Sony A90J 2021 OLED buyers and owners thread (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Tom! That’s certainly an option to have some trusted friends to help that you suggest. I will rebuild a wooden pallet I have that has wheels that I could use to roll the set into the house from the outside.

 

[JNMNL52]

Hey guys, I’m close to pulling the trigger on the A9OJ sight unseen. Some great posts here too!

Part of my hesitation is COVID related. This is a big and heavy set especially if the 83 inch model is concerned. If one buys from Best Buy, they’d likely deliver and install. But I do not want strangers in my house. Even if they say they are vaccinated, they may be lying.

I have been planning to contact Mr. Zohn about how the delivery is done if purchased from Value Electtonics. If it is, I’d need a way to carry it into the house and lift it up on the cabinet and set it up. So I’m looking at ways to move it around and lift it by myself. Plus move the old plasma out of the way too. Maybe build a custom dolly to move the sets around.

How have you guys who did it yourself accomplished moving the new set in and setting it up on a cabinet or wall mount? I assume you had help. I have friends I can call, but I’ve been trying to avoid that. Thanks for any insights.

Similar to Tom C, Fedex delivered my 83A90J to my driveway using a lift gate truck. I had pre-planned how I was going to do this before delivery. I had a dolly already in place and the Fedex driver was happy to assist me taking it through my garage. At that point I was going to leave it in the garage until my son could stop by and assist me further. I had placed some wood planks over the two garage steps leading into my kitchen. The driver was nice enough to stay with me and continued assisting. Once into the kitchen I slid the box on a small rug over a tile floor to the top of my basement/media room staircase. The steps are covered with carpet and we slid the box down the steps into the media room floor. I offered the driver a $20 tip, but he refused, until I made him take it. From there, I was able to unbox and attach the wall mount to the back of the TV. I did need help lifting the TV out of the box to hang on the wall mount. As luck would have it, I happened to have a contractor working at the house who helped me lift it. At 95 lbs or so, the 83A90J is way too heavy and wide for one person to lift. If you are attaching the legs for a cabinet mount, I have read where other owners where able to remove the ends of the box to allow clearance to attach the legs. The TV remained upright in the center of the box. You may need help to balance the TV in the box while attaching the legs. I replaced a Panny 55VT30 plasma as well which my wife helped lifting it off the mount and down to the A/V cabinet and then to the floor.

VE does a great job in preparing the box for Fedex delivery. Robert sent me pictures at Fedex pick-up and shipped it on a small pallet, but somewhere in transit, the pallet was removed. Inspect the box at delivery. I noticed two small punctures at the bottom of the box which appeared to match the tangs of a forklift. Fortunately, the punctures did not damage the TV.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey John, thanks for posting your experience too. So did the FedEx guy actually wait for you to answer the door? Because I would wonder if he would just drop the set on your door step and leave.

I’m glad to hear your set arrived undamaged. If I were to buy from Value Electronics, that’s one thing that worries me, if it is damaged, how much trouble to handle a return and replacement. I saw that video of the two A9OJ’s that were damaged in transit.

Thats cool you upgraded from a Panasonic VT30. I have the same set now, the 65”. So I’m curious what you think of the upgrade. I imagine it’s a huge upgrade because not only size, but to go to 4K!

Based on your comments, I did find an official Sony A9OJ video that shows how to properly do the unboxing and mounting the feet and lifting procedure. Of course it applies only to the 55 and 65 inch models. I imagine the 83 inch model would be similar. It was good to see this because it gave me a better sense of what to expect and it shows a way to mount the legs.

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Sony, Samsung and LG direct ships all of our Nationwide orders from their warehouses logistically located across America. So your TV does not travel far to get to your home. Sony, LG and Samsung strap the TV onto a pallet so it travels very nicely to your home.

For clients that order our Q/C, break-in and pro calibration we repack the TV exactly as it came from the factory and we also strap the TV onto a proper pallet for sale transportation to your home.

In the rare case a TV gets damaged in-transit we replace it immediately and take care of the pick-up of the damaged TV,

 

[JNMNL52]

Hey John, thanks for posting your experience too. So did the FedEx guy actually wait for you to answer the door? Because I would wonder if he would just drop the set on your door step and leave.

I’m glad to hear your set arrived undamaged. If I were to buy from Value Electronics, that’s one thing that worries me, if it is damaged, how much trouble to handle a return and replacement. I saw that video of the two A9OJ’s that were damaged in transit.

Thats cool you upgraded from a Panasonic VT30. I have the same set now, the 65”. So I’m curious what you think of the upgrade. I imagine it’s a huge upgrade because not only size, but to go to 4K!

Based on your comments, I did find an official Sony A9OJ video that shows how to properly do the unboxing and mounting the feet and lifting procedure. Of course it applies only to the 55 and 65 inch models. I imagine the 83 inch model would be similar. It was good to see this because it gave me a better sense of what to expect and it shows a way to mount the legs.

