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The Home Theater Thread


iladelphxx
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So I just picked up a 75" Samsung Q70R and was looking at soundbars. 

I'm trying to choose between the Samsung HW-Q90R with Dolby Atmos and the Bose 700 with the subwoofer. 

Thoughts? 

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5 hours ago, iladelphxx said:

So I just picked up a 75" Samsung Q70R and was looking at soundbars. 

I'm trying to choose between the Samsung HW-Q90R with Dolby Atmos and the Bose 700 with the subwoofer. 

Thoughts? 

The store demos for those "latest and greatest" Samsung soundbars claim/visually show that if you cycle between movies, sports, video games, etc., that the sound bar will auto-switch to the proper configuration to maximize that experience... not sure how legit or how marketing that is. I bought this 2 years ago.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-7-1-2-channel-hi-res-soundbar-with-wireless-subwoofer-and-dolby-atmos-black/5818700.p?skuId=5818700 

 

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1 hour ago, Agent23 said:

Best Buy has the 65" version of this TV marked down $450 ($950) today only

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-65-class-led-q70-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr/6331762.p?skuId=6331762 

really thought it was marked down to 450. that price would have been worth an angry wife for a few days :roll: 

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37 minutes ago, BFit said:

really thought it was marked down to 450. that price would have been worth an angry wife for a few days :roll: 

Shiiii I already have like a million TVs but I might have bought it at that lmao

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On 4/27/2020 at 12:28 PM, Agent23 said:

Shiiii I already have like a million TVs but I might have bought it at that lmao

What's a good soundbar for a Samsung 65" LED in a very unique farmhouse with 50 ft ceilings?  My house is literally a big open space, and the echo from the TV makes it hard to hear any dialogue.  

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1 hour ago, hputenis said:

What's a good soundbar for a Samsung 65" LED in a very unique farmhouse with 50 ft ceilings?  My house is literally a big open space, and the echo from the TV makes it hard to hear any dialogue.  

The one I have has "calibration” settings where you input ceiling height, distance away from the TV/sound bar you’re sitting, etc. all designed to maximize its sound/angle delivery... I have no clue how true or accurate any of it is. I imagine all the top ones ($800+) have the same thing? 
 

I am a big Best Buy person, mainly because you could buy any sound system today, test it out for the next month, and if you are unhappy with it you can just return it back to them by May 30 for a complete refund. I’ve literally gone on vacation and bought $1300 camera to take pics with then returned it when I got back :lol: 

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I wish I had a big enough wall for an 82” :sad: 

 

36FAD49D-0610-46C6-9B78-13C572B0E99F.png

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Thinking about buying a new TV. We are renting at our current place for about another year then planning on buying a house though, so I cant mount anything at the moment. Right now I have an old HD Samsung I think 43 inch I bought like 7 or 8 years ago. It has worked well, still no issues at all and I watched the eagles win the divisional round against the falcons and the NFCCG against the Vikings on it, but would definitely like something bigger. Any suggestions from the experts? I do not want to spend $3,500 on a tv though.

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23 minutes ago, BirdsFanBill said:

Thinking about buying a new TV. We are renting at our current place for about another year then planning on buying a house though, so I cant mount anything at the moment.  

she's holding out for the two story in chester county ?

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11 minutes ago, BirdsFanBill said:

Thinking about buying a new TV. We are renting at our current place for about another year then planning on buying a house though, so I cant mount anything at the moment. Right now I have an old HD Samsung I think 43 inch I bought like 7 or 8 years ago. It has worked well, still no issues at all and I watched the eagles win the divisional round against the falcons and the NFCCG against the Vikings on it, but would definitely like something bigger. Any suggestions from the experts? I do not want to spend $3,500 on a tv though.

Thankfully this is no longer an issue. You can find 65" sets commonly for under $1000 now. The only ones that go above that are the super-duper top of the line (premium QLED/OLED) sets that only us stupid ****ots who like to spend all our monies go after.

My previous set was a 2017 model Samsung 8000 series, that worked GREAT, and I got for $1000 a few years ago. I'm just super extra and wanted a 9/90 series QLED so I swapped mine out. IMO Samsung has the most useful/responsive interface (smart apps, home screen, tv settings, menu), but they've cost engineered out their simplified remote which is the best on the market. That is now only on the 9000 series or the QLEDs. 

I have 2 TVs (controversial in the "Talk About Anything" thread) in my livingroom, and having 2 Samsungs means doing things like hitting the power button or changing the volume will affect both TVs... which is annoying. So I have a TCL as well, and I am very happy with the image quality and the Roku interface is probably the most useful I've dealt with outside of the Samsung.

