What is everyone's home theater or TV set up? I was going to ask this question in the Cable Cutting/Streaming topic, as I was mainly focusing on streaming devices, but thought it would be cool to hear everyone's home theater set ups, how they have changed with streaming becoming a major platform for TV and Movies and for general discussion or questions.
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Main TV has and XBOX one hooked up to it for the kids (including the biggest kid) to play games and that streams everything with a soundbar and play the old blu-rays they have. Other tv's just have a firestick to stream off of. Simple but works for our needs and the soundbars are so silly now I don't even miss my old surround sound set-up's...
I finally upgraded my old 2005ish Samsung 50" plasma TV to an LG 65" 4K TV. My living room temperature and ambient noise level have gone down noticeably. The buzz was finally loud enough to make my surround sound setup useless. The old one was so heavy that I almost tossed the new one because it was so light. It took three of us to take the old one off the wall and I could almost install the new one by myself (but not quite).
All of our content comes via antenna or the Chromecast w/ Google TV streaming something-or-other.
Edit: regarding the chromecast. We were running the 2nd gen CC before which did not have 4K capability. I thought about just getting the 4k but decided to buy the new one because yay, shiny. I am really happy with it. The UI is smooth and i was able to integrate it into my Harmony remote without too much trouble. My TV is "smart" but i don't have a lot of trust in TV apps being updated for long.
Mine's pretty elaborate. try to keep up...
TV stand that I built with short shelf that used to house the Dish Network receiver, since cutting the cord, now we store the laptop there, the other side of it is where my PS4 collects dust. There is a taller shelf below that one that spans the whole TV stand that houses our record collection.
On top of the TV stand sits a 10 year old 47" Vizio with a Firestick connected to it for streaming.
There, thats it.
I currently have a 55" 1080p tv, 20 year old receiver with no HDMI, day one Xbox One for most of my gaming and streaming needs and a first gen Apple TV that sometimes works. For sound, I have a 3.1 but it gets the job done with Focal.JMLab Chorus Tower Speakers, Bose center speaker and a JBL 10" sub that are also all 20 years old I think. All the sound stuff I picked up around thanksgiving.
I am upgrading my tv to 4k hopefully in the next month or so and feel like I should also be upgrading my streaming device and receiver to get the most out of the TV. What is everyone using for streaming? I was looking at getting a NVIDIA shield as I have only heard great things about it. Anyone here have any experience with it?
Sony 75X950G and a Vizio Elevate 5.1.4 sound bar with an Xbox Series X. It ain't much but it's honest work.
Bout to start pricing out an actual home theater build in my basement if movie theaters are truly dead lol.
Bonus room has a 65" LG 4k. Have everything hooked to HDMI ports on the TV and then output to a soundbar. Running a XBOne S and PS4 Pro, but will look to upgrade each whenever I can.
Might eventually go toward a sound system and receiver. There is a noticeable lag from the TV to the soundbar at times, and I think a receiver would probably help eliminate that.
I will be honest, I didn't think that a 4k tv would be that much of a difference maker, but in terms of gaming on the PS4Pro and watching 4k movies on the XB, holy hell was I wrong. Interstellar is a completely different movie visually in 4k. Its like the difference between watching a movie in IMAX as opposed to a regular theater.
How are you hooked into the soundbar? Years ago I had this issue with my surround sound until I switched to opitcal cable and that resolved it. HDMI ARC is supposed to be even better but my older sound equipment doesn't have it and I'm not replacing stuff that works just fine.
From what I've read ARC is very wonky to use regardless of age of equipment. It can be very finicky. eARC is supposed to be better and more consistent with HDMI2.1 but not many devices support it yet.
It doesn't help that I couldn't find any type of quick reference describing how to use it, either with my TV literature or scanning the web. Everything I found just assumed I would know the basics of this technology I had never heard of before. It's not like I'm buying a new TV every year. The others in my house are 15+ years old.
Was i supposed to: source -> TV -> receiver? source -> receiver -> TV? Is the ARC HDMI port an input? an output?
note: this got kind of "old man yells at cloud" pretty quick.
Basically its a special HDMI port on the TV. You can either use it as a standard HDMI input or if you hook it up to a soundbar or a receiver that supports ARC you can use it as an audio output. Then you can use the TV remote to control the volume and turn the soundbar/receiver on and off. So source > TV > Receiver. My dad has it and it works pretty well but occasionally you have to manually turn on the sound bar for some reason.
Thanks for this clarification. You provided much more insight than LG did.
