Upgrade path for my home theater?

[NorStereo]

Hello

In the beginning of 2021 I got a new TV, to replace a noisy 12 year old projector.
The TV is a Samsung with one HDMI 2.1 and one HDMI eARC.
In the room I have a 5.1 Canton speaker setup connected to an equally aged AV reciever, a Pioneer VSX-1019H, all of this is something I inherited.

Currently I have my sound going through an optical toslink cable from my TV to the reciever, but I'm wondering if I could get more out of this system, as I have read that the optical interface is aging, and only giving me compressed 5.1 audio.
Is there anything I can do with my current setup, or do I need to switch out the reciever with a newer one with eARC or someting similiar?

Any help is much appreciated, thanks.

[circeseye]

yea optical is limited. hdmi you get the better sound formats
your avr is old, 1080p only, it does look like it has arc (arc is finicky, eark is better). but if your relying on something to use your tvs hdmi 2.1 then thats out. (your earc should be on the 2.1)

 

heres the thing. if your wanting to go with a avr with 2.1 that can be problematic.
denon and marantz has one 2.1 in on their units. if you have  2.1 devices then thats to consider...also have to be sure you get a newer model that serial ends with 70000 or better. earlier models are bugged

yamaha and onkyo has multiple 2.1s BUT yamaha doesnt support yet till firmware update.....and both are very hard to find.

 

and last majority units that have 2.1 are min 1000 to 4000 dollars. there might be some 5.1 2.1s out there cheaper but ive never looked at them.

 

 

now if you done care about 2.1 then there are plenty of avrs with 4k 60hz  hdmi 2.0 cheaper. just make sure its newerish and has earc and not arc or just go through using hdmi (which is best) even earc can have issues

 

[NorStereo]

8 hours ago, circeseye said:

yea optical is limited. hdmi you get the better sound formats
your avr is old, 1080p only, it does look like it has arc (arc is finicky, eark is better). but if your relying on something to use your tvs hdmi 2.1 then thats out. (your earc should be on the 2.1)

 

heres the thing. if your wanting to go with a avr with 2.1 that can be problematic.
denon and marantz has one 2.1 in on their units. if you have  2.1 devices then thats to consider...also have to be sure you get a newer model that serial ends with 70000 or better. earlier models are bugged

yamaha and onkyo has multiple 2.1s BUT yamaha doesnt support yet till firmware update.....and both are very hard to find.

 

and last majority units that have 2.1 are min 1000 to 4000 dollars. there might be some 5.1 2.1s out there cheaper but ive never looked at them.

 

 

now if you done care about 2.1 then there are plenty of avrs with 4k 60hz  hdmi 2.0 cheaper. just make sure its newerish and has earc and not arc or just go through using hdmi (which is best) even earc can have issues

 

Thank you. 

I do use a PS5, so the an avr with 2.1 would be nice, but I might wait until it's more available then. 

If not then I would have to switch away from the avr when using the PS5, and that's back to where I am now, switching around on optical cables. 

[King_PIN]

You don't need an expensive receiver which is what I would do next.  You can get a 5.1 receiver from Denon, Yamaha, Marantz starting about $30-400 depending where you live.  Stay away from Sony and Onkyo IMO. If you can afford it an additional sub out is highly recommended because it's something you can't upgrade to later. 

 

I always suggest buy the best you can afford front and left speakers first. Then Receiver, sub(s), center channel and finally any surround or atmos speakers all in order of importance.  

Don't worry about a center channel until you get the bare bones then spend good money on the center channel as clear dialogue is the very important.  Most people lived with phantom centers all their lives and works well if done right. 

[circeseye]

11 minutes ago, King_PIN said:

You don't need an expensive receiver which is what I would do next.  You can get a 5.1 receiver from Denon, Yamaha, Marantz starting about $30-400 depending where you live.  Stay away from Sony and Onkyo IMO. If you can afford it an additional sub out is highly recommended because it's something you can't upgrade to later. 

 

I always suggest buy the best you can afford front and left speakers first. Then Receiver, sub(s), center channel and finally any surround or atmos speakers all in order of importance.  

Don't worry about a center channel until you get the bare bones then spend good money on the center channel as clear dialogue is the very important.  Most people lived with phantom centers all their lives and works well if done right. 

eh dont knock onkyo. at least their new 2.1 hdmi's actually work. and avr forums are actually recommending them over denon. which is surprising. apperently theyve improved
but i do agree with you on sony

got to remember he is kind of interested in avr with hdmi 2.1...you are NOT going to see one for 30-400 dollers

[Home Theater Dummy]

If you are happy with the sound your speakers are giving you but you are already concerned about being constrained by an optical cable, then I think a quality receiver is a better bet than anything else) Also HDMI 2.0 will support 4K at 60z so unless you need 4k at 120hz  I think you'll be fine as almost any "new" receiver will support All the uncompressed audio formats. that being said You can find 5.1 receivers with an additional Subwoofer pre-out for less than $500.

Accessories4Less has YAMAHARX-V4A 5.2-Ch x 80 Watts 8K A/V Receiver for $399.99 USD.

I recommend new receiver using the ARC/EARC port on your TV for a few reasons. 

1.) expandability. If you are not trying to spend a ton especially on a 5.1 receiver you are only going to get about 5-6 inputs on a receiver. (Which is usually plenty) but as you obtain more consoles, a gaming pc, UHD player, retro HDMI devices, etc etc etc you may find that you run out of space on your receiver's HDMI. eARC helps to make sure you are getting the highest quality audio back to your receiver.

2.) many newer receivers already trigger ALLM and VRR regardless of the input (unless your TV is special and has a dedicated "game"  or low latency HDMI port.)

3.) after having worked with all my devices into ONE receiver I like having the OSD for each input so I can make sure I have the sound mode that I want selected, as well as verifying that all speakers are working, etc. 


So yes, I think a good receiver is next. Then maybe get better speakers if you think you need them. Or invest in better stands if you don't have them?
a 2nd sub will also do wonders.


Alternatively invest in a 9.2 channel receiver. And use 4 of your current speakers for "Height" channels or atmos speakers. (Which is what I did)

Then get 5 new "beefier" speakers and a quality sub or two and you'd have a 9.2.4 Dolby Atmos immersive gaming/home theatre set up