Do you have a home theater sound system?

[TrentonMakes]

My trusty old Pioneer receiver is no longer trusty - one front speaker channel that cuts in and out.  It is pushing 30 years old - I would like to replace it and I am looking into a "home theater" setup.

I have a pair of 2-way Advent speakers with crossovers, and I have four small surround speakers.  At a minimum I would like to run my Advents and two surrounds, but I would also like the option of connecting a sub (I have never run one of these).  Even if there's a sub in the system I would like to have the option of shutting it down, if we're watching something after the kids go to bed.

We actually still have a CRT TV, which works fine and we have no plans to replace it.  So a "soundbar" really isn't practical for us.  

To some extent this technology has passed me by.... wondering what you are running, and what you think about it.

[Kzoo]

No I have a TV that has a speaker.  Works just fine.

[jsharr ★]

I have a soundbar with a bluetooth subwoofer.  Plugs to the tv with optical connection and works seemslessy.  Mine is Vizio and was around $150 or so.

Mine is only 2.1 and is a bit older.

This got good reviews from wirecutter and is only $225

https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-SB3851-C0-Wireless-Subwoofer-Satellite/dp/B00SMBGGV6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518024472&sr=8-2&keywords=vizio+5.1

 

[TrentonMakes]

8 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I have a soundbar with a bluetooth subwoofer.  Plugs to the tv with optical connection and works seemslessy.  Mine is Vizio and was around $150 or so.

Mine is only 2.1 and is a bit older.

This got good reviews from wirecutter and is only $225

https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-SB3851-C0-Wireless-Subwoofer-Satellite/dp/B00SMBGGV6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518024472&sr=8-2&keywords=vizio+5.1

well, assuming we could find a place to put a soundbar, a fundamental question - do they accept traditional components like a CD/DVD player or tuner?  I really don't know anything about these.  This system would also function as the "home stereo" for music.

[ChrisL]

Mine was connected to my stereo and when it died a few ago I tossed the whole lot.  But... My current TV has a crap ton of speakers and sounds plenty good for me so no surround sound.

[team scooter]

http://www.yamaha.com/dealers/bestbuy/RX-V373/pop_tabs1.htm

No complaints and the neighbors know when we turn up the base.  

Its even outlived the TV we bought it for. 

[Square Wheels]

Yeah, we have a nice Yamaha, pretty old, maybe 12 years or so.  I'd never get something so big again.  It has 5 speakers, two of them are on poles, plus a woofer.  I'd just get a soundbar next time.

[Parr8hed]

I have a soundbar with a sub.  Cheap vizio unit from Sam's Club.  It is only for our crappy basement workout TV.  This is the only way you can hear the sound over the trainer/treadmill/crying wife.

[shotgun]

I was distraught a couple weeks ago when my 29 year old Yamaha integrated amplifier started crapping out on me. We used it for audio in multiple rooms of the house. Since recently getting on the Alexa bandwagon, I have replaced the kitchen and bedroom audio with Echos. My newer Yamaha surround sound system in the living room now has better speakers, an audio input from an Echo Dot, and the CD changer that was running on the older system.

[Wilbur ★]

In the basement, I have a full blown home theatre system with Vienna Acoustics speakers and subs.  Waste of money.  Sounds great but it shakes the house.    Family room just has a Bose sub and bar system and it sounds great.  We have a den upstairs with a Sony Sub and bar and it works well for the size of room. Maybe overkill. TV speakers are crap these days.  The makers all seem to suggest a complementary sound system.  They make more that way.  

[12string]

I got one from my company for a work anniversary.  Not super high end, but it does sound good enough that I end up using it instead of my audio system.  Came with a CD/Blue Ray/Radio Tuner, A whole bunch of streaming stuff that I only use a little of.

You missed your chance, buy TVs and such the week before the Super Bowl.  Just picked up a nice 40" for the camper.  My wife initially questioned the need for a larger TV than the crappy little thing we use to bring camping.  But once I got it hooked up, the next request was use it to replace the  BR TV when we're not camping.

