Computers & Electronics

LF Home Theatre Upgrade advice (TV/Reciever)

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  • May 13th, 2020 7:35 am
Sr. Member
Nov 30, 2007
821 posts
169 upvotes
Vancouver

LF Home Theatre Upgrade advice (TV/Reciever)

Hi everyone,

So we are moving soon and one of the things I’m wanting to do is upgrade when we move.

Currently I have a 9 year old 55” 3D TV, and I’m running a pre-4K receiver.

I know that upgrading my receiver is basically a must do for me, since splitting the HDMI signal doesn’t seem possible. That said I have a solid set of speakers from Energy that I’m holding onto and, to be fair, are not in the budget to upgrade.

The main thing is that I’m trying to figure out a few factors, what TV to get (I’m looking at a 65” as the new living room will be larger and we will be further away) but, again, I need to look into upgrading my receiver too.

I was hoping to stick within $1000 for the whole package. Sound is really important for me. I hate the thought of turfing my otherwise perfect Denon receiver, but unless there’s a trick to getting both 4K video AND HD audio signals, that seems like the only solution.

My other big issue is budget. I know there’s no world where I can justify a great TV, but to be fair anything is going to be an improvement over a 9 year old 3D tv that had local dimming so bad it’s not even funny.

The other aspect I’m trying to consider is Atmos. I would hate to make a decision and hamstring myself later down the road, HOWEVER I know my budget will be limited so I can’t even justify upgrading to Atmos anytime in the remote future.

Considering I trust the majority of you to have a staggeringly strong grasp of the potential upcoming future, I figured it best to ask here.

Look at things now, I’m at just over $1200 for the cheapest 4K receiver and a slightly over mid range 65” 4K TV.

But I’m not sure if that’s my best bet.

My use cases are primarily going to be movies/tv with some gaming on the side. I used to be a heavy gamer but now the most current console I have is a switch. I may upgrade to a one x when I can get one for cheap but I dunno. I just know I want to take advantage of 4K streaming, Dolby vision and HDR. I have an older Apple TV so I would need to upgrade that as well, unless I’m able to find a tv that has support for iTunes purchases (which would be nice)

I’m really leaning toward Costco thanks to their stellar return policy and their equally stellar warranty, but at the same time I have an additional 1 year warranty on my credit card too so.... I dunno.

Thanks so much in advance.
5 replies
Deal Guru
Jul 7, 2017
10212 posts
5525 upvotes
SW corner of the cou…
How many channel speakers are you planning on using/having? If 5.1 just stick with the receiver and connect it to the TV with an optical cable (seems it'll work with 7.1). Feed all the HDMI inputs into the TV and sound from TV to AVR via optical. The 4K is just pass through (or should be).

4K programming is very limited anyway for now: Just 4K BDs and the very few channels on Telus (does Shaw have 4K?)

My setup is all the 3 HDMI inputs go into the AVR (more-recent Denon FWIW) and then into a Vizio M series. The occasional incompatibility between AVR and TV drives me crazy at times.
I smile when I see container ships sailing past my house laden with stuff made in China
Sr. Member
Nov 30, 2007
821 posts
169 upvotes
Vancouver
Hi thanks for the reply!

My issue with doing the return from the TV to the receiver is that the max sound quality I’ll get is DD+, I’m reticent to downgrade from TrueHD/DTS-HD which I know won’t work thanks to the HDCP restrictions.

I have the top tier Netflix subscription, Amazon Prime, my iTunes collection that all provide not only 4K but many of them have Dolby vision/HDR. A lot of my streaming library purchases also support DV/HDR 4K content.

So the only other easy solution would be to look into an HD Fury, but I’m looking at a minimum of $100+ USD if I can even get one up here
Member
Sep 24, 2010
246 posts
90 upvotes
Ontario
Why not upgrade one piece and then wait a few months or however long it takes you to save up and buy the other piece you'll be happy with? Instead of doing it all at once and getting two lower quality/spec units? In other words deal with the DD+ for a shorter period of time and then upgrade the receiver. Who knows? Maybe by that time receivers with HDMI 2.1 will be available or at least will pass through VRR for gaming.

I built my home theatre system one piece at a time over 17-months and started with a used 50" 1080p plasma I picked up off of Kijiji for $200. I recently just finished it by upgrading to a 65" LG B9 OLED but I decided to start with the audio first. I went from TV speakers to a Denon x3500h with 2 towers (Klipsch RP-260F) for a 2.0 system. Then after 3-4 months, I had saved up enough to buy a centre channel (Klipsch RP-450C) for a 3.0 system. I then saved for another 3-4 months and added the surround speakers (Klipsch RP-240S) for a 5.0 system. As I live in an apartment, I'm not going to be adding a subwoofer as I don't need to piss off my neighbours and those towers can already shake the floor. Once I have my own house, then one or two subs will be added.

