Anybody else get excited planning new home cinema and audio kit?

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I haven’t had curved cabinets, but did at one time have a set of Tannoy 611’s which used the six sided cabinets with unequal lengths opposite to break up internal reflections . They did me well for a while as a smaller alternative to the IMF’s which were ‘frowned on’ in the living room , although the big TL’s were awesome .
Must confess that I've always had a bit of a soft spot for transmission line speakers - the effortless nature of them is beguiling.

The Orators I have were, at the time they were current, the bottom of the Wilson-Benesch range but still sound quite exceptional. The lack of internal cabinet reflections seems to help them disappear sonically, and the closeness of the drive unit axes approximates to a point source which helps integration greatly. They've been in my system since the turn of the millennium and they've returned the financial investment in many happy hours of listening.
 
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I’ve worked with various control systems, including both AMX and Crestron, which we use in many meeting rooms and a couple of auditoria : they are very good but costly and can have their problems .
At home I still have a Philips Pronto Pro , which is also very flexible and controls most of my kit ; but most notably NOT my Quad 77 system , with its bi-directional remote control system.

I started with an old RU990 Pronto. Openremote is agnostic, so I have Hue, Onkyo, iTach, node, Lightwave controllers all driven by it, rather than AMX or some other "does it all" system....
 
If you have lots of differing kit, you can do worse than check into OpenRemote.
Takes a bit of fiddling, but one app, can use a profile (which can be shared on multiple devices - android/iphone/tablets etc) and control "everything" in your home theatre.

I've got mine set with various macros that switch on the TV, turn on the AMP, set the inputs, power up the cable box (or PS3, PS4 etc), do the lights etc....if you've got a server at home it's a no brainer, and if you haven't you can run it on a Raspberry Pi powered with USB....

Disclaimer : I am an authorized OpenRemote certified integrator - but check it out, it's good stuff :)

I'll have a look. I used to use a Logitech All In One for this very purpose (and still have it). Interesting to hear that this sort of thing has moved to apps - logical way to do it.

One the other hand I have a 13 year old son and don't have to actually programme him. He's like an artificial intelligence extension of me and flicks through all the menus and options with bewildering speed. Well he does when he's turning on and hooking up the things he's interested in, anyway. PS4, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Youtube mostly.
 
I used to use a Logitech All for One but now simply invoke HDMI-CEC, works very well. No programming, uses the standard TV remote.
 
a set of Tannoy 611’s which used the six sided cabinets with unequal lengths opposite to break up internal reflections .

My dad had these my entire childhood, and now my uncle has them. I've no idea how old they are, I don't know when they were released, but he had them from my earliest memories, so they must be nearly 30 years old and still going strong.

He modified them a little, including filling the base with lead chips to add weight and then cast it in resin. IIRC there was a dedicated hollow section in the base, separate from the main internal cabinet volume, supposedly for adding sand, or something for this purpose?
 
I'll have a look. I used to use a Logitech All In One for this very purpose (and still have it). Interesting to hear that this sort of thing has moved to apps - logical way to do it.

It's an app with a cloud based editor - you do need to design your own GUI (via the editor) and then define each device there, and each command (which can get tedious) - then you slave each button to the relevant command (ala the Pronto). It lets you use raw TCP, telnet, or HTTP, JSON, UDP, and many many more things - the "fun" part is testing it/using Wireshark to find what your original kit does.

Not 'easy' but can be very rewarding.
 
My dad had these my entire childhood, and now my uncle has them. I've no idea how old they are, I don't know when they were released, but he had them from my earliest memories, so they must be nearly 30 years old and still going strong.

He modified them a little, including filling the base with lead chips to add weight and then cast it in resin. IIRC there was a dedicated hollow section in the base, separate from the main internal cabinet volume, supposedly for adding sand, or something for this purpose?
My Uncle Michael had a set of these. Really cool speakers and there are 3 pairs on eBay as we speak.
 
My basic 5.2 set up for now, when I move in the coming months it will be expanded to a 7.2.4 Atmos set up with a limited edition JVC projector onto 110 screen.
TV Sony 65 inch MK speakers, Marantz 8802A, Denon avp amplifier, Oppo 205, JL audio Fathom V2.


DF389E8F-5256-4A3F-8515-240F20D2A6F2.jpeg
 
My basic 5.2 set up for now, when I move in the coming months it will be expanded to a 7.2.4 Atmos set up with a limited edition JVC projector onto 110 screen.
TV Sony 65 inch MK speakers, Marantz 8802A, Denon avp amplifier, Oppo 205, JL audio Fathom V2.


DF389E8F-5256-4A3F-8515-240F20D2A6F2.jpeg
Love it. That's such a bloke's set up :)
 
The TV I’m looking at supprts ARC and the amp does too.

So I’ve got all the options covered.

I have a Panasonic 65" 4K hooked up to a Yamaha RXV677 via HDMI on ARC and Sky Q as the source, the issue that I have is that the amp can't handle 4k so I can't watch Sky 4K content on the TV.
 
I have a Panasonic 65" 4K hooked up to a Yamaha RXV677 via HDMI on ARC and Sky Q as the source, the issue that I have is that the amp can't handle 4k so I can't watch Sky 4K content on the TV.