ARC just means that audio is returned to the receiver/sound device using the HDMI cable. It allows you to use one cable to both audio and video.
This is where it got confusing to me because one of the advantages is supposed to be "one cable for audio and video" but I still have to connect three devices so I am using the same number of cables regardless? The signal still needs to get to both the receiver and the TV from the source.
It is all moot anyway since my receiver doesn't accept HDMI.
ARC and eARC have their place... that said, I absolutely do not rely on it. The only reason to use it (in my mind) would be if you are using the TV as the main hub for inputs, and ONLY if you have no other way to return sound to whatever system you are using (i.e. soundbar). I vastly prefer using the receiver as the HDMI hub and then using the single HDMI out to drive the TV.
This is a good reference though - https://nerdtechy.com/hdmi-arc-optical - if you have an audio system that goes beyond a 5.1 setup then optical will not support it. Optical will also will not support a number of audio formats. The main thing I can suggest is careful planning, especially if you have to piecemeal your setup over time. Invest your money in a proper A/V receiver and you will be fine.
I've tried ARC as well as Optical.
It might be a problem with the TV itself. There were a lot of processing settings that were enabled out of the factory, and disabling them have helped a bit.
Not a picture of my set up but did does this bring back memories for any other 80's kids out there or what? The TV on top of old cabinet TV was a staple of 80's living rooms/dens.
Where's the Atari 2600?
Man that looks like the 26" GE Console that I got from my grandfather in the mid 90's.
Pretty basic setup for me. But question. I have a Sony LCD that's about 12 years old. Picture still looks great, but it's started to develop vertical lines at the bottom. Used to be 3, now there's like 5. Looks green sometimes, red sometimes depending on what's on. Happens for every input, so not an input issue. Any ideas, or should I start saving?
Start saving. That puppy is on her last legs.
Probably easier to replace it than to try and repair it. Even when they are new, finding parts is impossible and the cost of TV replacement is just so ridiculously low (compared to when you bought the Sony).
As to the issue, it sounds like some of the LCD strips aren't getting the signal properly (broken connection? dust? bad contact? other reason?) or the blue LCDs have failed and are unable to light with the red and the green. Is it the same cable for all the inputs, or different cables per input? You could try to clean the port or open the TV and remove any dust that has accumulated.
Thanks for the info. It's in a pretty clean spot in the house, so not dusty really. I've tried cleaning it, but not to the extent of opening it. All inputs are different cables. I'll start saving. 😀
Probably worth replacing. Large screens nowadays aren't really THAT expensive unless you're looking in the 70"+ range. But the quality of picture it really night and day. We had an old 60" Sharp that we bought about 8 years ago that we were using before we got the LG 4k. We thought the picture on the Sharp was pretty good, but replacing it proved it very much wasn't. Picture was too dark, the image itself wasn't clear enough, and it just really didn't work. And adjusting the settings really didn't help much.
Oh this is my TV in my main living room. I have a 4K Sony in my basement. But honestly they're still comparable. This LCD still looks good. But I don't have much 4K input and I could probably work on the settings. But yes, TVs are much cheaper now. I'm not going super big. Maybe I'll pick one up during Super Bowl sales.
I am fortunate to have a basement with limited windows that allows me to use a HD projector firing at an approximately 15 foot diagonal screen. Speakers are 15 year old Paradigm that still sound good but need an upgrade. X Box hooked via HDMI into the system...which makes getting killed by my son in split screen COD even more dramatic...
We just bought a house with an unfinished basement that has a nearly perfect spot for a home theater. However, the entire back wall of the basement is windows with southern exposure (lots of light all day). Even with blackout curtains for the theater area, should I avoid a projector and go with an ~80" TV?
I'm looking forward to getting to wire in wall speakers, etc. since we have a blank canvas to work with down there.
So that is a great question and I am by no means an expert. You will find multiple different opinions. A projector is never going to be as sharp as an 80 " TV, but you can still have issues with a large TV if there is lots of light streaming into your room. I went with a projector because the overall cost was less than getting a large TV...in all honesty the greatest cost was the actual screen. A exceptional screen can make up for a great deal of your issues with background light.
I got a great deal of info from cnet.com about what would work for my specific set up and the differences between the technology (DLP/LCD etc)...you may want to start there
Awesome. Thanks. We have another space in the basement that is already framed out for a spare bedroom that would also work well for a home theater. It is a little more narrow than the other space but only two windows that the screen could drop down in front of.
