Looking for a 'basic' full setup for watching tv (1 Viewer)

[Xoam]

Hello all! I am looking to upgrade my home theater setup, but I'm kind of clueless on what I really need to get it all working properly, and I can't really find a good guide to help me get started. I currently have: - LG 50" plasma tv - Mede8er 400x mini media streamer - and old JVC Stereo, not sure on the model (http://img.2dehands.be/f/preview/140500575-stereo-jvc.jpg) I use the system 90% of the time for watching downloaded series and movies (.avi mostly), 10% of the time for music. The current room I use it in is my bedroom, so it's a rather small room, not optimal for proper 5.1, but since these systems are meant to last, I plan to take it along to my new place and install it in a living room at some point. At this moment I have the mede8er stream the video to the tv (duh) and the audio to the stereo aux, so I have decent sound, but only stereo, and the mede8er that I have is quite slow when navigating through folders and such. I plan on investing in something that's really good bang-for-the-buck (upto 1000 euro), to improve the sound and quality-of-life (currently using 3 remotes). Some questions that I'm stuck with: - the most important one: what do I need ? are modern AV Receivers also media streamers (doesnt need to be wifi), or do I need a seperate media streamer hooked up to the AVR, which then sends it on to the speakers? - do AVR's come with the universal remotes needed to operate the streamer/tv/avr or is that something that needs to be bought seperately? - Is it unwise to buy a 5.1 system for such a small room, even if I plan to take it along to my new place at some point, or is the quality gain in a small room just not worth it to upgrade now? I was looking at the Monoprice 9774 system, but they don't seem to ship to Belgium. (even if they did the price would be doubled by ups/import costs) I know most of these questions are probably quite basic and maybe even frowned upon, but I simply can't find a proper guide that explains what every piece of a home theater does and what you need to pay attention to to have a nice bundle. If you can point me to a guide where I can read up on all this as well, I'd be equally grateful for that! Thanks

 

[NickSI]

I would direct you to Crutchfield.com they have some great articles on Home Theater stuff. Here is one which gives an overview of receivers http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/home/receivers.html?g=10400

 

[schan1269]

What I would direct you toward is the Onkyo NR414. There is the TEAC AD-G500(have no clue what it costs) which is, essentially, the Onkyo NR515. You still need a "video" server(as AVR will only stream audio)...which Roku/Popcorn Hour/Apple TV etc will all handle whatever you've got.

 

[NickSI]

I would stay away from apple TV if these downloaded files of yours are ill gotten ie: from bit torrent or the like... it won't play them without some serious work... I would say Roku or if you have any interest in a gaming console both of the big ones are great media hubs (with the edge to the PS3 in my opinion)