HELP me buy a receiver

zrx38

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Hey everybody!! Hope you are doing great.
I'm trying to get a receiver for a 5.1 system I was gifted (Klipsch speakers + sub).

Some context: AVR Receivers prices in my country are extremely high due to ridiculously high taxes + shipping weight (they cost 3x to 4x times US price, and local shops don't really have any units in stock due to customs restrictions).

For this reason, I want to get the cheapest possible used receiver to hook it up to my 4K TV (Samsung TU7000, which outputs DD via optical).
I will be streaming Netflix on the TV's APP (I understand Netflix outputs DD+ 5.1, which should be backwards compatible with my TV's optical DD, although I've read this is not always the case and I don't really have the option to test it).

Which are the minimum features I'd need to get this to work? My whole intention is to have basic 5.1.

Could I get away with an old AVR that just has optical inputs and supports Dolby Digital? Is that it? Is there anything else I may need?


I dont care about room correction, video passthrough, HDMI ports, pre-outs, etc.

Thank you very much in advance!!
 
If the TV can output everything via optical (5.1 and stereo), then when the broadcaster/streaming service do output these signals via this connection, the answer is yes. however you will really need to look at the capabilities of the TV via its manual

Now, the down side to not having an AVR with HDMI connections is not all TV's convert signals via the HDMI to surround sound, thus the signal is downsampled to stereo.

The other side is if you look at the price of similar avr with and without hdmi connections (as they have now been around for donkeys years), you will find that the price different is quite small and not really enough to justify not purchasing one without this option

If however you are wishing to use ARC or eARC (which is really what you need to bring more features than using an optical cable), then this is where costs increase as you will need to make sure both TV and AVR have this feature so you can utilise it

So, if you're only ever going to use a signal up to dolby digital, then using optical should be fine. If however you have other devices which output HDMI, then you'll need to consult the TV's manual to see how it converts a HDMI audio signal as I suspect it'll downsample it to stereo meaning purchasing an AVR which has HDMI connectivity would still be the best option where you can use both options for your needs

Do note that if you purchase an old AVR and hope it will work with 4k products, then don't be upset when it doesn't as it shouldn't due to HDCP again meaning purchasing one of the latest AVR's really is your only option

I hope that gives you a little insight :)
 
If the TV can output everything via optical (5.1 and stereo), then when the broadcaster/streaming service do output these signals via this connection, the answer is yes. however you will really need to look at the capabilities of the TV via its manual

Now, the down side to not having an AVR with HDMI connections is not all TV's convert signals via the HDMI to surround sound, thus the signal is downsampled to stereo.

The other side is if you look at the price of similar avr with and without hdmi connections (as they have now been around for donkeys years), you will find that the price different is quite small and not really enough to justify not purchasing one without this option

If however you are wishing to use ARC or eARC (which is really what you need to bring more features than using an optical cable), then this is where costs increase as you will need to make sure both TV and AVR have this feature so you can utilise it

So, if you're only ever going to use a signal up to dolby digital, then using optical should be fine. If however you have other devices which output HDMI, then you'll need to consult the TV's manual to see how it converts a HDMI audio signal as I suspect it'll downsample it to stereo meaning purchasing an AVR which has HDMI connectivity would still be the best option where you can use both options for your needs

Do note that if you purchase an old AVR and hope it will work with 4k products, then don't be upset when it doesn't as it shouldn't due to HDCP again meaning purchasing one of the latest AVR's really is your only option

I hope that gives you a little insight :)
Very helpful!!

I've taken a look at the TV manual (Samsung TU7000), and it seems that the TV downsamples HDMI signals to stereo.

What if I played media on a USB stick connected to the TV?

The manual says this: "Digital audio is only available with 5.1 channel broadcasts."
But the the manual also states that the TV supports DD and DD+ when playing the supported video formats (.avi, .mkv, .asf, .wmv, .mp4, .mov, .3gp, .vro, .mpg, .mpeg, .ts, .tp, .trp, .flv, .vob, .svi, .m2ts, .mts) and codecs (H.264 BP/MP/HP, HEVC, Motion JPEG; MVC; MPEG4, Window Media Video v9, MPEG2, MPEG1, MPEG5, H.263, VP6, etc).

So I guess I could get 5.1 audio via optical when reproducing video files from a USB stick?

thanks in advance
 
All I can say is give it a try, at the end of the day, you have nothing to loose with a USB stick and I know my TV will record onto a USB stick which I suspect means that it will record what is broadcast by that channel. So I would surmise that that will also playback that way
 

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