Need a recommandation for a home theatre setup (Video + Audio + Content)

[Pikop]

Hi everyone, 

I am looking to improve my movie watching experience by building myself a setup from scratch (since my current setup is watching netflix on my laptop). I would like for it to be able to play music using a streaming service (without bluetooth)

As I know nothing about all of this I seek your help to help me make decisions that make some sense and not waste money to get a good base to improve later.

I need a TV (tried to get a projector but Mrs said no), an amp, speakers and some content to play.

 

1°/ The TV

For the TV, I see that the two competing tech for 55" at 1000€ are OLED and Mini LED, I went to see them and I prefered the Samsung NeoQLED QE55QN85A. It does not support Dolby Vision though, is it a big deal ?

As for OLED TVs, There's Philips, LG and Panasonic, is there a brand you recommand ? 

 

2°/ The Audio Setup

For the Amp + Speakers, I want to get a pair of speakers and use them in stereo with a sub leaving to me room to upgrade later to a 5.1 setup later.

I want an amplifier that can power all of that, the Yamaha MusicCast RX-V4A (which can play music) or a Sony STR-DH790 are available in a store nearby, are there any better/cheaper options you think of ? 

 

3°/ The Content

Do you recommend playing content from the TV directly (plugged to the amp in S/PDIF) or would you get an Nvidia Shield and plug it in HDMI to the amp ?

Do you recommend buying everything Dolby Vision AND HDR 10+ ready or is one sufficient ? 

What is the point of Dolby Atmos and other audio formats if I'm never gonna get more than a 5.1 setup (ie no speakers in the ceileing), will a pleb like me notice the difference ? 

Most Importantly : What source should I watch movies from? I've used Streaming platforms to get content for now, I would like to try looking at less compressed files to see if I notice a difference in terms of HDR and Audio quality. Is there any legal way to get a 4K Blue Ray files without having a 4K Blue Ray player ?

[tikker]

On 6/11/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pikop said:

1°/ The TV

For the TV, I see that the two competing tech for 55" at 1000€ are OLED and Mini LED, I went to see them and I prefered the Samsung NeoQLED QE55QN85A. It does not support Dolby Vision though, is it a big deal ?

The Samsung you mention is a QLED, not a mini LED nvm, confused mini-LED with something else. Dolby Vision is nice, but normal HDR10 is already great.

On 6/11/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pikop said:

As for OLED TVs, There's Philips, LG and Panasonic, is there a brand you recommand?

Usually LG. Sony was said to have the best motion processing, so if you use the image processing stuff on TVs you can consider them.

 

On 6/11/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pikop said:

2°/ The Audio Setup

For the Amp + Speakers, I want to get a pair of speakers and use them in stereo with a sub leaving to me room to upgrade later to a 5.1 setup later.

I want an amplifier that can power all of that, the Yamaha MusicCast RX-V4A (which can play music) or a Sony STR-DH790 are available in a store nearby, are there any better/cheaper options you think of ? 

My go-to brand for receivers is Denon/Marantz. I've also had good experience with Yamaha. Out of the two you mention I'd probably choose the Yamaha if not for the sole reason it has more decent speaker terminals compared to those clip in things for thin wires on the Sony. It won't do Atmos, however, if you care about ever having that.

On 6/11/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pikop said:

3°/ The Content

Do you recommend playing content from the TV directly (plugged to the amp in S/PDIF) or would you get an Nvidia Shield and plug it in HDMI to the amp ?

I'm partial to an Nvidia Shield, but if this is purely for Netflix then the TV probably suffices. Using (e)ARC you can connect the TV through HDMI as well. You can always buy a Shield later, so this is not a major point. If you plan on ripping your blu-ray collection to something like Plex or plan to use other aspects of it, then I can recommend it.

On 6/11/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pikop said:

Do you recommend buying everything Dolby Vision AND HDR 10+ ready or is one sufficient ? 

HDR10+ supporting hardware still seems difficult to come by. Dolby Vision is pretty well supported. I wouldn't really worry about this.

On 6/11/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pikop said:

What is the point of Dolby Atmos and other audio formats if I'm never gonna get more than a 5.1 setup (ie no speakers in the ceileing), will a pleb like me notice the difference ? 

Pretty much nothing. You need more than 5 speakers to for Atmos anyway. It's spatial audio to put sounds at arbitrary locations. You can't make sound come from above or the side of you without having speakers above and to the side of you

On 6/11/2022 at 12:09 PM, Pikop said:

Most Importantly : What source should I watch movies from? I've used Streaming platforms to get content for now, I would like to try looking at less compressed files to see if I notice a difference in terms of HDR and Audio quality. Is there any legal way to get a 4K Blue Ray files without having a 4K Blue Ray player ?

I think Sony's Bravia service streamed some select high-quality stuff? But generally you'll need to buy Blu-rays to watch Blu-ray content. Quality difference varies with content, for some it's more noticeable than others to me, but both audio and video quality are better on Blu-rays.

[IPD]

-Dolby Vision is a fool's errand, imho.  Pay attention to their sound standards--not their vision ones.