As for the receivers, you could go with a b-stock Denon unit from Gibby's Electronics. Or watch for previous year clearouts. Definitely keep an eye on places like London Drugs as their electronics selection is impressive with regards to the quality they carry. That's where I purchased the majority of my speakers (4 of the 5 speakers) as they were bringing in the revamped Reference Premiere line.

And for TVs, I'm not sure what you were looking at but one of the best reviewed budget tvs is the TCL 2018 6-series (model # 613/615/617 depending on the retailer). Costco did have the 65" TCL 613 on sale for $829 on their website recently.

Just some thoughts.
Sr. Member
Nov 30, 2007
821 posts
169 upvotes
Vancouver
Yeah I’m thinking that’s the path I’ll take for the time being. I would love HD audio codecs but I’ve spent the last few days considering things and right now Tv is the most important.

I might get the 65 Hisense Qled that is up for preorder. I’d love to have a total price under $1k, right now the Hisense is 1,156 or so after tax and warranty.

How the hell can I turn down 5 years of warranty though, I just can’t trust visions these days.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Oct 13, 2008
8423 posts
4666 upvotes
Durham
I agree with @Derko ... one piece at a time.

When we moved out of the condo ... sold off the old Sony KDL-40XBR3 40" BRAVIA® XBR® 1080p LCD HDTV (sold for $230 on Kijiji)... and bought a new Vizio 55" D55U-D1 Smart TV. We held on to the Sony 5.1 600 Watts DAVTZ510 Home Theatre System DVD Player (which we purchased from Sears for $178 taxes in from 2011.

Looking that we first moved in to our new home (2016) we had a 11' x 16' living room with a Cathedral ceiling. So we mounted the TV on the wall above the fireplace, and I started to wire up all the speakers (hiding the cables down to the basement and back up to the living room).

I already pre-built a Desktop for streaming as I had another desktop that strictly did all the downloading.

Then in 2018 I decided that we required an upgrade. So went and purchased the Denon AVR-S740H 7.2 Receiver and the Polk Audio RM6750 5.1 speakers from BestBuy. Subequently sold off the Sony Home Theatre system on Kijiji for $100. Had to re-wire everything as the Sony speakers had the wires pre-built-in with special connectors. So picked up some 16 gauge wires from Princess Auto and rewired all the speakers.

Now the devices (Desktop, Rogers NextBox, and my game consoles) all plugged into the receiver. Clean.

My buddy told me that he had a pair of Jamo Classic 10 Towers in his basement just sitting there ... unused. Picked them up. So now my system became a 7.1 instead of a 5.1 ... they became my Front Left and Front Right speakers ... enough bass coming out ... no need for a second subwoofer in the front of the room. Took out the 16-gauge and replaced with 14-gauge with 24K gold-plated banana plugs.

Late in 2018 ... I found the Polk Audio S35 Signature Series Center Channel on sale at Visions ... went in ... bought it for $302. Swapped out the Polk Center that came with the RM6750. HUGE UPGRADE ALREADY! Again replaced the wiring with 14-gauge with 24K gold-plated banana plugs.

Summer of 2019 ... found a pair of Klipsch R14-M on Amazon for $180 ... bought them with new 14 gauge cables and mounts and swapped out the rear satellites from the RM6750 set.

The fall of 2019 ... a friend of ours was in Taiwan and helped us pickup an unlocked Android Box for $150 ... has virtually everything you need (including Disney+ ... no Netflix or Crave but the box has all the latest movies and shows you want).

Then before I left for Cuba in November 2019 ... found a pair of Klipsch R51-M at 2001 Audio Video on sale ... bought them for $280 ... bought another set of mounts and new 14 gauge cables ... came back from vacation ... mounted the R51M as the rear speakers ... then moved the R14M to the front for Height Speakers ... replacing yet another pair of the satellites from the RM6750 set.

Early January 2020, found the Polk Audio HTS10 Subwoofer on sale at BestBuy for $299+taxes. Oooops. Picked that up and swapped out the 8" Polk subwoofer from the RM6750 set.

Just sold the Polk Audio RM6750 5.1 Speaker System with excess 16 gauge wires in March for $320.

Each time doing something, you seem to add and subtract. And spend time re-doing. Its fun and tiresome. But in the end, the result is personal satisfaction!
16'x11' Living Room 11' Cathedral Ceiling. Hisense 65Q8G. Denon AVR-S740H 7.2 setup. Jamo Classic 10 280W Towers - FR+FL; Polk S35 - Center; Klipsch R51M - RR+RL; Klipsch R14M - Dolby FHR+FHL; Polk HTS10 Subwoofer x2. Unlocked Android Boxes from Taiwan x2

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