75" TV and Surround Sound Systems

[DawgMan]

I am redoing (updating) my basement media room and bringing it into the 21st century. We really have not used it for about 7 -10 years as the kids have been gone. Fast forward to today and we have 3 G-Kids so we want to create a "Kid Fun/Friendly" zone. I pulled out the old rear projection TV, did some wall modifications, and now want to add a 75" TV and new surround system. There seems to be many options for TVs ranging from $700 - $3K+. The only real advice I have been given is to make sure I look for a min of 120+hz. I want a decent TV for the kids movies and sports, but wonder what technology I really need to pay for?? As it relates to the surround sound, really the same question... what specs should I look for that are worth the price? FYI... I have existing wiring in-place in the walls for all the speakers so I can stay with a wired system.

Any advice?

 

[Dawg52]

Many will suggest OLED but for G-Kids I doubt you need something that expensive. QLED technology should be more than sufficient. i have an older version of the Sony X950H that I have thoroughly enjoyed. But in the 75" it's in the $2k range. There are several lower level QLED models that should be fine for kids. As far as surround sound goes, not sure what to suggest. A good sound bar with add on speakers should work fine. It's just a matter of how much you want to spend.

 

[Ronstar]

I've had a Sony 75X940H for 4 years and it's great. A 950 in the $2k range would be a great purchase IMO.

My sound was lacking a few years ago. 5.1 surround sound. Thought I needed new speakers. But my old surround sound receiver was failing. I bought a new Sony DH590 receiver and the sound greatly improved. I don't know much about speakers - I bought them from an AV store.

Probably could get some good advice on avforums.com, and go talk to a guru at Best Buy or similar. Both should be able to recommend a good set of components.

 

[teetee]

I would make the room full of books and pillows cause I found it really difficult to rediscover reading habit later in life.

 

[USGrant1962]

I recently bought a 75" Vizio QX after much web research. RTNGS.com seems to be the go to site for TV reviews.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/by-size/70-75-77-inch

And I agree with Dawg52, OLED is overkill unless you are a real TV snob.

EDIT - these things regularly go on sale for $200-$500 off, so keep your eyes on that.

 

[Midpack]

Many will suggest OLED but for G-Kids I doubt you need something that expensive. QLED technology should be more than sufficient. i have an older version of the Sony X950H that I have thoroughly enjoyed. But in the 75" it's in the $2k range. There are several lower level QLED models that should be fine for kids. As far as surround sound goes, not sure what to suggest. A good sound bar with add on speakers should work fine. It's just a matter of how much you want to spend.

Is it worth waiting for miniLED (or microLED) in your view? I'm on the fence regarding upgrading our oldish 4K LCD w 60Hz refresh. I hate to pay the OLED premium if miniLED is coming soon.

 

[Jerry1]

Many will suggest OLED but for G-Kids I doubt you need something that expensive. QLED technology should be more than sufficient. i have an older version of the Sony X950H that I have thoroughly enjoyed. But in the 75" it's in the $2k range. There are several lower level QLED models that should be fine for kids. As far as surround sound goes, not sure what to suggest. A good sound bar with add on speakers should work fine. It's just a matter of how much you want to spend.

I'm on the same page as Dawg52. Just get a reasonably priced TV with a sound bar that includes a wireless subwoofer. I have a Samsung setup that is a bit smaller at 65", but I have a sound bar/sub woofer set up and the grand kids and I are very happy with it. It plays the movies and the games very well.

 

[REWahoo]

Strongly recommend not purchasing anything so expensive that you'd have major heartburn should one of your grandkids destroy the screen playing "basement baseball". Don't ask me how I know.

 

[DawgMan]

Strongly recommend not purchasing anything so expensive that you'd have major heartburn should one of your grandkids destroy the screen playing "basement baseball". Don't ask me how I know.

Ahh... great point! Maybe I will wrap the TV with a cage... just in case!

 

[zinger1457]

As it relates to the surround sound, really the same question... what specs should I look for that are worth the price? FYI... I have existing wiring in-place in the walls for all the speakers so I can stay with a wired system.

Any advice?

You could easily spend as much for a good surround sound system as a quality 75" TV. A basic surround system would include an A/V Receiver, center channel speaker, subwoofer, and two each front and rear speakers. I have a Denon A/V receiver and Klipsch speakers, exceptional sound but not cheap, also a good choice for general music listening. Maybe $1200 all in for what I have. Don't skimp on the center channel speaker, that's where most of the TV dialogue comes through, a quality one makes a big difference.

