What Does One Need in a TV Audio System?
Discussion
Our Sony MidiStereo has packed up and we have a 24" Sony Triniton TV that is enormous. Have BT Infinity and have their Humax Youview box. So looking to upgrade to whatever one should have these days but dont know what that is! The other side of the wall to the location of the TV is a computer cupboard which currently contains my wifes old PC that hasn't been used for 10 years, so the plan is to change that and then my 9 yr old daughter can use it.
So what should we be looking at in a new system? What bits should we be looking at? Whats a Smart TV etc? Budget currently non-existent so if I can buy it in stages even better!
So what should we be looking at in a new system? What bits should we be looking at? Whats a Smart TV etc? Budget currently non-existent so if I can buy it in stages even better!
OK.
Smart TV's blu ray players have are networkable and can be used for stuff like netflix, iPlayer and Streaming media from a computer on your network. (different manufacturers have different stuff on the smart side of things).
Connecting stuff together.
HDMI is now used to transport video and audio down a cable.
What are your priorities?
Surround sound?
Stereo Music?
Small satellite speakers or full size?
What size TV are you looking for?
Sorry for replying with questions.
My standard advice would be to get a TV that does all the bits and bobs you want as long as it has a 1080 screen, but don't worry about smart etc. Your Blu ray player can do this and is much cheaper to replace/upgrade. Back this up with an inexpensive AV reciever with HDMI switching (£200-300) and a surround speaker set (£300-400) to suit your room.
TV - £450 (40inch)
Blu-ray - £100
AV Reciever - £250
Speakers - £350
Total £1150 Gets you a pretty nice 5.1 system that will perform well with music (unless you are a rabid audiophile). And will be able to do the following.
3D if you want it.
Bluray/dvd/CD playback.
Streaming media from the internet or a PC in the house with the 'smart' functionality.
Be a kick ass system for gaming of that's your bag.
Money can be saved/better kit bought by buying 2nd hand.
Smart TV's blu ray players have are networkable and can be used for stuff like netflix, iPlayer and Streaming media from a computer on your network. (different manufacturers have different stuff on the smart side of things).
Connecting stuff together.
HDMI is now used to transport video and audio down a cable.
What are your priorities?
Surround sound?
Stereo Music?
Small satellite speakers or full size?
What size TV are you looking for?
Sorry for replying with questions.
My standard advice would be to get a TV that does all the bits and bobs you want as long as it has a 1080 screen, but don't worry about smart etc. Your Blu ray player can do this and is much cheaper to replace/upgrade. Back this up with an inexpensive AV reciever with HDMI switching (£200-300) and a surround speaker set (£300-400) to suit your room.
TV - £450 (40inch)
Blu-ray - £100
AV Reciever - £250
Speakers - £350
Total £1150 Gets you a pretty nice 5.1 system that will perform well with music (unless you are a rabid audiophile). And will be able to do the following.
3D if you want it.
Bluray/dvd/CD playback.
Streaming media from the internet or a PC in the house with the 'smart' functionality.
Be a kick ass system for gaming of that's your bag.
Money can be saved/better kit bought by buying 2nd hand.
Thanks all seems fair enough, not sure what I want in the way of sound. Fairly sure I wont be going down the 3D route, I have a lazy eye and 3D does nothing for me. Trying to work out size of TV required. Maximum distance from the screen to chair is about 10ft, minimum is about 6ft although may bneed to add a ft or so to tae in to account the new TV will be less deep!
To be honest, from the 2 min look. 3d capability is prerty much free for any decent tv. Have aquick loom at the richer sounds website. Lots of stuff to get an idea.
I am currwntly sittin about 10ft from a 50 inch tv. Had a 40 before. I like the 50 better, but the room is quite long so doesnt look silly. Lots of 46-47 in screens about. May be the sweet spot.
I am currwntly sittin about 10ft from a 50 inch tv. Had a 40 before. I like the 50 better, but the room is quite long so doesnt look silly. Lots of 46-47 in screens about. May be the sweet spot.