[bikeman564™]

yes, Harmon Kardon AV receiver with Energy Connoisseur speakers, sounds really dope. Surround sound kicks ass IMO.  One time I was watching something and there was  police siren abruptly on the right front channel which is next to my doorwall. I seriously thought I was getting raided it sounded so real I'm very impressed w/ the separation of sound that I hate watching non-surround tv. Even watching sitcoms or regular shows the center channel gets all the dialog while the other channels get effects, or voice if someone was out of the room on the TV show.

[jsharr ★]

Here is a good list.  Not sure of budget, but around 12 or 13 you get into the $500 range. 

https://www.themasterswitch.com/best-av-receivers

I have a Sony system, but I have never hooked it up after the remodel.  Just connect a phone with music to the sound bar, or use one of the music channels on our TV package.

[MickinMD ★]

Sorry, I just have a cheap sound bar with no bass speakers: I have a slight hearing problem and the sound bar's bass-boost, strong than the TV's speakers, makes things just right.

[Tizeye]

First problem may be the Advent speakers. While great speakers 'in the day' uncertain what their ohm pull is. I had EPI 100's from the same era and their 4 ohm is just too great beyond stereo - the amp couldn't handle total load to 5 speakers. I ended up building some new 8 ohm speakers and a center speaker. Haven't added rears. While the Advents (and EPI's) have solid base response won't get too much more with a sub - but still useful and can use the lower crossover so doesn't have to cover such a wide range. Also, you can't just plug them in anywhere as they must be on the same circuit as your receiver (discovered that receptacles on each side fireplace are on different circuits, and electronic noise feedback was terrible!). Have a mid-range Yamaha receiver, which that and lower omit "phono" so couldn't plug in turntable without an adapter to convert to a DVD input. It does have cable signal pass-through so can play TV without HT/speakers, etc. Far better sound that straight TV but wife likes straight TV as feels HT speakers too mellow and complains can't hear. Also got a Logitech Harmony remote that can program a menu to select what want to do but tends to get lost as doesn't back out fully from one activity to another. It is a very onlf Harmony One though.

If had to over again, would probably get a dedicated home theater speaker system with integrated amp and set the Yamaha up in another room for music only. With planned living room remodel that decision may be made as get rid of the cabinets housing the full system and go minimal...moving the music components elsewhere. Also, the newer Yamaha receivers note 4K pushthrough which didn't even exist as a spec when mine was built 3 or 4 years ago. Don't know if the pushthrough is the same and simply updated marketing hype or an actual technical upgrade. If so, my upgrading the TV to 4K would render my receiver obsolete as it could only push through at 1080p and video processing when in HT mode limited to 1080p.

[Page Turner]

...I have one that is ten or so years old.  Like a lot of people have already said, I wouldn't do it again.

 

 

It's just too much, although it does have some fancy settings for acoustics, like "Concert Hall".

That sometimes makes a classical music recording (depending on the age of it) sound better. I no longer use it for TV or DVD movies at all.

[2Far ★]

I've got one of the Samsung all-in-one, smart BD units, wireless rear speakers. It works really well except when you use the auxiliary input, it has a tendency to randomly change the inputs. Its a known issue. It's annoying as hell. I've done all the standard external fixes, now it look like I have to break it open and disconnect the wiring harness to the display.

[Kirby]

The tv in my living room is one of the old ones that have all the tubes and is over a foot deep.  So no, I don't have a home theater system.

[Tizeye]

3 minutes ago, Kirby said:

The tv in my living room is one of the old ones that have all the tubes and is over a foot deep.  So no, I don't have a home theater system.

Where have you been? You need a tube amp to go with it!

[Zephyr]

I have a Yahamha receiver and a full on Bose surround system wired.  It has gotten to the point I rarely watch anything dramatic without the system on.

[Tizeye]

Just looked at soundbars on Crutchfield site and great comparison tab which list all the features. Amazing, quite a few are not set up for 4K which raises another issue. Get the best features, but don't invest much as technology will make them obsolete. This is particularly true with the Receiver + 5 speaker HT system.  Of course they don't make my Yamaha RX-V750, but checked current models. In the current 4K audio and video transitions it has to have the specific protocol to pass the signal from the source to the TV. That essentially makes my receiver obsolete because even if the TV can natively process the 4K signal, my Yamaha doesn't support it, so the TV won't receive the signal to process it. Likewise with HDR content...it won't be passed for the TV to process. Technology made my receiver obsolete for TV...but still great for music.