I had a Sony X900F (full back-lit) for a few weeks that I was super unhappy with an returned (image quality was fine, but interface, smart home, menu all sucked, and had a lot of responsiveness lag). Also had an LG B9 OLED (during coronavirus, and since returned) and that remote/menu/smart interface was god awful.

Helped a friend set up a Vizio Quantum M the day before the Super Bowl, and the menu/smart interface seemed a bit better in my brief recollection than my Sony and LG experiences, but I didn't have enough time with either.

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1 minute ago, Agent23 said:

Thankfully this is no longer an issue. You can find 65" sets commonly for under $1000 now. The only ones that go above that are the super-duper top of the line (premium QLED/OLED) sets that only us stupid ****ots who like to spend all our monies go after.

My previous set was a 2017 model Samsung 8000 series, that worked GREAT, and I got for $1000 a few years ago. I'm just super extra and wanted a 9/90 series QLED so I swapped mine out. IMO Samsung has the most useful/responsive interface (smart apps, home screen, tv settings, menu), but they've cost engineered out their simplified remote which is the best on the market. That is now only on the 9000 series or the QLEDs. 

I have 2 TVs (controversial in the "Talk About Anything" thread) in my livingroom, and having 2 Samsungs means doing things like hitting the power button or changing the volume will affect both TVs... which is annoying. So I have a TCL as well, and I am very happy with the image quality and the Roku interface is probably the most useful I've dealt with outside of the Samsung.

I had a Sony X900F (full back-lit) for a few weeks that I was super unhappy with an returned (image quality was fine, but interface, smart home, menu all sucked, and had a lot of responsiveness lag). Also had an LG B9 OLED (during coronavirus, and since returned) and that remote/menu/smart interface was god awful.

Helped a friend set up a Vizio Quantum M the day before the Super Bowl, and the menu/smart interface seemed a bit better in my brief recollection than my Sony and LG experiences, but I didn't have enough time with either.

Yes I've seen your set up. It is interesting to say the least. I will only have one tv in the living room. Not sure where Ill put my current tv yet.

Thanks for the info, I'm leaning towards Samsung just because they haven't done me wrong on my last purchase. 

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My only gripe with Samsung is them continually cost engineering things out. I had a 7000 series TV from like 2016 that had the small (and awesome!) "One Remote". Upgraded to a bigger set 2019 (RUxxxx) model year, still 7000 because price made sense for the amount of use that TV sees (the 8000 was like a $250 price jump in the same size), only to learn that the 2019-7000 comes with the large clunky remote, and only the 2019-8000 series had the OneRemote.

Flash to the new 2020 models (TUxxxx), and the 8000 models have now switched to the clunky remote (See image below). Additionally, the 2019-8000 series had 4 HDMI and the new 2020s only have 3 HDMIs. Agree that with all the Apps built into the tv, you aren't using HDMI ports for a roku device or fire stick, etc., but it's still ways that they are driving down retail price at the expense of features. 

image.thumb.png.4f4ed225faa172ee683c50c74c0b1021.png

 

 

 

 

My preferred remote for comparison

image.thumb.png.e6efd2f4e1116c98513756c3e789318d.png

 

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2 minutes ago, BirdsFanBill said:

Yes I've seen your set up. It is interesting to say the least. I will only have one tv in the living room. Not sure where Ill put my current tv yet.

Thanks for the info, I'm leaning towards Samsung just because they haven't done me wrong on my last purchase. 

The biggest determination for me with some upgrades/swap-outs recently is wanting a full array back-lit set. I think @HazletonEagle may have originally posted this Vizio vid back when, but I love how it shows off the value of added dimming zones (obviously each company's proporietary video/display software has to take advantage of the dimming zones). Both my QLED and my TCL (6-series or higher) have the backlighting zones. Even with the QLED, I think Samsung still only does that on the 8 and 9 series (6 is def edge lit... I think the 7 still is too).

TCL has a new 8-series QLED in 65" which is $2000 (yesterday BestBuy had a one-day sale for $999). If that set was in 55" I would have gotten it for my fireplace, but 65 is where that 8-series stars so I got the 55" 6-series for like $500.

The Q90 has 480 dimming zones if I'm not mistaken, mixed with the crazy brightness (which I prefer a more well-lit screen display). I had the B9 OLED over the fireplace and would watch the identical content over DTV or stream the same thing on netflix on both and the B9 felt super washed out and dim and just blah in comparison, so I exchanged that (over $1700 with the 4-year protection plan because of burn-in fears) for the TCL 6-series ($539.99 w/ tax, no protection plan needed), and I've been 10x happier with it. Last night while grinding through FF7 Remake I put Gladiator on the TCL to sort of watch/listen/follow along to while gaming.