Edited by conkerman on Saturday 9th November 16:58
Still on our CRT but bought an A/V amp and half decent speakers. The amp will take what I throw at it and that includes the infinity TV box (optic input for the 5.1) and blu ray player (coax input for the 5.1). Yes I know, no HD TV but I am future proofing... 
. If I go flat screen then that will also plug in the HDMI on the amp. Onkyo was our choice, with Tanoy speakers.
. If I go flat screen then that will also plug in the HDMI on the amp. Onkyo was our choice, with Tanoy speakers.Personally would skip that tv OP. 720 line display , a few quid mrw buys much more screen resolution.
Also, my Panasonic plasma kicks out quite a lot of heat. Irs likely that LED will use a lot less juice.
Word of warning about using headphone sockets.the LG I have in the bedroom is truly awful connected like this.
Also, my Panasonic plasma kicks out quite a lot of heat. Irs likely that LED will use a lot less juice.
Word of warning about using headphone sockets.the LG I have in the bedroom is truly awful connected like this.
No. Its a known issue with the tv. It was bought on a whim but meh. In my bedroon I have a little marantz sr1402. Its perfectly ok for bedroom use though.
Personally, at the sizes ypu are looking at I would skip on the 720 displays. Most sets can be configured to give a decent image from the retina burning defaults.
I really don't think a 720 plasma is a good choice nowadays.
Personally, at the sizes ypu are looking at I would skip on the 720 displays. Most sets can be configured to give a decent image from the retina burning defaults.
I really don't think a 720 plasma is a good choice nowadays.
ash73 said:
I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to achieve with the computer. It can be tricky getting 5.1 audio out of a PC, other than pre-encoded streams (DVDs), unless you have a sound card which can encode in real time.
Nor am I! Just the receivers say they have no input for a PC so I guess the question is do you need one? And the inference is no.We did look at richer sounds, and bought from there but downloaded the makers destructions first. That way I could see exactly what could do what without relying on the shop person.
What exactly do you want to do with the PC? I play iTunes into my stereo amplifier, I can feed it to the A/V amp but not bothered.
What exactly do you want to do with the PC? I play iTunes into my stereo amplifier, I can feed it to the A/V amp but not bothered.
ash73 said:
Main decision is LCD or plasma. I replaced my Sony CRT with this - fab picture & bargain price.
Don't bother with a smart TV, buy separates.
Plug the audio output into a decent amp, the speakers on flat TVs are cr*p.
having a smart tv can actually be very worthwhile depending on what you are after. i upgraded to one at the start of the year and have found some of the features great. some of the most useful:Don't bother with a smart TV, buy separates.
Plug the audio output into a decent amp, the speakers on flat TVs are cr*p.
- streaming films from my media server without the need for anything other than a network cable.
- youtube channels. the quality of programmes on there is actually pretty good these days and i often find myself tuning in to the latest vice documentary instead of the guff on TV.
- iplayer is handy as is is 4od
for me its convenience of just having the tv doing everything rather than relying on another device being switched on i.e. the playstation (not to mention the noise from its fan)
shielsy said:
ash73 said:
Main decision is LCD or plasma. I replaced my Sony CRT with this - fab picture & bargain price.
Don't bother with a smart TV, buy separates.
Plug the audio output into a decent amp, the speakers on flat TVs are cr*p.
having a smart tv can actually be very worthwhile depending on what you are after. i upgraded to one at the start of the year and have found some of the features great. some of the most useful:Don't bother with a smart TV, buy separates.
Plug the audio output into a decent amp, the speakers on flat TVs are cr*p.
- streaming films from my media server without the need for anything other than a network cable.
- youtube channels. the quality of programmes on there is actually pretty good these days and i often find myself tuning in to the latest vice documentary instead of the guff on TV.
- iplayer is handy as is is 4od
for me its convenience of just having the tv doing everything rather than relying on another device being switched on i.e. the playstation (not to mention the noise from its fan)
As for SMART, we use the iPlayer and Skype features on our TV.
