Advice Please!

micth21131

15 years ago, installed new entertainment system (65" Mitsubishi TV, Yamaha receiver, Polk audio 2300 speakers, surround sound). The TV has now died. Bought 65" LG 65UF6450 TV. Was told I need to replace Yamaha receiver to get most from TV (connections need to be HDMI). Don't want to spend fortune on receiver. Best Buy guy told me to be sure to have 100 watts per channel and that it be 8 OHMS. Any suggestions as to what to buy that will work well with the speakers system I have built in?? Not an audio person so need help.

Willow

Well you don't need hdmi. You can still get Dolby digital and dts through toslink or dig coax. If you want the newest audio formats then you will need hdmi.

codycatalist

Agreed you can use optical audio out if you have it as well. I've heard it isn't the best route but it is the only thing I can do being as my TV doesn't have component out for audio.

tonyb

You need HDMI with that 4k tv you bought, don't even think otherwise. I'm not familiar with those speakers though. Are they smallish ?

All receivers today will be 8 ohms capable, thing is if you have hard to drive speakers you may need a 4 ohm capable one. I'm guessing you don't though, so most any receiver from Marantz, Yamaha Avantage line or Pioneer SC line would do you nicely. You can even look for some used and save a boat load of coin.

If you go too cheap on the receiver, your sound quality will suffer. Midline Marantz, or Pioneer is your best bet for not a lot of coin. Yamaha's in my opinion don't start sounding good until you hit the Avantage line of receivers. Cost is relative though. Whats your idea of not a lot of money ?

codycatalist

tonyb wrote: »

You need HDMI with that 4k tv you bought, don't even think otherwise.

Why is that Tony?

tonyb

codycatalist wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

You need HDMI with that 4k tv you bought, don't even think otherwise.

Why is that Tony?

Because to get the HD pic and possibly 4k content, limited as it is, you need the HDMI. You'll also need the HDMI connections for blu-ray players, gamers if you are one, or any other outboard device. You also won't get the newer surround codecs without it....unless you enjoy buying additional cables and finding a player that has analog outputs which limits you to an OPPO.

Without the hdmi, you'd be asking for headaches with compatibility issues. The newer 4k TV's, some don't even have digital coax or toslink outputs/inputs. Just a whole host of problems await trying to integrate a non hdmi receiver with a 4k tv.

codycatalist

I guess I got lucky then, my 55inch Curved UHD 4k Samsung has optical audio outs so I just run Ps4 HDMI> Tv then Tv Optical audio out > Yamaha HTR-5590. Haven't had an issue, i've heard optical audio doesn't sound the best but I have no gripes so far...at least until I want to upgrade...then I will find something to gripe about.

Gunther16

Benefits to using Digital or optical connections to Receiver/Processor. You do not need to turn on your equipment when you don't want to hear sounds thru your HT/Stereo system. Your TV will provide sound. I personally like having the option. The best of both worlds so to speak. Yes it may be a slight (really slight) inconvenience but for me its worth it. Who watches the news thru their Audio equipment anyway. All my video/audio sourcesare going to the TV via HDMI and to my Processor via optical/digital connections. I can have my choice of audio. So ok I have to mute the TV when using the Audio equipment but so what?

tonyb

codycatalist wrote: »

I guess I got lucky then, my 55inch Curved UHD 4k Samsung has optical audio outs so I just run Ps4 HDMI> Tv then Tv Optical audio out > Yamaha HTR-5590. Haven't had an issue, i've heard optical audio doesn't sound the best but I have no gripes so far...at least until I want to upgrade...then I will find something to gripe about.

The higher end TV's will have those in/outputs. The TV in question has a digital input, but no output. This all varies from brand to brand, series to series, so something to keep in mind when shopping for a new TV.

Some will have an optical out and not even do 5.1 thru them, pretty silly in my view given todays tech.