Look at the Vava 4k ultra short throw laser projector and an ALR screen. You can watch a movie with the lights on and have minimal washout. And you don't have to worry about someone walking in front of the projector!
Nothing too fancy for me. 43" TCL 4K in the family room with a LG soundbar. 4K FireTV Stick, Nintento Switch and Blu Ray player hooked up. The house we bought earlier this year actually has built in surround sound, but its oriented for the TV being above the fire place which neither one of us like. Last house was built during a small period of time when builders where putting built in cubbies above fire places for CRT TVs and I just started it hating especially for playing video games. That stupid cubby is also why we only have a 43".
I have an old Onkyo receiver that I might hook up to use the built in speakers for music. Also contemplated running a cable for a new center speaker mounted under the TV. If I had any idea how the cables were fed through the wall and ceiling I might try moving the center speaker.
I am also not a fan of the TV above the fireplace. The only time I should have to look up to see the TV is if I am bellied up to the bar at my favorite watering hole.
A work in progress but here it goes:
- LG 65" 4k (last year's nano cell version - 65SM9000PUA Nano 9)... would not recommend for a diehard cinema setup (way too many issues with backlight halo effects in dark scenes), but great/fantastic for video games and sports
- Onkyo AV driving 5.1.2 Atmos setup, with Klipsch reference center channel and rear speakers, ELAC Debut B6 surround, ELAC A42 (upward firing) Atmos speakers, and an ELAC 10" sub
- Roku Ultra 4k, FiOS DVR (1080p) providing main sources for live action
- Sony 4k UHD UBP-X800M2 (well worth the money)
- and a collection of game systems - Switch, SNES Classic, PS3, RetroPie, and a custom PC build. Too many systems and not enough HDMI ports, so I have to switch the HDMI cable any time I want to use one of the other systems
I do not have anything crazy as far as expensive TVs and sound, but I did get a bunch of TVs from my old job and now have one on the wall in almost every major room. Then I ran the outlets for them to the network closet where they connect to the UPS so when power interruptions happen I do not lose TV or internet. Couple those with streaming devices like the new Chromecast with Google TV and you can have quick media everywhere. The kitchen and garage TV get used much more than my living room TV.
50" smart tv, that has apps for Hulu and Netflix built-in, and apps for ESPN+, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports added to the home screen. Cable box in one HDMI, bluray in another, and Fire Stick in the last HDMI. I've got the audio on the tv muted so all he sound comes through the Polk sound bar and sub (connected with optical cable from the TV.) I like the sound on this bar, and the remote allows you change the setting to movie or music away from basic tv. Serves the purpose, and worked so well when I set up the first one that I duplicated it in the other living room.
46" LED 1080p TV connected to a PS4 and a Roku 3. We cut the cable a while back and have attached Roku's to our 2 older flatscreens. The TV in the basement craft room was purchased as a Roku TV.
Optima 4k Projector with 120" screen, use an Xbox to access Prime/Netflix/Disney/ESPN.
Warning: if going with a 4k projector make sure the 4k technology is compatible with the device you are streaming from. Not all the projectors have Dolby Atmos.
this emphasizes my point above... the A/V receiver needs to be brains of the whole operation.
Also worth mentioning that a lot of 4K projectors aren't true 4K projectors.
Living room just got an 86" lg 4K tv so we moved the (not so) old 65" lg 4K to my man cave. Old hand me down bose 5.1 surround sound system with a 65" tv in a room that's like 10x10' is quite an experience.
I have an old Bose surround in a box that we used to have hooked up in our small condo living room. Man that would kick! I want to hook up the center channel, front R, and front L to our receiver and turn table when I get around to it.
My budget setup:
TV - Vizio M65-D0 - going to upgrade down the line for better HDR
Receiver - Yamaha RX-V379 - probs next piece that will be upgraded
Center - Micca MB42X-C - needs an upgrade as well
L/R - Polk Monitor 60 Series II
Rears - Micca MB42X
Sub - Jamo 300
Xbox One S
Logitech Harmony Touch
Not even remotely close to top tier equipment, but I really enjoy it.
65 inch LG CX
4K firestick
Xbox series X
Surround sound pending
I hate you
I almost had an PS5 too lol
What kind of boy do you use
70 inch Samsung
Sony Receiver
Bose 5.1 surround speakers
Yamaha desktop sub
Everything runs through the receiver - including all the HDMI's-Apple TV, Fios box, Blue Ray. Works well. Loud as hell if you want it to be.
just finished my basement (myself, not a contractor). Main theatre area has a Sony 85" TV flanked by 4 - 55" Samsung TV's. 3 more 55" Samsungs over the bar and 3 smaller TV's by the pool table/poker table. Running 11 TV's off of multiple HDMI splitters run from 5 FIOS One boxes in my A/V closet. 9.1 Onkyo surround sound.