Hi Nelson: I was provided with a delivery date and the Fedex driver called me ahead of time to state he was inbound to my home. He was by himself. Upon delivery, and inspection, you sign the bill of lading accepting delivery. I noted on the paperwork that since I noted the two puncture holes on my box, I reserve the right to further inspect the unit upon unboxing. If the TV is damaged during shipment, that will be on the shipping company to return back to VE. Rest assured, if you purchased from Robert, and especially if you go forth with his QC/calibration, it will be in perfect shape when it is picked up by the shipping company. To further mitigate any panel issues, I was sold on VE's QC program. Just makes sense for a TV this size and weight. This year I purchased from VE a Sony A9S OLED, 83A90J with Sanus wall mount and a Panasonic UB9000 BD player all with AudioQuest Forest cables. The Sanus mount arrived damaged and unusable. Rather than ship it back Robert provided a credit and I purchased another Sanus mount at my local Best Buy. I have no affiliation with VE other than being a very satisfied customer. I would not be concerned about returning your 83A90J if you purchased from VE.
Regarding the difference between the Panny 55VT30 and the 83A90J.....that is just a huge WOW factor. The A90J is so much brighter than the VT30 - (which was calibrated in my home 12 years ago when new by DeNice). The VT30 has held up extremely well and has much more life left in it. I gave it to my daughter for continued use. I will note however that the motion resolution on the VT30 was superior...and that is the plasma technology. I noticed that difference on the A90J, but I have it adjusted so it is close. My motion evaluation criteria is watching hockey and the A90J performs very well. You are already taking the right steps towards planning your delivery of your new A90J. Just think it through from your driveway to your media room and it will work out. I could not be happier with my 83A90J and UB9000. I dont think it gets any better with current technology.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thank you very much Robert for clarifying how a purchased TV is shipped. From the photos displayed here of all those TV’s in front of your shop, I got the impression that was more stock being added to inventory. So I gather those sets are mostly for customers who buy at the store, but also for customers on-line who buy and want the QC service. I looked it up on your website and I see it’s an extra cost service. I wouldn’t have realized for the nationwide purchase, the set is shipped from a warehouse more local to me. That makes sense.

if doing a PM works, I will try to send you a message with some questions.

Thanks again!

 

[Nelson Au]

John, thanks very much for your added post with the delivery experience! Surprised it was just one guy who delivered the set. You’ve given me some things to think about and how to prepare for a shipment. And thanks for sharing your experience with the TV itself. That’s interesting about the motion artifacts while watching hockey. I guess that’s usually the torture test for any TV.

And very interesting you used D-Nice to calibrate your VT-30. When I got my VT-30, he posted some settings on the AVS forums and I used those settings. I’ll ask Robert this, but if you had Robert’s shop calibrate the TV before it got to your house, I guess that doesn’t matter. Calibration might not matter if it’s done in the environment it’s viewed in. With a TV in this price range, I’m pondering calibration. But at the same time, the set must be pretty darn good with the default settings. I imagine the there is added time needed from the point the purchase is made to when it’s calibrated and packed up to ship out.

 

[JNMNL52]

John, thanks very much for your added post with the delivery experience! Surprised it was just one guy who delivered the set. You’ve given me some things to think about and how to prepare for a shipment. And thanks for sharing your experience with the TV itself. That’s interesting about the motion artifacts while watching hockey. I guess that’s usually the torture test for any TV.

And very interesting you used D-Nice to calibrate your VT-30. When I got my VT-30, he posted some settings on the AVS forums and I used those settings. I’ll ask Robert this, but if you had Robert’s shop calibrate the TV before it got to your house, I guess that doesn’t matter. Calibration might not matter if it’s done in the environment it’s viewed in. With a TV in this price range, I’m pondering calibration. But at the same time, the set must be pretty darn good with the default settings. I imagine the there is added time needed from the point the purchase is made to when it’s calibrated and packed up to ship out.

I used DeNice's published settings on my VT-30 initially, but hired him to do a full calibration in my home, which did make a difference. I wanted my 83A90J QC'd and calibrated prior to shipment. Jrref did my VE calibration and VE sent me the calibration report. It took an extra 10 days or so to break the panel in and do the QC/calibration. To me, the time and cost was well worth it. You can purchase direct from any other dealer without the QC/calibration and have it calibrated in your home, but you need to accept the risk of any QC issues and deal with a potential return. I had peace of mind that I purchased a clean calibrated panel. Additionally, I purchased a 5-year Mack warranty from VE. So now I just enjoy my set and so far no issues beyond the learning curve of getting familiar with all of the various settings.

 

[Sam Posten]

Officially the king!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Officially the king!

For 8 grand, it better be the king.

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Correct, $7,997 for the 83" A90J Master Series 8K OLED TV. The A90J also comes in the 65" and 55" screen size class.

And the 77" A80J at just $3,497 uses the same Sony XR processor.