I'm planning something different. I'm not that bothered about 4K and have bought a 7 year old Yamaha RX-V3067 more for the power and sound quality than anything else. It's too old to support 4K.

I'm planning to a new TV mainly for the picture, especially on HD. But found out that it happens to support streaming of 4K Amazon and Netflix.

I think ARC gives me the ability to have that via ARC and plug everything else into the amp as per normal.
 
Tell off . BBC R2 has been blasting the last hour through the Quads : fantastic .

Now cooking dinner .
 
I have a Panasonic 65" 4K hooked up to a Yamaha RXV677 via HDMI on ARC and Sky Q as the source, the issue that I have is that the amp can't handle 4k so I can't watch Sky 4K content on the TV.

I may be misunderstanding, but when I had a similar issue with my Sony 65” 4K, I used the ARC for the audio via the non-4K AV amplifier, and directly connected the 4K sources to the smart TV. Obvs better with a 4K amp, and I’m no longer using the AV capacity of the receiver, but I like my old sound system (KEF 5000 series 5.1 with an Onkyo amp) so I was able to get the improved picture without touching the sound side. The TV happily controls the amp volume via ARC so I’m not juggling multiple remotes.
 
On Saturday I managed to get a demo of the Yamaha YSP 2700 soundbar in Curry's. The main unit is much slimmer (and therefore much more wife-pleasing) than my current Panasonic one. The (wireless) sub is much more sunbstantial and does a lot more. This will deffo do for the secondary TV.

Yamaha YSP-2700 review

Then on Sunday I FINALLY found the time to drive over to Richer Sounds in Chiswick to drop off my Monitor Audio Golds for a replacement bass driver for one of them.

Put the order in for the Soundbar reminding them I need it by the end of the month so I can claim my free wireless speaker. My OH has been asking for one of these so she can listen to the radio upstairs.

Yamaha WX-010 Review | Trusted Reviews

I've been so busy with work and travel lately it was satisfying to tick a couple of boy's toys boxes at last.

Next task; I've just got to list my RXV 581 on fleabay and arrange shipping of the 3067.
 
Richer Sounds have tested my speakers and they are fine. Oh well, it's goodbye to my trusty old CA amp.

Not a massive issue I'll still have three and only need two.

Looking forward to picking them up along with my new soundbar.
 
I may be misunderstanding, but when I had a similar issue with my Sony 65” 4K, I used the ARC for the audio via the non-4K AV amplifier, and directly connected the 4K sources to the smart TV. Obvs better with a 4K amp, and I’m no longer using the AV capacity of the receiver, but I like my old sound system (KEF 5000 series 5.1 with an Onkyo amp) so I was able to get the improved picture without touching the sound side. The TV happily controls the amp volume via ARC so I’m not juggling multiple remotes.

The issue that I have is that I currently only have one HDMI running between my Receiver and the TV, so connect all sources directly through the reciever.
 
The issue that I have is that I currently only have one HDMI running between my Receiver and the TV, so connect all sources directly through the reciever.

I asked about this at Richer Sounds the other day. I asked if I can do the following;

(1) Connect a number of devices into the amp, use that as the switch and send the video and audio up to the TV. So, for example use HDMI 1, HDMI 2 and HDMI 3 in on the amp for the PS4, a Chromecast Audio and a Chromecast Video and then connect that lot to HDMI 1 in on the TV

(2) Use the 4K Netflix and Amazon Prime video streaming option on the TV and use ARC to send the audio down to the HDMI 4 in on the amp. Assuming my amp supports the audio format of course*.

They said that would work.

If they're right I could actually do away with one of my freeview/freesat boxes and also us the tuner in the TV and just plug in an external HDD for recording shows.

In my case the fly in the ointment might be the amp itself - it's a 7 year old Yamaha 3067 and there's a chance that it won't recognise the audio format when it's from a 4 K source.

In which case I'll just not bother with 4K. HD is good enough for me; it's a large room and the TV's not one of those vast ones.
 
After I upgraded to Sky Q, my old Denon amp had to be replaced as it couldn't do 4K.
After speaking with Richer Sounds, I went for a Sony STR-DN1080 amp, as it added a few additional benefits because I have a Sony Bravia TV.
For example, switch on sky, and TV/amp automatically turn on, because the TV is more compatible with the Sony Amp, my Sky controller can control the volume of TV, which in turn controls the Amp volume which keeps my wife happy, as multiple remotes melts her head.

It was fantastically easy to setup in comparison the old Denon, I already have a Q Acoustics 5.1 speaker setup.
Can stream music to it from other devices like phone, tablet etc
Very happy with it, and got a trade in deal with the old amp, which was a real bonus, as Richer sounds didn't want the old amp, just a photo, so I then sold the old Amp on gumtree.
 
The issue that I have is that I currently only have one HDMI running between my Receiver and the TV, so connect all sources directly through the reciever.

Yes, the same here - just one HDMI from the receiver to the TV, using the ARC channel, and other HDMIs from various sources directly to the TV - I don’t run any video sources via the receiver. But you will have an issue with that if your setup precludes running multiple HDMIs to the TV.
 

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