Before you buy do the cardboard test. Cut out a sheet the same dimensions as the TV you are interested in to get a feel for the affect it will have in the room.
Ok, given this more consideration.
I find that 32" screen will be the same width as my existing 24" screen on the cardboard test. Not worried about the height as thats not a space issue.
Currently all my music is on CDs, but on buying a new CD yesterday I find that Amazon also include an MP3 which is in your Amazon Cloud. Logging into Amazon Cloud finds logs of music form the CDs I have ordered over the last few years. So then the question comes how do I play titles from my Amazon cloud through my new system?
I also have some 100w 8 Ohmns speakers that where with my wifes Marantz system, or the speakers from my old sytem which I think are 50W and 6 ohmns (definitely the latter as they say that!) Can I use them in my new system?
I find that 32" screen will be the same width as my existing 24" screen on the cardboard test. Not worried about the height as thats not a space issue.
Currently all my music is on CDs, but on buying a new CD yesterday I find that Amazon also include an MP3 which is in your Amazon Cloud. Logging into Amazon Cloud finds logs of music form the CDs I have ordered over the last few years. So then the question comes how do I play titles from my Amazon cloud through my new system?
I also have some 100w 8 Ohmns speakers that where with my wifes Marantz system, or the speakers from my old sytem which I think are 50W and 6 ohmns (definitely the latter as they say that!) Can I use them in my new system?
Hi there,
Just thought I'd add my £0.02. If you're happy with 2 channel sound it makes life way simpler.
Did you get a new CD player? The good news is that LED TV's are at a point were they are respectable performance wise. So as always have a look at a few TV's and decide which one you like the picture of.
Amp wise it depends on what sort of budget you put to the whole project and also what your priorities are. What CD player did you get?
Cheers
T1b
Just thought I'd add my £0.02. If you're happy with 2 channel sound it makes life way simpler.
Did you get a new CD player? The good news is that LED TV's are at a point were they are respectable performance wise. So as always have a look at a few TV's and decide which one you like the picture of.
Amp wise it depends on what sort of budget you put to the whole project and also what your priorities are. What CD player did you get?
Cheers
T1b
The setup I have is microserver sat in the boiler room which sends video and music to the network. I have a Rasberry Pi running XBMC connected via HDMI to my TV, then I have a DVD player with 5.1 output connected to the TV via HDMI, then some tiny surround speakers plugged into the DVD player for the sound.
In my experience the smart TV stuff is functional but unexceptional on most TVs, it's blown away by what can be done with XBMC and a Raspberry Pi based setup is going to be abobut £50 on eBay for the full kit ready to go.
HDMI connection will pass-through remote control button presses to the RPi, so you can control XBMC from your normal remote (as well as your phone, tablet etc).
HDMI will also pass the sound to the DVD player which acts as a 5.1 surround amp for me rather than a DVD player. I wanted small, no one really does a small amp unless it's part of a DVD player, so I went that route. The speakers are Boston Accoustic's 5.1 setup, which appears to be very good quality, but also very small and discreet, which was my priority.
Panasonic seem to make the best TVs at the non-mega bucks price point. HD Ready means 720p, you want full HD, which is 1080p.
In my experience the smart TV stuff is functional but unexceptional on most TVs, it's blown away by what can be done with XBMC and a Raspberry Pi based setup is going to be abobut £50 on eBay for the full kit ready to go.
HDMI connection will pass-through remote control button presses to the RPi, so you can control XBMC from your normal remote (as well as your phone, tablet etc).
HDMI will also pass the sound to the DVD player which acts as a 5.1 surround amp for me rather than a DVD player. I wanted small, no one really does a small amp unless it's part of a DVD player, so I went that route. The speakers are Boston Accoustic's 5.1 setup, which appears to be very good quality, but also very small and discreet, which was my priority.
Panasonic seem to make the best TVs at the non-mega bucks price point. HD Ready means 720p, you want full HD, which is 1080p.
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