When you hosting the next TKP game watch party? Seriously nice setup
Is that it?
Amazing! Would love to see pictures for inspiration!
Second this request! I need pictures of your basement sports bar.
https://imgur.com/a/34v5SMd
https://imgur.com/a/3NgW1L3
Awesome! Now I really want to get our basement finished ASAP. Hah.
Holy sweet set up
That's pretty epic!
My setup is a simple 55" 4k w/ Roku upstairs, and then downstairs a 1080P projector with 100" screen fed by a Yamaha 5.1 A/V receiver that is hooked up to a HTPC, a Chromecast w/ GoogleTV and a PS4
Are you planning to use some kind of unified control system for the 5 feeds / 11 TV's? Or just rolling with a pile of TV and FIOS remotes with labels on them?
The fios app allows you to control all fios one boxes from your phone. Much easier than keeping track of 5 remotes
Just modified my setup following Black Friday and wall mounted my 55" TCL 4k and ran all the wires through the wall. As others have said I'm not a fan of a higher wall mount, but this was done to appease the Ms., she is completely against wires of any kind, so with that being said I traded my denon receiver and bose 5.0 surround for a sonos soundbar and 2 bookshelf speakers about a year ago. I have a chromecast gen2 and switch connected to the TV and I'm hoping to upgrade it for a 65-70" around the SuperbOwl or Memorial Day if there's a good sale out there.
I'm upgrading to sonos everywhere for a large house and I have bought the two One SLs and a sub to use for the TV. We are skeptical to buy the soundbar for that TV because the TV is one of the Samsung Frame TVs that's supposed to look like a picture when it's off so we don't want a huge soundbar to detract from that aesthetic. I don't like a TV being the focal point of a room so this is a good compromise. We did get the Beam soundbar for another TV and it's a nice soundbar for the size and can double for music and other things.
To the point of my question - would it sound okay to just use the sub and two One's for the TV or do you feel like the soundbar is necessary? Also, which soundbar do you have? You mention bookshelf speakers, how are you running that with the Sonos?
By bookshelf speakers I meant the One SL's, but you can run your own equipment with sonos if you use the sonos amp, port, or an old connect. I looked into keeping my original setup with an amp/port, but decided it wasn't worth the price or hassle and the quality would probably suffer.
I think the sub and 2 One's would sound great for music, but watching TV and movies the dialogue would probably suffer. Most of that is handled by a center speaker inside of the soundbar so it might not come out as clearly with just the 2.1 setup, although I bet you could adjust the EQ settings in the sonos amp to make up for it if you're not to OCD about it.
I also have a sonos beam mostly due to space limitations in my entertainment center, but I personally love it and don't think I need anything bigger or more modern. Maybe that'll change when I slap a bigger TV up there though. I get not wanting to draw away from that look it sounds very clean, is there a piece of furniture you could hide a beam in/on?
Pardon my mess, like I said I just finished getting that TV mounted and haven't decided what to do with the top of the entertainment center or if we're keeping it. Anyway, this is my setup and the beam is in the top shelf, I could easily hide it a little better if I wanted.
Probably - really I think it's going to look fine so we'll probably end up buying one. That's a great point about the dialogue, which is one thing I've enjoyed about the beam on the other TV.
Thanks for the advice!
I'm in a 60-year old house and have have a small room for my main setup. I have a different room for the kids so this is just for me and my wife to enjoy.
I have traditionally run everything through a receiver and then used a single video output to the TV as that has always worked best. Little bit different now as we stream everything and have an Android TV has the source for all of that streaming. Using the HDMI ARC to send audio from the TV back to the receiver which took some time to to get the audio delay (lip sync) set up correctly.
TV - Sony 75" X900F 4K Android TV - great all-around TV for sports, movies, and video games.
Receiver - Denon 7.1 channel
Speakers - Fronts are Polk RTi A7's, center is Polk CSi A6, and some Yamaha in-ceiling speakers for the side surround and rear surrounds.
Subwoofer - Hsu Research VTF-3 that is insanely awesome (except when it wakes the kids up).
Other - Xbox One for games & the 4K player, Nintendo Classic, and a Logitech Harmony One remote.
Pictures of the setup:
You appear to be well learned
Love it. I see you too are a DC United fan.
