughts then if I spend 700 on the Samsung, I can get a nano cell lg for the same price but then is that worth the extra over the other lg..
> Help would be appreciated
> 
> Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk


The biggest difference with those TVs is the Samsung is a VA Panel and LG is an IPS panel. (VA Better Contrast and Blacks, IPS Better Viewing Angles but lifted blacks)

It's horses for courses really, if you keep looking out for features and the price will keep rising. I started off looking for the cheapest liveable 65" I could find and ended up spending £1,200 after 3 months of research :lol:


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## Leebo310 (Sep 30, 2013)

Starbuck88 said:


> The biggest difference with those TVs is the Samsung is a VA Panel and LG is an IPS panel. (VA Better Contrast and Blacks, IPS Better Viewing Angles but lifted blacks)
> 
> It's horses for courses really, if you keep looking out for features and the price will keep rising. I started off looking for the cheapest liveable 65" I could find and ended up spending £1,200 after 3 months of research


Ha, yep know that feeling 

Cheers for the advice, will probably leave it for a bit and then check them out when I can actually visit a shop and see the difference 

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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

Leebo310 said:


> Ha, yep know that feeling
> 
> Cheers for the advice, will probably leave it for a bit and then check them out when I can actually visit a shop and see the difference
> 
> Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk


The question really is, do you sit head on and will you be watching the TV from straight in front or will the TV be watched from many different seats?

If the first, then short of OLED, VA panels tend to be better as their contrast levels are higher and the dimming works better. If the second, then IPS panels will be the best.

If you're thinking about a Samsung, keep an eye on HiSense and Philips too. They mostly have VA panels but they use Dolby Vision which is winning the HDR war.


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## kingswood (Jun 23, 2016)

Current set up......don't laugh, I'm working class!

47 inch Sony bought in 2016 and Sony sound bar with wireless sub.

Say I had £1000 to spend on a new tv and sound what wld you suggest please?!

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## roscopervis (Aug 22, 2006)

Do it in stages. What do you think you need first? What are your sources?

It’s said that the sound is 2/3rds of the experience so I’d sort the sound first, get a good AV receiver and build a 5.1 system around it. If you get slightly used stuff, you can get absolute bargains and get £1000 5.1 system for half that or even less.

From there you can decide what TV you want, you should enjoy the experience and the learning.


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## ade73 (Nov 25, 2006)

Sony XG95 75inch
Sony UBP-X800M2 Region free modified.
Onkyo HTS5805 5.1.2 Atmos set up. 

:thumb:


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