Question Are Modern TV’s making AV upgrades less important?

Silva Lining

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I upgraded my TV to an LGC9 Oled...

For my past 2 tv’s I’ve been using my receiver (Pioneer Lx86) as just an amp through ARC.

The tvs remote has been far better at controlling all sources than the pioneer one and now the LG one is kind of like a mouse (which I’m guessing even the latest AV receivers won’t replicate)


Are the benefits of upgrading the AV receiver reduced now that modern TV’s work great for having several sources?

I’m sure I’m being naive here but wouldn’t I be better off spending money to upgrade the receiver to something that sounds amazing as long as it has ARC. I don’t even need a 4K capable receiver really...
 
Standard ARC doesn't pass through HD audio to the AVR, only SD audio. But enhanced ARC does.

If you have both a TV and an AVR that has eARC, then you can connect everything to the TV and pass through the best possible audio to the AVR.

If you have a TV with enough HDMI ports for all of your devices. But.. what if you want to add a projector?
 
A projector is a massive reason not too, as is things like zone2.
Not many modern AVRs that sound great are not going to have 4k though..
 
Basically I’m interested in the oldest really great sounding amp with standard arc (I’m only 5.1 so don’t think I’d need anything better)

One zone , no projector etc. Most sources from the smart tv / sky box through the tv.
 
Why not stick with your Pioneer if you are happy with it?

If you want to enjoy 4K content with best possible audio and video, a source with twin HDMI outputs, such as a PC or a UHD player will enable you to connect the video directly to the TV and the audio to the AVR, so you get best of everything.
 
Why not stick with your Pioneer if you are happy with it?

If you want to enjoy 4K content with best possible audio and video, a source with twin HDMI outputs, such as a PC or a UHD player will enable you to connect the video directly to the TV and the audio to the AVR, so you get best of everything.

It was a geeneral question really - with tvs now better at handling sources.

I’m just wondering if I’d see a big upgrade In sound by changing my lx 86 To something else? Particularly for music.

Speakers are Dali Lektor 6 / 2 for 5.1
 
I’d say it’s a bit early door to state earc will solve all your worries. There’s many disadvantages to just using your tv but if your requirements fit then it may be ok. Problem is the reliability, arc didn’t work with everything and was flaky, when it worked for you it was great, when it didn’t which for me was more often than not it was a major pita. I don’t think there’s anything to say that earc will be more reliable or more compatible so I guess time will tell. For me with TV & PJ, 7.1.4 ATMOS setup and more sources than my TV has inputs for I’ll stick with everything being piped through the AVR for now..
 
In terms of eARC:

On paper, HDMI eARC should also make the handshake between compatible devices much smoother and negate the need to activate HDMI CEC (which doesn’t always work properly) - so operating multiple products shouldn’t require any extra steps to get things up and running.

But, things on paper don't always work out in theory, so who knows if it will be more reliable than ARC in real life?!

I’m just wondering if I’d see a big upgrade In sound by changing my lx 86 To something else? Particularly for music.
Probably. The only way to know for sure is to try it and listen and see if it sounds better / worse / the same to you. Easier said than done, I know. I have been down this path myself and bought and returned / sold a lot of audio products over the last couple of years.

In terms of AVR's I really like Cambridge Audio and Arcam, for sound quality. Neither of those will give you eARC though. Marantz isn't bad, and if you go for a newer model, you will get eARC.

There is another option for you, as your AVR has both pre-outs and multi chammel inputs in. The pre-outs would allow you to add an integrated amp to use for music, and it will also double as a power amp for the front left and right speakers. An integrated amp with an HT bypass feature would make this arrangement easier, but it is possible to use one without. Or, you could add just power amps, and see if that gives you improvements in sound quality.

Or, you could add a separate external 2 channel DAC for music, and use the multi channel inputs on your AVR to connect it, as those one are usually designed to give a more direct path to the power amp section of the AVR.
 
In terms of eARC:

On paper, HDMI eARC should also make the handshake between compatible devices much smoother and negate the need to activate HDMI CEC (which doesn’t always work properly) - so operating multiple products shouldn’t require any extra steps to get things up and running.
M

But, things on paper don't always work out in theory, so who knows if it will be more reliable than ARC in real life?!


Probably. The only way to know for sure is to try it and listen and see if it sounds better / worse / the same to you. Easier said than done, I know. I have been down this path myself and bought and returned / sold a lot of audio products over the last couple of years.

In terms of AVR's I really like Cambridge Audio and Arcam, for sound quality. Neither of those will give you eARC though. Marantz isn't bad, and if you go for a newer model, you will get eARC.

There is another option for you, as your AVR has both pre-outs and multi chammel inputs in. The pre-outs would allow you to add an integrated amp to use for music, and it will also double as a power amp for the front left and right speakers. An integrated amp with an HT bypass feature would make this arrangement easier, but it is possible to use one without. Or, you could add just power amps, and see if that gives you improvements in sound quality.

Or, you could add a separate external 2 channel DAC for music, and use the multi channel inputs on your AVR to connect it, as those one are usually designed to give a more direct path to the power amp section of the AVR.


Thanks for the suggestions.
I actually wonder if a speaker change would make a bigger difference.

In another room I have some xtz 99.25 and although they have their negatives I love listening to music on them. Cymbals etc are so interesting as are voices on them.

Tried them in my tv room in 4.1 and they sounded so thin and weak though for some reason even after mcacc setup...
 
Speakers make the most difference. But everything in the system affects the sound. What amp do you use to drive the XTZ's in the other room?

For thin sounding music, try adding more subwoofers.
 

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