New TV and sound bar

[WkdPaul]

So, we're looking to get a new TV, we were looking at 55in TVs, but then the wife suggested a 65in (yeah! Not me, the wife!)...

 

So we've looked at a few models in person and we've settled our choices on these ;

 

Sony X900F

Samsung RU8000

TCL 6

 

 

What I could find online is that the Sony has freezing issues and the TCL has audio synch issues. Not sure about the Samsung since most of the people I know that had a Samsung TV had PSU issues and I'm wondering if the RU8000 suffers from the same flaw.

 

We looked at some sound bars, I was going with the Bose Solo 5, but then we found the Sonos Playbar ... And now my wife is upset that I made her listen to it, because that bar is just amazing! The other bar at the same price don't even come close to the Sonos!

 

 

 

... So, knowing the issues the TVs have, which one should I get?

 

And for the sound bar, I guess I'm looking for excuses NOT to buy the Sonos?

 

Thoughts and suggestions?

[homeap5]

My suggestion - forget about soundbars, buy some decent amplifier and two speakers. TV sound will be better and you'll can hear music as well in good quality.

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

i'd recommend Samsung RU8000 for the features alone, but if you have the budget do go for the Q8's or the Q9's

[vanished]

Christ, for $900 it had damn well better sound amazing.  Do you know what kind of studio monitors you can get for that?  Give the Focal Alpha series a listen and then decide (and if you still prefer the sound bar please let me know, I'll need to check it out )

Specifically the Alpha 50, they're $400 each so actually less than the bar and those really do sound great.  They're self powered so no need to even get an amp, just a basic unit of some sort for volume control.  Even just a wire right from the TV would do, but if its built in DAC and amp isn't great then an external DAC would do it and still for less than the cost of that bar I'd bet.

[WkdPaul]

@Ryan_Vickers

A quick search shows the Alpha 50 at $400, to be clear, I'm NOT an audiophil, and wouldn't know where to start (WTF even is a "monitor" ????), so to me a sound bar would be what I'm looking for

[vanished]

Just now, wkdpaul said:

@Ryan_Vickers

A quick search shows the Alpha 50 at $400, to be clear, I'm NOT an audiophil, and wouldn't know where to start (WTF even is a "monitor" ????), so to me a sound bar would be what I'm looking for

The fact you so clearly preferred one bar over the other shows you care about sound so imo it's worth comparing that sonos bar to other speaker options.  I could be wrong but I just very much expect some proper speakers to blow the sound bar away for the same price, which means you either end up with a better experience, or can get the same experience for less.

[WkdPaul]

@Ryan_Vickers

Found a few local dealers, one even have the Alpha 50 at $350 instead of $400. I'll have a listen and report back!

[WkdPaul]

37 minutes ago, Rohith_Kumar_Sp said:

i'd recommend Samsung RU8000 for the features alone, but if you have the budget do go for the Q8's or the Q9's

Sadly, I don't have Q8 or Q9 money!

 

The only reason we're looking at more than a $400 55in TV is because we unexpectedly got a bit of money and decided to add that to our TV budget, the sound bar is another thing on it's own that I'll end up putting on the credit card !

[kokakolia]

@wkdpaulAre you still shopping around for a sound bar? If so, I urge you to check Visions Electronics out. Just walk into one of their shops and ask for a display model. You'll likely get a great deal on an older discontinued model. 

[WkdPaul]

2 hours ago, kokakolia said:

@wkdpaulAre you still shopping around for a sound bar? If so, I urge you to check Visions Electronics out. Just walk into one of their shops and ask for a display model. You'll likely get a great deal on an older discontinued model. 

Thanks for the tip!

 

I finally bought a TV and sound system, neither are what I was eyeing !!

 

So, we wanted a new bigger TV, but since it's mostly my in-laws and my daughter that are going to watch it, we decided to go with the budget option instead of the Sony X900F we both wanted.

 

Instead of the X900F, we go a Hisene 58in Roku TV (https://www.costco.ca/hisense-58-in.-4k-hdr-roku-smart-tv-58r6109.product.100493902.html).

For the sound bar, we never were going to get the Sonos because of the price, I was looking at some Vizio 2.1 and 5.1 systems, and luckily, my Costco had the Vizio 5.1 system on sale (https://www.costco.ca/vizio-sb3651-e6-36-in.-smartcast-5.1-sound-bar.product.100371529.html).

 

 

So, while it's not our dream setup, it's one we're pleased with and one we can afford

[IkeaGnome]

What are your thoughts on the Hisene so far? I'm in the market for a tv and the price on them seems hard to beat. I'm not really looking for top of the line quality, and wouldn't expect it for the price, but for the reasonable price, do you have any major concerns so far?

@wkdpaul

[WkdPaul]

1 minute ago, Voluspa said:

What are your thoughts on the Hisene so far? I'm in the market for a tv and the price on them seems hard to beat. I'm not really looking for top of the line quality, and wouldn't expect it for the price, but for the reasonable price, do you have any major concerns so far?

@wkdpaul

 

The only complaint I have so far is the brightness and sharpness of the image, but then again, I wasn't expecting something amazing. I streamed a few 4k vids from YT, it's not the best place to look at 4k content because of the compression, so I'm not sure if the artifacts I saw were this cheap TV or YT.

 

Overall, for the price, it's hard to beat. I'm not a fan of Roku, but that's personal preferences. The TV itself is pretty solid!

[IkeaGnome]

2 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

 

The only complaint I have so far is the brightness and sharpness of the image, but then again, I wasn't expecting something amazing. I streamed a few 4k vids from YT, it's not the best place to look at 4k content because of the compression, so I'm not sure if the artifacts I saw were this cheap TV or YT.

 

Overall, for the price, it's hard to beat. I'm not a fan of Roku, but that's personal preferences. The TV itself is pretty solid!

My plans for it are for a living room tv. Basic movies. I'm not that into the Roku idea, and tend to just stream Amazon or movies through a ps4 or my old pc which isn't really 4k compatible anyway. I have heard the brightness isn't that great, I also heard the blacks aren't super "black". 

I'm glad to hear you think it's pretty solid so far. Your review seems dead on with what I've read in reviews about them so far, so I'll probably end up pulling the trigger on it.

Thanks!

[WkdPaul]

1 minute ago, Voluspa said:

My plans for it are for a living room tv. Basic movies. I'm not that into the Roku idea, and tend to just stream Amazon or movies through a ps4 or my old pc which isn't really 4k compatible anyway. I have heard the brightness isn't that great, I also heard the blacks aren't super "black". 

I'm glad to hear you think it's pretty solid so far. Your review seems dead on with what I've read in reviews about them so far, so I'll probably end up pulling the trigger on it.

Thanks!

My pleasure!

 

If you have Amazon Prime, then that Roku TV has the Prime app. I haven't checked if the Prime Video app can stream 4k, but from what I read about it, it's supposed to be able to do it.

 

And yeah, the blacks aren't great, but that was to be expected seeing it's a middle to lower tier TV. Though, I'm surprised at the viewing angles, some reviews were complaining about bad viewing angles but even at 40-45° it's watchable IMO, even if the colors and blacks are washed out (I wouldn't recommend watching TV at that steep of an angle, but it's not as bas as some reviews are making it to be).