HT Upgrading Questions (1 Viewer)

[Colin Davidson]

Greetings:

I am in the final phases of convincing my wife that we should upgrade our HT.
I have a pretty finite budget with a bit of wiggle room but would prefer to stay at or under budget if I can.

Here is what I am considering:

Display: LG OLED65C6P
Why this one? Other than the HDR component I would like to have 3D as well and it appears that this would be a
great choice based on size and features.

UHD Blu Player: OPPO UDP-203. Should say it all as to reasons why I chose this one.

My plan is to connect the OPPO, Directv and XBox directly to the LG and use it to get video and audio from the LG and hopefully NOT have to purchase a new receiver.

The living room area where this will go is not really designed to have a full set of speakers and on my current setup have been using a soundbar and separate sub-woofer with my older 5.1 receiver.

My questions are:

Will the set up I have described above LG, OPPO, DTV, XBox work sufficiently to enjoy movies, TV and games?
Must I have a HDR - HDMI capable receiver to make this all work?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice provided, I greatly appreciate it.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

You should be able to use the LG display and Oppo with your setup. The display has multiple HDMI inputs, so you can run the video directly from your components to the display and run separate audio connections from the Oppo, DTV and Xbox to your old receiver - provided you have enough inputs available on the receiver.

 

[Dave Moritz]

There is one thing you may want to wait for and that is Dolby Vision! Dolby Vision is Dolby's version of HDR and content should be coming very soon this year. But you may want to hold off your upgrade to make sure everything is Dolby Vision compatible.

Min Requirements to enjoy 4K UHD Blu-ray

HDCP 2.2 ! Your 4K UHD BD player should have it but you need to make sure your new receiver has it and that your tv has it along with Dolby Vision. You will be able to play the 4K content with Dolby Vision but you will not be able to get the benefits.

Must I have a HDR - HDMI capable receiver to make this all work?

If you want to take advantage of HDR you will but you can still play the content without the capability. As far as a receiver goes you can always use one HDMI straight to your tv and one from the audio only out to an older no 4K switching receiver.

 

[Colin Davidson]

Thanks Scott and Dave for responding to my post. From what I am understanding I guess I need to budget some additional funds for an upgraded receiver.

In looking at the specs for both the display and the Oppo it does support Dolby Vision so I believe I am covered there.

Any suggestions for a moderately priced receiver that would work for my needs?

Thank you again for the help.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Of course, if you go for a 4K display that supports Dolby Vision, you will lose 3D. One of many reasons I haven't upgraded to a 4K display and a 4K UHD BD player. Player will likely come first, then projector for me.

 

[Colin Davidson]

Guess I am even MORE confused than previously, I know, no surprise right?

From what I have gathered from research...

LG OLED65C6P: Supports HDR10 and 3D as well as DolbyVision.

OPPO UDP-203: Supports HDR10 and 3D and will have a firmware update to include DolbyVision in the future.

Not quite clear why a feature of both pieces of hardware (3D) would be unavailable once the DolbyVision update is released on the OPPO.
Anywho, just wondering what the alternatives are or whether I should give up and go back to my Magnavox console TV and rabbit ears.

Thanks.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Guess I am even MORE confused than previously, I know, no surprise right?

From what I have gathered from research...

LG OLED65C6P: Supports HDR10 and 3D as well as DolbyVision.

OPPO UDP-203: Supports HDR10 and 3D and will have a firmware update to include DolbyVision in the future.

Not quite clear why a feature of both pieces of hardware (3D) would be unavailable once the DolbyVision update is released on the OPPO.
Anywho, just wondering what the alternatives are or whether I should give up and go back to my Magnavox console TV and rabbit ears.

Thanks.

With that LG panel, you'll be fine with 3-D and Dolby Vision once the Oppo 203 firmware update takes place.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Any suggestions for a moderately priced receiver that would work for my needs?

Colin:

A place with very affordable receivers (some refurbished) is www.accessories4less.com. I think you might be pleasantly surprised at what you might find out there. I gotta believe the right receiver will make your system a lot more user-friendly.

Do you have a good universal remote (like a Harmony)?

 

[Colin Davidson]

Crawdaddy - THANK YOU!

Mike: Appreciate your response. I have had two older Harmony remotes however when my two grandsons moved in with us both those remotes were destroyed within about 8 months of each other. I would LOVE to have the newest Harmony but would not want it to be destroyed as well. I will take a look at the site you provided but again not really sure what would be "right" for my setup.

Cheers.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Colin,

What is your price range on a new receiver? Also, your speaker setup such as 5.1 or 7.1?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Colin,

A Harmony 650 remote only cost $50 on Amazon ($40 for a refurbished model). I am using this model to control my entire home theater system. So, you do not need to spend a lot to get a decent universal remote.

As for the receiver, the questions Robert asks are essential for making a recommendation. Personally, I have been very happy with the Denon X3300 I purchased a few months ago. Denon makes numerous models to fit various budgets and needs, as does Yamaha, Onkyo, etc.

If you do not want to go the refurbished route for a new receiver, I would suggest trying AV Science. They are an authorized dealer for what they sell, are less expensive than places like Best Buy / Magnolia or Amazon, and are very helpful. I purchased my Denon through them.

 

[Colin Davidson]

Crawdaddy -

Funding for this project is still under "negotiation" if you catch my meaning. I am thinking in the range of $500 for it though, but that is not based on any research thus far because I really don't know what to look at/for. Our living room where this will be is not really configured to handle an arrangement of speakers unless I want to do some serious remodeling. The current setup has been using a speaker bar under the display with a sub on the side which while not a truly theater speaker setup has been adequate.

Scott -

Thanks for the information on the remote and receivers. I purchased an Onkyo a few years ago and had nothing but problems with the HDMI board. After 3 times of sending back east to get fixed I finally threw in the towel and went back to my old receiver which has worked great, hooray Pioneer Elite, which is also the brand of the 50 inch plasma I have had all these years.

Thank you all for your contributions and helping me get this sorted out.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Colin,

My previous two receivers were Pioneer Elites, as well, and I was very satisfied with them. However, since they have been purchased by Onkyo, I did not really want to stick with them this time -- I had some concerns regarding quality, just as you have, plus it appeared they are a little behind the industry on features in the Pioneer line.

I did quite a bit of research before settling on a Denon X3300, which will be a little more costly than your stated $500 budget (I got mine for $750 new). A refurbished unit would be a little less expensive, but would only come with a one year warranty instead of three years for a new unit. The X2300 would probably meet your needs and would be around your budget. I went with the X3300 over the X2300 for the following reasons, which may or may not matter to you:

• A more advanced Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and Sub EQ HT auto calibration and room correction system. Everything below the X3300 uses lesser Audyssey systems
  
• DSD support on the HDMI inputs -- important if you have SACD audio discs
• On screen display works over 4K video

The S920W is even less expensive than the X2300, but comes with a two year warranty instead of 3, plus some minor feature differences. All three of the models I mention can support up to either 7.2 or 5.2.2 channels.

Hopefully someone else more familiar with Yamaha can outline their models around your price range. I did not save my notes from researching Yamaha's line. I did not look into Sony at all.