 

backlighting video

 

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I'm looking for a 55" I think. I honestly know little since I havent even really been following the TV market since I bought my TV a million years ago. I'd like to spend somewhere around $500-$750 I guess, but that's subject to change as I learn more.

https://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN40EH6000FXZA-specs#

That's what I have now.

One thing I'm trying to understand is the difference between QLED and UHD TV's...seems like QLED is a better picture?

 

These "Best TV" lists all seem to like TCL's but thats a brand Im very much not familiar with.

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7 minutes ago, BirdsFanBill said:

I'm looking for a 55" I think. I honestly know little since I havent even really been following the TV market since I bought my TV a million years ago. I'd like to spend somewhere around $500-$750 I guess, but that's subject to change as I learn more.

https://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs/UN40EH6000FXZA-specs#

That's what I have now.

One thing I'm trying to understand is the difference between QLED and UHD TV's...seems like QLED is a better picture?

 

These "Best TV" lists all seem to like TCL's but thats a brand Im very much not familiar with.

My understanding with the TCL 6-series (full backlight) is that they are giving a very similar level of image quality as your higher end Samsung, Sony, LG, (Vizio maybe?), but without that "blockbuster" brand name that inflates the price (aka inflates profits for the big tech brands). TCL is the only one of those 4 (or of those 5 if we also include Vizio) that has the Roku smart interface, which many end users and critics adore (I've never owned a Roku device, just AppleTV and FireStick, but I've never head bad things).

I'm very pleased with my 55" 6-series ($499 sale price purchase) for my secondary screen (especially compared to my disappointment with the LG B9 at $1300). Since Best Buy is readily available in most locations, and price matches any major/legit retailer, I always recommend purchasing through them. If you don't have a Rewards status with them, they are going to the end of the month (it's pushed out further each time COVID has extended nation shut-downs), and there is ZERO charge/restocking fee for returns.Great way to live with the TV for several weeks and decide if you like it or want to swap it for something different. And if you love it and the price drops in that return window, call them up and they'll credit the difference (plus sales tax).

image.thumb.png.d6df8993f9235bea33105bf3cbd3d8ba.png

 

 

As for QLED, my understanding is that they take a much of tiny LEDS and try their best to independently control them for color output. "Quantum Dots" is the term, and they are a higher grade and wider gamut than the LEDs used in the majority of flat panel TVs nowadays. They also are designed for much brighter output, so they are great in rooms with lots of lighting and the brightness also gives more vibrant look and feel to the color displays. Samsung, Vizio M-Quantum (and higher), and TCL 6-series (and higher, tho their 8-series starts at 65" model and is $2000 other than the one-day $999 at Best Buy yesterday).

All QLEDs, OLEDS (which has to be a personal preference as I learned through experience), and UHDs all offer 4k and HDR10 which is the visual resolution requirements of the new 4k sets. The QLEDS should take greater advantage of 4k/HDR10 content than the UHDs, but it's all levels of personal perception to some extent and they've said for a decade now that in many cases your screen size has to be above a certain number of inches (75 I think) to truly have pixel density and other items really start to pay off in meaningful ways.

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Got it, thanks Agent very helpful.

 

So this is basically what you have?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-43-class-qled-q60-series-4k-uhd-tv-smart-led-with-hdr/6401760.p?skuId=6401760

 

Ideally this new TV will be an obvious upgrade over what I currently have for the next 2 years or so, then when we are homeowners and can afford to spend a bit more then Ill get something crazy and this will become a secondary TV. That is the goal anyway.

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Last week I stumbled across a thread on slickdeals about BestBuy having a friend's and family type sale. It started as being Open Box major appliances being an additional 50% off. People scored things like washers and dryers for huge discounts.  Then somewhere along the thread,  they realized that open box TVs also got a additional savings.  Some stores honored it, others didn't. Very YMMV.  The trick to it was that you had to buy it in person.  Buying online just gave you the normal open box price.  But if you went to the front door "because no one is allowed inside the stores" and bought it on site and not online you got the open box TV for 50% off the current sale price of the TV. 

So... I ended up buying a 75 inch Samsung 8 series for $460. And a 82 inch Samsung Q70 for $1,150.  That Q70 is usually $3300. It was on sale for $2300, so the open box was $1,150. Normal open box excellent condition price was $2900. I would have bought another one if they had one.  I checked the other local stores but no one else had anything larger than 65.  

I convinced the wife that it was a great deal.  She was cool with it.  

Now. The pair of SVS PB-16 Ultras i ordered Monday are a different story..... 

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On 4/27/2020 at 2:55 AM, iladelphxx said:

So I just picked up a 75" Samsung Q70R and was looking at soundbars. 