Recently did a built in project where I added electrical to the top and routed all my cables through the wall and hid everything in the built ins. Running a 55" LG with Sound Bar below it. Nintendo Switch / Blu Ray / etc. in the bottom left cabinet.
Broke it in with the VT/Duke game we won 2 years ago.
In the process of finishing the basement which will be a similar set up with the tv and sound bar as the space isn't big enough to warrant a full on surround sound system. Will have a more man-cave-ish feel to it with my "office/computer desk" being down there as well. I will have all my old Nintendo's hooked up, possibly PS5 if I buy one, and will be the main area for watching movies/games. I'm hoping to get either a bunch of different VT helmets to display along the walls, or I'm thinking every rendition of the American flag from 13 Colonies to present shadow boxed.
Looks great. Did you run conduit? We have a Frame TV that just has one cable and I'd like to run it through the wall but it's not rated for that. I think we'd need a conduit.
https://www.tvinstallationservice.ca/how-to-hide-samsung-one-connect-box/
Thank you!
If you are looking for some unique VT wall art for the man cave. This guy is a Hokie alum and does some awesome work.
https://www.facebook.com/Furlough-Cuts-114401813684491/
I don't I often past here, but when I do - for sure it is on a thread like this. Home theater is a passion of mine (unfortuantely I seem to pick very expensive hobbies.) I have an upstairs den setup of:
TV: Sony 75X900H (newest upgrade)
Speakers: Jamo A850s and Focal Little Bird Surround speakers
Sub: Monoprice whatever the cheap 12 inch one is
Receiver: Onkyo 709TX-NR709
Downstairs Theater:
Projector: BenQ 2050A
Screen: Elite Screens 100 inch diagonal electric rolldown
Receiver: Denon X2400
Speakers: ELAC Debut 2.0 up front, Aperion Intimus Surrounds, Monoprice Caliber Atmos speakers
Sub: Powersound Audio V1500
Streaming Device: nVidia Shield
TV was the most recent upgrade (highly recommended), my one disappointment is the Elite Screens screen. I cannot get the waviness out of it no matter how I adjust the tab tensioning system. I got a Silver ticket screen for my dad and I like that way better. Next upgrade for me is either new receiver to go 5.1.4 for downstairs or a second subwoofer for the basement (it's a big open space so I use the output of the PSA V1500 for sure, but it crushes)
How do you like your nVidia Shield? I'm debating on either a new Apple TV or a nVidia Shield when I get a new TV.
My inlaws have a apple TV so I've actually used both. I like the nVidia myself, but they are very similar. The nVidia interface is more straightforward and my preference, though both are easy to navigate and super fast. They both support all the streaming apps in full quality except for Apple doesn't support 4k or 5.1 audio for youtube(not sure about YouTube tv). I'm an android guy so once I signed in with my Gmail the shield found all my app logins and setup was super easy. Shield is the only one that supports lossless audio and dolby vision for plex so if you have a plex library it is definitely the way to go...also the main reason I got it in the first place. I have my shield on a 1080p projector so I've never tried any of the 4k HDR features, but I've read it is just as good as the apple TV there. Both great streaming devices though, I would probably say it comes down to plex and then whether you are an apple or Android person.
Just want to throw this out there, if you are going to do a lot of streaming then be sure you can hard wire your devices or Smart TV directly to your router instead of using wi-fi.
Agreed, or another alternative is a wireless ac router. We have an Orbi mesh system and it is rock solid for streaming.
I'm still rocking a Pioneer 50" plasma that I bought right outa college in '10. It's connected to a PS4, Switch, & HTPC via a Denon receiver and sound is courtesy of a 3.1 Polk speaker setup.
Eventually I'm gonna move my 900 movie collection to a NAS and ditch the HTPC and when the Pioneer dies it'll be upgraded to a 60-65" dumb TV (no smart TV here).
Good luck finding a dumb tv. I don't think they make them anymore unless you are buying 65" pc specific monitor which are hard to come by now.
Yeah the only dumb TVs are for like fast food menu monitors. Just get a smart TV and turn off the internet if you're paranoid. That's about the only option.
Best Buy still has "dumb" tvs as of last summer. I got one for my then office just to use with a chromecast. It's an Insignia but works well and will allow HDMI devices to control power and volume which makes it about as smart as it needs to be with the right hardware attached.
We fill 30 inch Dish bowl twice a week in river.
We watch neighbor Susan hgtv between 7 and 8 o'clock on Saturday when gregoreigh come in from field.