 

[Dawg52]

Is it worth waiting for miniLED (or microLED) in your view? I'm on the fence regarding upgrading our oldish 4K LCD w 60Hz refresh. I hate to pay the OLED premium if miniLED is coming soon.

Hard to say. In my case I'm perfectly happy with what I have so don't have to decide. The below video compares OLED and QLED with mini-led backlighting. So doesn't really answer your question but touches on a comparison of the two as of today's technology.

 

[RobbieB]

Sound bars do sound good, but no match for a multi channel speaker setup with a good receiver and a good subwoofer. No speakers over your head and you won't duck when the planes go overhead.

Yeah, the center is the most important speaker.

 

[REWahoo]

All you folks advocating for a high-end sound system think the grandkids will really appreciate the difference between that and a reasonably priced sound bar?

Oh, and those ceiling speakers may get the kids to duck when planes go over but they may also get grandpa & grandma to think there is an earthquake and spend way too much time "asking" the grandkids to turn the volume down.

 

[Midpack]

We probably can’t fully appreciate a high end TV with a high end sound system with our poor eyesight and hearing…

 

[zinger1457]

All you folks advocating for a high-end sound system think the grandkids will really appreciate the difference between that and a reasonably priced sound bar?

Well, if going down that road why even get a soundbar? In any case it will make a nice man cave for all the days the grandkids aren't around.

 

[Jerry1]

Well, if going down that road why even get a soundbar? In any case it will make a nice man cave for all the days the grandkids aren't around.

Because tv speakers still suck. Sound bars with a subwoofer are a good middle ground between tv speakers and a full surround sound system.

 

[REWahoo]

Because tv speakers still suck. Sound bars with a subwoofer are a good middle ground between tv speakers and a full surround sound system.

^ This.

 

[DawgMan]

All you folks advocating for a high-end sound system think the grandkids will really appreciate the difference between that and a reasonably priced sound bar?

Oh, and those ceiling speakers may get the kids to duck when planes go over but they may also get grandpa & grandma to think there is an earthquake and spend way too much time "asking" the grandkids to turn the volume down.

Well, I suspect it will be multi-functional. Designed for entertainment for the G-Kids when here, but I suspect DW & I will venture down to watch some movies, and, potentially my Dawgs on game day. My TV upstairs is 65" so I reckon the 75" might lure me down stairs.

As it relates to the surround sound, I had previously set up the room wired for all 6 speakers and my general opinion is wired sound is better than wireless, so I was leaning on a wired system. That said, if someone can convince me wireless is better now, love to hear your pitch?

 

[ERD50]

...
As it relates to the surround sound, I had previously set up the room wired for all 6 speakers and my general opinion is wired sound is better than wireless, so I was leaning on a wired system. That said, if someone can convince me wireless is better now, love to hear your pitch?

That's not an opinion, that is fact. Wired sound is better than wireless, it is physics. There are conversion losses, and conversion costs.

There is very little degradation of sound quality in a reasonable length of reasonably good speaker wire (14 GA lamp cord should be "plenty good" in most cases).

Wireless means you can get interference, and wireless audio is compressed, then expanded at the other end. It's a lossy compression, so sound quality (whether you can detect it or not, is reduced).

Also, all those electronics, and replicating amplifiers at each speaker costs something, wire is very cheap, a common multi-channel amplifier can share some components - economy of scale. So all else being equal, the money that goes into the wireless feature has to come out somewhere else, likely reducing the quality of amplifiers, speakers, etc.

-ERD50

 

[Hermit]

I will put wired speakers in my home theater including ATMOS speakers in the ceiling. (I'll learn to duck.) I left all the electronics at my last house so no replacement debate for me. I would struggle with the ceiling speakers if the drywall was already in place. Those GKs will soon grow to teens and like the higher end electronics.

 

[Jerry1]

I would agree with ERD50 about wired speakers. However, a sound bar with just the wireless subwoofer doesn’t have the issues that an entire system would have. Certainly not audiophile equipment, but my ear can’t tell any issues with my sound bar/wireless subwoofer set up. If the OP wants high end audio, go for it. There are however, good alternatives for day to day listening.

 

[USGrant1962]

But if OP is already wired, that is half the battle. I'm still using a 30-year-old Polk Audio 5.1-speaker wired set and it is great. Unfortunately, it seems I have to buy a new AV receiver every 6-8 years because Hollywood keeps jacking up the copy protection and making hardware obsolete.

But good speakers last a LONG time.

 

[Music Lover]

I would think that most kids are just fine with a basic LED tv of decent size and basic speakers. Any upgrades above that would be wasteful unless you wanted it for yourself.