 

[Nelson Au]

I sent you a PM Robert about the A90J, but it was a bit rambling. So I can clarify when you have time after the shoot-out.

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Sorry I have not looked at PMs this week. It's been 24/7 for me getting ready and hosting our TV and UST Projector Shootout this year. I'll be back to my store Tuesday. Please call of email me when your time permits. Thank you!

 

[TheFOMO]

I had sooo much fun!! I do agree that the A90J consistently did well and also feel that the A90J should have been put on Brightness Preferred (instead of Gradient Preferred) during the 4000 nit HDR test - it would have done better, and likely beat the G1, however, it then would have lost in other measures because we should not be changing the TV settings for each content but rather choose the best setting overall and let the chips fall where they may!

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, I pulled the trigger a few weeks ago and I have a Sony A90J just delivered to my home last week. I bought through Robert and Wendy at Value Electronics, and I also did the break-in and calibration that VE offers. I‘ve never had a set professionally calibrated before. I splurged.

On Saturday, with help from a friend, we moved out my Panasonic VT30 plasma TV for use in another room and placed the new OLED in the main system room. I’m a total newby to 4K. When I say that, I mean I’m still learning what UHD is and Dolby vision is. All interesting stuff that I’m going to learn more about.

I wondered since this TV was already opened and set-up at VE, it did not default to the set-up screen when I first turned it on, since it was calibrated, I missed out on the set-up process. It took me a while to get the wifi set-up and Google TV set-up and more importantly, how to set up over-the-air TV reception. I thought it was highly ironic the set-up procedure for this new television to receive TV broadcasts was so buried! I realize it’s a quaint notion to do old school TV broadcast reception, but that’s what I do.

Since this is my first new TV in 10 years or so, I was thinking that this is basically a computer. When I turn it on, it defaults to the Google TV home page. I guess these new TVs don’t turn on to an actual broadcast TV channel you last left it on. Can I reset a default setting to change it to turn on to the TV, it is a TV after all!

Also not an Android person, but I set it up anyway since I have a Google account. I prefer the Apple ecosphere. So I have my external Apple TV box to use.

I have the Oppo 205 set-up with the main HDMI output to the Sony and the audio only HDMI output port to my Rotel pre-amp. This set-up works since my Rotel is not 4K compatible.

I’m still getting used to the TV and the functions, but last night I did sample scenes from a couple of 4K UHD discs, 2001: A Space Odyssey, a scene from Fast 9, a scene from The Force Awakens and from standard blu rays, Bullitt and Dr. No.

Since this is my very first experience with 4K on such a large screen, it took me a little while to get used to it. By that I mean the image seemed overly bright. But if it was calibrated, maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. And I think one of the cons of plasmas was they were not super bright. So I was probably used to that plasma display brightness. I used the presets from the VE calibration settings, one for high ambient light conditions and one for low ambient light. So I figure the brightness for low ambient will lower the brightness output.

I watched a large segment of 2001: A Space Odyssey, from the scene when Moon-Watcher first sees the Monolith to the sequence when Bowman and Poole watch the news on the Discovery. I sit 9 feet away from the screen and I felt very immersed, which surprised me. The image quality was great! This is a very good disc of course. If I wasn’t so tired from the day’s effort to move the screens and clean up the house, I would have liked to watch the whole movie!

I also watched the first 40 minutes or so from Dr. No. I was really curious how the old blu ray of Dr. No and the early Bond films will look. I was very impressed with the quality of that disc too. I was surprised how much detail in the image is revealed on this display.

I will do some more watching tonight of course. So far so good.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, just wanted to do a quick update on the A90J. While I have been collecting a lot of 4K UHD blu rays in anticipation of the new TV, I’m finding I’m really impressed and enjoying well mastered regular Blu Rays. In particular, I was curious how the Star Trek The Original Series blu rays would look and those look great! I sampled To Catch a Thief, one of my favorite Hitchcock films, and a few other films on blu ray. I did watch the new remastered 4K Star Trek The Motion Picture, the reason I upgraded, and they did a great job on that remaster. I was really impressed by the colors!

I’m more used to the interface of the TV now. I figured out how to label the HDMI inputs for the Oppo player and the Apple TV so that was good. I even found a few 4K YouTube videos that are Sony and LG 2 minute demos. Those look great on the TV. I need more time now to watch it.

 

[Ashly Yeo]

Looks like the stock clearance is underway for the A90J - the 83" is now under $6000

See on Amazon

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-83-class-a90j-series-oled-4k-uhd-smart-google-tv/6456201.p?skuId=6456201

 

[Nelson Au]

That’s a nice price!

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Same price at all Sony Authorized dealers. Check with your favorite Sony Authorized dealer for your best deals.

Here's a list of all of Sony's Bravia XR TVs that are on sale:

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Check out Whisper Status 74's interviewing me about Sony's Super Bowl sale that started today and learn more about these premium display technologies.