Point is, if you bought a 4k TV with the latest tech in it, why try and pair it up with gear of lessor tech ? Something won't talk to each other along the way and create issues. Even within the different variety of HDMI iterations, there is still compatibility issues. Sure, some of these issues you might be able to do a work around, but why beg for the headaches is all I'm sayin'.

honestaquarian

Yeah what he said^
Also you must remember the equipment that is capable of passing the full hundred plus gigabit per second HDMI 2.0 has not yet been released (*even though the manufacturer's are labeling the current crop of audio gear HDMI 2.0 compliant*)

trj

Completely agree with @tonyb
HDMI is the way to go. I am still kicking myself for having an SACD player that has analog outs. 6 cables where one cable could have done everything. Need to find one that does SACD via HDMI.

I am one of those who watches news on 5.1 system. I cant stand the sound from TV speakers. I dont know if my 3 year old TV speakers even work. Everything goes through my receiver and one universal remote controls everything.
Summing it up, I dont like clutter. Be it wires, cables or remotes.

If you want to use TV speakers and not the HT, most of the modern receivers have pass through function anyway.

Now, the receiver recommendation from bestbuy guy would not something I would be taking seriously.
Do a little research to see what kind of setup you are looking at. If the speakers you have tiny little cubes or bigger bookshelf/towers. Buy a receiver accordingly.

honestaquarian

@trj
I saw your post on the 4k thread. Take a close look at my last post above.

befuddle

I thought it strange that a major brand of that size wouldn't be designed for use with a home theater,
It could be in error,always best to double check! But looking up the specs list from Best buy shows a lg 65UF6450 to have a optical digital output jack in the rear.
Using this connection to go to the receiver you can get regular Dob.dig. if the tv and station support it.
If you have a cable box you can you can use the box menu to assign its dig.coax or optical out to pass the sound to the receiver,
This way the hdmi connection from the box to tv will allow HD pict and tv snd and surround thru the box dig output to the amp.
To get the improved DD plus or Dts equivalent a receiver with them would be required which will have the needed hdmi connection for them

tonyb

trj wrote: »

Completely agree with @tonyb
HDMI is the way to go. I am still kicking myself for having an SACD player that has analog outs. 6 cables where one cable could have done everything. Need to find one that does SACD via HDMI.

Well, not so fast.....the benefit of a good SACD player is also the better build quality and the better internal dacs. Using HDMI would bypass that benefit, which is why you don't see too many with that option.

K_M

befuddle wrote: »

I thought it strange that a major brand of that size wouldn't be designed for use with a home theater,
It could be in error,always best to double check! But looking up the specs list from Best buy shows a lg 65UF6450 to have a optical digital output jack in the rear.
Using this connection to go to the receiver you can get regular Dob.dig. if the tv and station support it.
If you have a cable box you can you can use the box menu to assign its dig.coax or optical out to pass the sound to the receiver,
This way the hdmi connection from the box to tv will allow HD pict and tv snd and surround thru the box dig output to the amp.
To get the improved DD plus or Dts equivalent a receiver with them would be required which will have the needed hdmi connection for them

Most TV's and receivers, have ARC (audio return channel) support and send audio both direction thru HDMI.

http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/arc.aspx

My one home theatre, everything goes into AVR with HDMI, and receiver out goes to TV thru HDMI.

The audio from the TV returns back thru the same HDMI.

codycatalist

My Yamaha has DTS as long as my TV can output that format (which it does) through optical. Would HDMI improve that effect?

trj

honestaquarian wrote: »

@trj
I saw your post on the 4k thread. Take a close look at my last post above.

Hence, I said there, may be "by the end of the year". I am still waiting on the formats to get standardized before buying a new receiver. So hard to wait, I was almost going for yamaha aventage 2050, but

tonyb wrote: »

Well, not so fast.....the benefit of a good SACD player is also the better build quality and the better internal dacs. Using HDMI would bypass that benefit, which is why you don't see too many with that option.