[groupw]

In the upstairs family room, I have an Onkyo A/V receiver with Polk speakers and sub, DVD player, Roku box and cable box. When the Onkyo was new, I was able to do most TV/cable/DVD functions on the Onkyo remote. After a power outage from a storm, it has never worked quite the same. Takes at least 2 remotes to start things now. I’m thinking of putting a sound bar upstairs and moving the Onkyo to my system downstairs. 

Downstairs I currently have a Carver Stereo receiver connected to my turntable, cd recorder and cassette deck (I’m in the process of trying to digitize the tape-only items not available for download.) Not currently surround capable. I want to keep the old receiver because the sound of the phono pre-amp is superior to modern ones. 

The Carver uses a jumper from the receiver pre-amp to the amp. I’m thinking of doing line-out at the pre amp to the Aux input on the Onkyo so I can use the same speakers for everything. I will have 2 pairs of Polks and a vintage pair of Altec Santana II. They have very similar sound qualities with just a little more bass from the Altecs. 

[Tizeye]

Make your own speakers...

This is what I made to replace the EPI 100's as a combined woodworking and electronics DIY project. Chose higher end Seas woofer and tweeter and crossover components. The sound sweet, with surprising bass for a two way.

 

[Reverend_Maynard]

15 hours ago, Tizeye said:

Just looked at soundbars on Crutchfield site and great comparison tab which list all the features. Amazing, quite a few are not set up for 4K which raises another issue. Get the best features, but don't invest much as technology will make them obsolete. This is particularly true with the Receiver + 5 speaker HT system.  Of course they don't make my Yamaha RX-V750, but checked current models. In the current 4K audio and video transitions it has to have the specific protocol to pass the signal from the source to the TV. That essentially makes my receiver obsolete because even if the TV can natively process the 4K signal, my Yamaha doesn't support it, so the TV won't receive the signal to process it. Likewise with HDR content...it won't be passed for the TV to process. Technology made my receiver obsolete for TV...but still great for music.

Generally, you can run the audio through the surround system and the video straight to the TV.  It's a pain because you have to change the source on both the TV and audio when switching to DVD or something, but it works.  I use optical audio cables to connect the sound.  The quality is as good or better than HDMI.  Your video will be better quality too, because even if your receiver supports the format, it is still going to add noise to the signal.

[jsharr ★]

6 hours ago, Tizeye said:

Make your own speakers...

This is what I made to replace the EPI 100's as a combined woodworking and electronics DIY project. Chose higher end Seas woofer and tweeter and crossover components. The sound sweet, with surprising bass for a two way.

 

I have a huge man crush and a bit of a "toner" right now

[Razors Edge ★]

I'm of two minds. First is to replace with a Yamaha or Pioneer full spec amp/receiver - because sometimes it is just nice to hook everything up and turn it up to 11!  Or... we have a couple sound bars in the house, and the one I have for use with my projector is pretty neat since it has good sound and is bluetooth enabled, so playing music from my phone is simple and requires no wires.  It is only a couple times a year now that I am at home and miss my old school full stereo set-up.  So, 99+% of the time, the soundbar solution is the best for me.

Tom

[TrentonMakes]

I talked about it with my wife and she thinks I should get myself a nice receiver for my birthday.  

An extra bonus - I just remembered I have a $25 gift card from Crutchfield, that I got when I bought a replacement car stereo there 8 years ago.

Yay!

(Crutchfield has one receiver selling for $4,000.  Seriously - how much better could this really be than the more affordable ones I'm looking at?)

[jsharr ★]

4 minutes ago, TrentonMakes said:

I talked about it with my wife and she thinks I should get myself a nice receiver for my birthday.  

An extra bonus - I just remembered I have a $25 gift card from Crutchfield, that I got when I bought a replacement car stereo there 8 years ago.

Yay!

(Crutchfield has one receiver selling for $4,000.  Seriously - how much better could this really be than the more affordable ones I'm looking at?)

Depends on what you want to do.  How much better is a $10,000 road bike than a $1000 road bike for the average rider?

The high dollar units can hear what is playing and adjust on the fly.  They have inputs that most will never use and interface that would take @Thaddeus Kosciuszko 5 to 10 minutes to figure out and 3  days to explain to the rest of us.