I'm trying to choose between the Samsung HW-Q90R with Dolby Atmos and the Bose 700 with the subwoofer. 

Thoughts? 

Don't put a soundbar with a 75q70.... Get a receiver and do it the right way. You'll never get ATMOS sound from a sound bar.  Maybe some reflective sound but..meh.  Bose blows balls and is overpriced.  

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2 hours ago, BirdsFanBill said:

Got it, thanks Agent very helpful.

 

So this is basically what you have?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-43-class-qled-q60-series-4k-uhd-tv-smart-led-with-hdr/6401760.p?skuId=6401760

 

Ideally this new TV will be an obvious upgrade over what I currently have for the next 2 years or so, then when we are homeowners and can afford to spend a bit more then Ill get something crazy and this will become a secondary TV. That is the goal anyway.

I have the Q90 [ninety] which is the 2019 version of their top end 4k QLED. (The 2018 set was Q9 [nine], the 2020 is Q90T [ninety tee]... there is also an 8K that is Q900 [nine hundred] and probably through a "T" on the end of that for 2020 but haven't actually looked up info on those yet).

The Q6/60/60T and Q7/70/70T will still be an image upgrade over most any other LED 4K television, but both are "edge lit", so the black levels won't be as good and the uniformity won't be as good, but again most are not noticed by most people and are tech upgrades for us ****ots to use as an excuse to buy the higher version. 

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1 hour ago, What The F said:

Last week I stumbled across a thread on slickdeals about BestBuy having a friend's and family type sale. It started as being Open Box major appliances being an additional 50% off. People scored things like washers and dryers for huge discounts.  Then somewhere along the thread,  they realized that open box TVs also got a additional savings.  Some stores honored it, others didn't. Very YMMV.  The trick to it was that you had to buy it in person.  Buying online just gave you the normal open box price.  But if you went to the front door "because no one is allowed inside the stores" and bought it on site and not online you got the open box TV for 50% off the current sale price of the TV. 

So... I ended up buying a 75 inch Samsung 8 series for $460. And a 82 inch Samsung Q70 for $1,150.  That Q70 is usually $3300. It was on sale for $2300, so the open box was $1,150. Normal open box excellent condition price was $2900. I would have bought another one if they had one.  I checked the other local stores but no one else had anything larger than 65.  

I convinced the wife that it was a great deal.  She was cool with it.  

Now. The pair of SVS PB-16 Ultras i ordered Monday are a different story..... 

I'm so upset that my 2-3 year NEWER version of the same TV (7000 series) skimped on the remote that I was literally looking at open box sets in the 8000 series yesterday... Did not see/hear about this 50% deal in person, but I was contemplating the unnecessaryness of these two just yesterday... with a 50% off I might drive there now lmao

image.thumb.png.fa5ea06c191e652be252141ffe04b479.png

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48 minutes ago, Agent23 said:

I have the Q90 [ninety] which is the 2019 version of their top end 4k QLED. (The 2018 set was Q9 [nine], the 2020 is Q90T [ninety tee]... there is also an 8K that is Q900 [nine hundred] and probably through a "T" on the end of that for 2020 but haven't actually looked up info on those yet).

The Q6/60/60T and Q7/70/70T will still be an image upgrade over most any other LED 4K television, but both are "edge lit", so the black levels won't be as good and the uniformity won't be as good, but again most are not noticed by most people and are tech upgrades for us ****ots to use as an excuse to buy the higher version. 

Ah I think I misunderstood. I was wondering about the $499 6 series, which now knowing what a 6 series is I determined is the TCL:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tcl-55-class-led-6-series-2160p-smart-4k-uhd-tv-with-hdr-roku-tv/6367716.p?skuId=6367716

 

So the TCL is equivalent basically to this Samsung below, just it says TCL instead of Samsung?

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-55-class-q60t-series-4k-uhd-tv-smart-led-with-hdr/6401755.p?skuId=6401755

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1 hour ago, Agent23 said:

I'm so upset that my 2-3 year NEWER version of the same TV (7000 series) skimped on the remote that I was literally looking at open box sets in the 8000 series yesterday... Did not see/hear about this 50% deal in person, but I was contemplating the unnecessaryness of these two just yesterday... with a 50% off I might drive there now lmao

image.thumb.png.fa5ea06c191e652be252141ffe04b479.png

They have a NEW deal going on this week that gives 40% off open box tvs. Just started reading the thread about it.  Will post here in a minute

Btw, that new bigger remote sucks. I like the One Remote 1000x more 

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i am looking to get a nice sound bar for my 55in.

 

is the bose solo 5 worth the $200 price tag ?

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