That is a good point Tony. I was just giving OP options on reducing cable clutter.
In my case, both may have same DAC. My SACD player is little older than my receiver. Both yamahas. Hence, my advice to OP to search for a receiver that meets his needs/possible upgrade plans and not to listen to the sales guy at best buy. Who knows what other equipments OP will be connecting to his receiver

tonyb

lol.....sales guy at BestBuy is the last dude you want to listen to.

tonyb

K_M wrote: »

befuddle wrote: »

I thought it strange that a major brand of that size wouldn't be designed for use with a home theater,
It could be in error,always best to double check! But looking up the specs list from Best buy shows a lg 65UF6450 to have a optical digital output jack in the rear.
Using this connection to go to the receiver you can get regular Dob.dig. if the tv and station support it.
If you have a cable box you can you can use the box menu to assign its dig.coax or optical out to pass the sound to the receiver,
This way the hdmi connection from the box to tv will allow HD pict and tv snd and surround thru the box dig output to the amp.
To get the improved DD plus or Dts equivalent a receiver with them would be required which will have the needed hdmi connection for them

Most TV's and receivers, have ARC (audio return channel) support and send audio both direction thru HDMI.

http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/arc.aspx

My one home theatre, everything goes into AVR with HDMI, and receiver out goes to TV thru HDMI.

The audio from the TV returns back thru the same HDMI.

Providing the receiver is ARC compliant too, which isn't always the case when trying to mix and match old/newer technology creating headaches.

You can use the TV itself to switch inputs instead of the receiver as a work around, but, depending on what you want to accomplish many TV's only have one or 2 HDMI inputs capable of 4k resolutions. The others are not, something else to be aware of.

If your going to wait to buy a receiver until the formats settle down, good luck with that. They constantly change....to get you constantly buying new gear. You think they want you holding on to that receiver for 10 years ?

befuddle

Mitch- If your still considering if you need a new receiver to go with the tv and issues that concern 4k google-[ Cnet Do I need a new AV receiver to go with my 4kTV] it was a article from last year that helped to clarify things for me from a layman's perspective.

footwedge

tonyb wrote: »

K_M wrote: »

befuddle wrote: »

You think they want you holding on to that receiver for 10 years ?

Like golf clubs. Every year or two they come out with better clubs.

rpf65

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marsr5010/marantz-sr5010-7.2-ch-x-100-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

Figure you have a basic 5.1 or 7.1 system, and just want a newer model AVR. This has the newest decoding formats, and will allow 4K streaming.

So long as you don't have power hungry speakers, guessing bookies, this should work for you.

tonyb

You really don't need a receiver to stream 4k, most all the newer 4k TV's do that on their own. Their is a lot of redundancy in gear. TV'S, receivers, bdp's, Firesticks, Roku....they all stream from the same sources. I don't see why one would need multiple pieces that stream. Especially with 4k material as it's only available by a few sources. Each brand also has their own 4k movie box they want you to cough up an extra 3-4-5 hundies for.....which is a waste imho.

rpf65

I agree that there is a lot of redundancy out there. It is by far easier for a novice to ask if an AVR will stream/decode 4K content than to remember all the letters/numbers to decode that content.

Friend of mine, who knows close to nothing about HT just bought a new tv. Followed my advice, and made sure he could stream 4K, even though he has no subscriptions to those services. He also payed to have it calibrated, which I told him didn't happen.

The OP said he has had his tv for 16 years, so I'm guessing HT isn't really a high priority to him. Just easier for people to understand that if you can stream 4K, it will decode the content if/when it becomes a viable format.

Just suggesting an easier way to hopefully get an extra month or two before the next latest and greatest thing comes out.

tonyb

I hear ya, just that today and down the road compatibility issues are going to be huge. Manufacturers aren't exactly forthcoming either. It's easier for some to just say you need a 4k receiver, bdp, and 4k HDMI cables to access 4k material. You sell more products that way.

It's important, in my view anyway, for anyone to be a bit more specific on what they want their system/gear to do and what accompanying gear they plan to use with it. That way we can see where the issues will arise, where they need to spend the money and where they don't.

Certainly is confusing for the average joe who isn't that into this stuff and that makes them the perfect target for a salesman.