Home Theater Help Wanted

[Forzfed]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll go 1080. Any particular brand to look for?

Check out a few sets and look at a 4K, it does up scale and will look a little better than the 1080.  It's like test driving a car you have to check them out in person.  Paradigm makes an excellent speaker for the dough!  I still have mine.  But I have my Kappa 9's for the front end and have Kappa 6's for the rear and still use the Paradigm sub.  It sounds amazing!

[SuperSix]

Budget? Distance from TV placement to couch?

[SuperSix]

4K is a must, and almost all TV's are 4K anyway. Costco is good, since they double the MFG warranty (usually to two years), look at the remotes and see what you are comfortable with, avoid Samsung if you use/plan to use HDMI/ARC to feed a soundbar/home audio amplifier/etc.  I prefer GoogleTV for a smart OS, but there's few TVs with that - oh, and Sony sucks.

[Scoobum]

Samsung not have HDMI for home theater?

[Steve Wood]

It has hdmi and ARC (audio return channel) but some have problems with the ARC working, then not working, then working again....I have a Samsung and hdmi works fine, but, I think I used an optical cable instead of an hdmi for the ARC cable which is an often suggested solution.  I don't remember if mine was flaky or why I did.  I think it was on the sound bar.  This ARC situation has been going on for some time as I recall.  I'm not sure why Samsung can have the problem but not others.  LG is a nice set but don't seem to have the good pricing around here.  I have not seen ratings on the latest Sony's but the last time I bought (two years ago)  I did not think they compared as well in picture quality.

It was no biggie and I love my Samsung.  My only suggestion is to buy the biggest screen you can mount on your wall or in front of it LOL...Makes for good watch of those hockey games when it's too cold to go out to the shop or ride your bike!  My last couple have been 65" and I think I may just can afford 75" or so the next time.

If you sit 8' from your tv, I don't think it matters whether you have 4k or 24K.  If you sit two feet from it, it may.  No matter what, the prices are dropping like mad and it's a good time to buy.

[Scoobum]

Researching it's prolly gonna be a Samsung 1080...buyi ng on Wednesday. Also looking at upgrading to 7.1 or 7.2 from my Yamaha 5.1...but damn...it's pricey.

[ULYCYC]

Steve I had the same issues with ARC on both LG and Samsung and went back to optical. Bottom line is your TV's bells and whistles only work if they match the program source. Many channel still broadcast in 480p. That's VCR quality. You can upstream that all you want and it will still look like shit. Lucky here in the NY city region the cable providers are up to date with most service. But go 100 miles away and you will struggle to fine anything above 720 service.

[Steve Wood]

Ed, I'm on Directv satellite.  720 is the best I get.  They have some programming in 4k but it costs more and I'm pretty sure it does not look any better.

I watch a lot of stuff on the Motortrend TV app that my son shared with me and I chromecast it to my tv.  Chromecast will not go any higher either.

I really think it is the wrong time to be buying a high end tv as the technology is still developing and prices are all over the place and nothing really stands out to me.  I don't give a damn about all the app ability, etc.  It just makes it a pain in the neck to use the tv .  I would rather put my money into good sound and use my phone to cast what I want to watch to the tv.  Not sure why I want good sound.  I need a set of hearing aids first but most of them seem to such as well.

[Scoobum]

I bought the cheap Element brand to replace the tube TV I had cuz I knew everything was gonna advance. It's one of those things you can't keep up with. The 1080's are now cheap so I'll move up. The top end stuff now will be cheap in a few years as everything advances...and I'll move up again. Same as my 5.1 receiver. When 9.2 really takes hold...then the 7.2 receivers will be cheap...and I'll move up then. I've been into surround sound since it came out, I started out with Quadraphase with a Marantz unit I had as a teenager and kept moving up. I went to Yamaha when Surround Sound came out...then went 5.1...and I'll move on to 7.1 when 9.2 becomes common place.

[ULYCYC]

This is what I started with

[Scoobum]

Ed, I bet it would be worth a bundle today.

[Forzfed]

I bought the cheap Element brand to replace the tube TV I had cuz I knew everything was gonna advance. It's one of those things you can't keep up with. The 1080's are now cheap so I'll move up. The top end stuff now will be cheap in a few years as everything advances...and I'll move up again. Same as my 5.1 receiver. When 9.2 really takes hold...then the 7.2 receivers will be cheap...and I'll move up then. I've been into surround sound since it came out, I started out with Quadraphase with a Marantz unit I had as a teenager and kept moving up. I went to Yamaha when Surround Sound came out...then went 5.1...and I'll move on to 7.1 when 9.2 becomes common place.

I can't see the high end stuff being that cheap.  After 2 years it was only $300 less for mine.  The high ends are going for $4k-7k right now.  There is a reason lots of people like the old hifi systems!  They make a lot of crap today!  Cheap cascade designs that are high in distortion and tolerances of plus or minus 5% or more which guarantee failure.

[Steve Wood]

Maybe Canada does not mirror the US.  Two years ago, I bought a new Samsung 65" 4k smart tv, whatever that means.  BestBuy had it marked down for sale from $2700 to 1900.  Today, the equivalent is about $800.

Current Technology lasts  about a year down here in the tv business and then it nose dives in comparison to the newest and bestest....TVs have become disposable.

[Scoobum]

High end audio/video is pricey up here.

[Steve Wood]

It would be a good deal if you can find a 4k version in your price range that you like...I don't really see it going obsolete any time soon.  The battle right now is over what kind of screen tech.  OLED, QLED, or some hybrid of the two.  As far as I am concerned, neither one is enough better than the regular 4k LED stuff that is a major price step below.