 

-If you are going to go 2.1, I would just get a standalone desktop 2.1 setup that works off a 3.5mm jack.  Cheaper.  I really can't see the point in additional cost for a dedicated receiver if you are only running 2.1 anyways.  A decent 2.1 can be had for a fraction of the cost of either of those receivers you listed.  Save up for what you want and research it more.  That way, if you decide for Atmos or whatever--you'll have a better idea of what you need.  Nothing like shooting yourself in the foot by dropping $400+ on a receiver and then finding out when you want to upgrade in a few years--that it doesn't have all the capability/features you want.

 

p.s.

IDK why the missus said "no" on a projector.  I 100% recommend them--assuming you have the budget and space for them.  And a UST can cut down considerably on the prep work required to set up a system (eg. no ceiling mount, no cable runs, etc).

 

Reposted, because I'm not done preaching the gospel (the black box on top with the wii-sensor-bar is the projector--and yes, I have 90 billion cables running to everything...it only looks like chaos)

 

[cmndr]

TVs - The C1 vs QN85 is pretty much a wash, they're both fine. I'd also add in the QN90 to the mix (in the EU it might be the QN95).
C1 - Best overall image quality but only if you're NOT in a brightly lit room where you can't dim things (think blackout curtains). Not appropriate for computer monitor usage either.

QN85 - Good option for bright rooms where you care about viewing angles (think sports party in a living room with people walking around a lot).
QN90/95 - generally better image quality than the QN85 though some degradation at wider angles.

On 6/11/2022 at 3:42 AM, tikker said:

The Samsung you mention is a QLED, not a mini LED.

QLED is a marketing term for mini-LED.

-----

 

Amp - if you're just doing 2.1 channels for now something like an Aiyima A07 will work. At least in the US there's an AVR shortage so it's likely prices will drop further in the future on full featured AVRs. If you just want to get a full AVR now and plan on adding on speakers in the near future... probably a Denon s760h. Audysey is nice.

Two GOOD bookshelf speakers + a decent subwoofer is definitely how you want to start out. Maybe some sound treatment for the first reflections.

----

 

Content

 

You can probably play most things straight from the TV if you're streaming. As far as hooking things up, if you're using an AVR, you'd want to use HDMI-ARC. If you use an amp, then just do aux to aux.

The jump from "regular" HDR10 to {HDR10+ or Dolby vision} isn't that big. DV vs HDR10+ is pretty modest overall. Of those DV has an edge and it appears available in more places (specifically Netflix). Google Play, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Youtube, and Paramount+ all support HDR10+. Most places that support HDR10+ also support DV but do check.

[tikker]

3 hours ago, cmndr said:

QLED is a marketing term for mini-LED.

Oh, I must be mixing it up with micro-LED then. Too many LEDs around.

[wseaton]

For sound spend your money on a pair of decent front speakers and a matching center. Emotiva, Elac, Klipsch, etc. I have a pair of Emotiva small towers and in a small apartment I dont need a sub. Satellites do need a sub. I hate sound bars.

 

I've hear some pretty expensive HT setups and most suck. The more speakers you have the tougher it is to get them placed correctly. The best home HT setup I've heard used bi polar rears, and they are no longer made. That system was 20years old.

 

Rear channel is the toughest to set up.

 

 

[IPD]

1 hour ago, wseaton said:

For sound spend your money on a pair of decent front speakers and a matching center. Emotiva, Elac, Klipsch, etc. I have a pair of Emotiva small towers and in a small apartment I dont need a sub. Satellites do need a sub. I hate sound bars.

 

I've hear some pretty expensive HT setups and most suck. The more speakers you have the tougher it is to get them placed correctly. The best home HT setup I've heard used bi polar rears, and they are no longer made. That system was 20years old.

 

Rear channel is the toughest to set up.

 

 

Similar reasons why only 1 or 2 subs in a car audio setup > 8-10 subs.  Acoustic propagation, sound wave cancellation, etc.

[Pikop]

Thank you all for your replies and advice, it was very much appreciated and helped me make better decisions. I am very happy with all of my purchases.

 

In the end I went for a 55" QN85, very satisfied with the brightness and viewing angles. The projector was just not right given the size of the room that we're in. The image would have been no bigger than what we got with the TV.

 

I settled for a hi-fi amp and not a 5.1 from Yamaha. Denon and Marantz were just to expensive for the same features and I got a pair of Triangle bookshelves speakers I put on each side of the TV.

I am fully satisfied with the result for movies and for music but I might add a sub down the line

 

For content, I play it straight from the TV for now but some apps don't support HDR for some reason. The TV supports plex tho so Im probably gonna use that.

[sm1th5]

If you think a basic 5.1 av receiver is expensive, this seems to imply you are not interested whatsoever in the surround sound experience. 

 

A 5.1 receiver is the CHEAPEST and most minimum cost to get started in the home theater hobby. The most suggested and popular receivers are 7 channels for including Dolby atmos. 

 

You can get second hand ones if you are unwilling to justify the cost of a new one.

 

I believe you will 100% benefit from having surround sound especially when your streaming and watching movies. 

It does come down to what content you watch if it benefits you.

 

If you did only get a 5.1 you will not ever be able to experience Dolby atmos without replacing the receiver to one that has 7 channels minimum and has Dolby atmos support. 

 

And oled is the better tv out of the ones you listed. I have lg oled myself as that is the option which has the highest picture quality possible that's in reasonable price for consumers. 

 

Hope this helps.