Over complicated AV!
Discussion
Might be me being a derp and not all that into messing about with AV receivers.
Got one of these,
https://www.whathifi.com/sony/str-dn1080/review
It always seems to be a bit of a faff to use, fiddly and a bit arcane, just want it to work and be simple, the remote is the work of the devil.
So, need to download and RTFM, maybe replace the three remotes in there (TV, Amp, Sky) with some kind of universal remote as it pees me off, and the wife flat refuses to use it.
Also, never think it sounds all that good, was set up for surround with a sub but now it just two Tannoy floorstanders (DC6T) and the centre speaker, might be the setup, the room or just its not a good combo, it sounds ok, but it doesn't have that authority and sense of power I would hope for. Never been all that bothered with the cinema sound thing, when we re did the roomI did away with the sub (which never seemed to work properly) and the rears, largely happy with just decent stereo sound.
Got a bit of time over the hols so after some suggestions, mainly on a remote I can set up to make it easy and maybe any change/upgrades to improve the sound ? Are other brands a bit less fiddly ?
I had a class AA Technics amp in the 90s, was a beast of a thing, never had an AV one that matched the wallop that had, is that just a fairly budget AV amp thing
Might I be better just getting a hifi amp >
Got one of these,
https://www.whathifi.com/sony/str-dn1080/review
It always seems to be a bit of a faff to use, fiddly and a bit arcane, just want it to work and be simple, the remote is the work of the devil.
So, need to download and RTFM, maybe replace the three remotes in there (TV, Amp, Sky) with some kind of universal remote as it pees me off, and the wife flat refuses to use it.
Also, never think it sounds all that good, was set up for surround with a sub but now it just two Tannoy floorstanders (DC6T) and the centre speaker, might be the setup, the room or just its not a good combo, it sounds ok, but it doesn't have that authority and sense of power I would hope for. Never been all that bothered with the cinema sound thing, when we re did the roomI did away with the sub (which never seemed to work properly) and the rears, largely happy with just decent stereo sound.
Got a bit of time over the hols so after some suggestions, mainly on a remote I can set up to make it easy and maybe any change/upgrades to improve the sound ? Are other brands a bit less fiddly ?
I had a class AA Technics amp in the 90s, was a beast of a thing, never had an AV one that matched the wallop that had, is that just a fairly budget AV amp thing
Might I be better just getting a hifi amp >
Was it yourself who shifted the ATC kit? For me, a 2.1 setup is more than enough. Just keep it simple. Most of the time its playing Peppa Pig / YouTube.
-Audiolab 6000a
-Blusound Node 3 / Tidal
- Monitor Audio RX1
-BK XLS 200 sub - high level input
I run digital outputs from the streamer and TV. It just sound brilliant. It’s definitely more hifi based, I just turn the sub up for film. I have no issue with speech. Day to day I don’t bother with the sub.
We are moving soon and I have given good consideration to the new setup. I’m keeping the above amp and speakers for my office. Replacing the lounge likely be a 9000a and Silver 100s or PMC Prodigy 5. Long term il move the old sub to the office and il go twin subs.
-Audiolab 6000a
-Blusound Node 3 / Tidal
- Monitor Audio RX1
-BK XLS 200 sub - high level input
I run digital outputs from the streamer and TV. It just sound brilliant. It’s definitely more hifi based, I just turn the sub up for film. I have no issue with speech. Day to day I don’t bother with the sub.
We are moving soon and I have given good consideration to the new setup. I’m keeping the above amp and speakers for my office. Replacing the lounge likely be a 9000a and Silver 100s or PMC Prodigy 5. Long term il move the old sub to the office and il go twin subs.
Edited by PT1984 on Friday 27th December 18:22
J4CKO said:
Got a bit of time over the hols so after some suggestions, mainly on a remote I can set up to make it easy ...
I've been using a Harmony Ultimate remote and Hub for some years now and the whole family find it great to simplify the AV experience.The Remote talks via wi-fi to the Hub which puts out the Infra Red or Bluetooth (for Sony PlayStation for instance). The Remote has a sensible amount of hard buttons, as well as a touch screen, is back-lit when picked up and has a recharging Dock. All in all a great experience.
Not sure if your AV receiver is catered for as the range was discontinued a few years ago now, worth checking out though.
Edit. The Harmony range was discontinued in 2021, after your Sony was first produced, so it ought to be supported in the Harmony database.
The 'Activities' function of the Harmony remote are what really makes life easy, you choose the Activity you want on the touchscreen part eg: Watch Freeview, and the Harmony will turn on the appropriate equipment, select inputs etc. over the next few seconds, typically turning the touchscreen to the 'Favourites' panel of channel icons for your choice of favourite TV channels. Quite a game changer if you've not used one before and makes using the most complicated system seemless.
Edited by Techno9000 on Saturday 28th December 10:43
Hi-fi versus AV amp. I do both using the Pioneer AV amp that has full set of pre-outs connected to an Audiolab 6000 digital amp that is switchable via the remote to act as a regular integrated amp or a power amp with the Pioneer taking care of the processing and amplification to front and rear channels (5.1 only in my case). Works a treat.
Edited by Mark V GTD on Saturday 28th December 10:42
I had a lot of s
te in my time, I've slimmed right down, decent soundbar and rear speakers that all work from TV remote, power on, auto change inputs, all work no dicking around.
Then a separate decent Hi-Fi set up in another room with no stupid menus, turn on, choose input, sit back relax!
I've never managed to get a decent universal remote and have tried for many years from Cambridge, to Logitech and phone IR blasters.
I think we over complicate things these days!
However, would love to know whether the new Harmonies are good???
te in my time, I've slimmed right down, decent soundbar and rear speakers that all work from TV remote, power on, auto change inputs, all work no dicking around.Then a separate decent Hi-Fi set up in another room with no stupid menus, turn on, choose input, sit back relax!
I've never managed to get a decent universal remote and have tried for many years from Cambridge, to Logitech and phone IR blasters.
I think we over complicate things these days!
However, would love to know whether the new Harmonies are good???
dundarach said:
I had a lot of ste in my time, I've slimmed right down, decent soundbar and rear speakers that all work from TV remote, power on, auto change inputs, all work no dicking around.
Then a separate decent Hi-Fi set up in another room with no stupid menus, turn on, choose input, sit back relax!
I've never managed to get a decent universal remote and have tried for many years from Cambridge, to Logitech and phone IR blasters.
I think we over complicate things these days!
However, would love to know whether the new Harmonies are good???
This is what ive done, decent soundbar with sub for the tv, it just works.te in my time, I've slimmed right down, decent soundbar and rear speakers that all work from TV remote, power on, auto change inputs, all work no dicking around.Then a separate decent Hi-Fi set up in another room with no stupid menus, turn on, choose input, sit back relax!
I've never managed to get a decent universal remote and have tried for many years from Cambridge, to Logitech and phone IR blasters.
I think we over complicate things these days!
However, would love to know whether the new Harmonies are good???
That Sony amp isn’t great, you’d probably be better off getting a denon avr and a cheap tripod then run audyssey. A 2800 would do you. A tripod you can get for about 15 quid off amazon.
You can set it up so the tv turns the amp on and then that turns the sub on. I have it set like that so my wife can use it as although she enjoys good sound she doesn’t want to mess about either. It’s pretty straightforward to set that up though.
You can set it up so the tv turns the amp on and then that turns the sub on. I have it set like that so my wife can use it as although she enjoys good sound she doesn’t want to mess about either. It’s pretty straightforward to set that up though.
Douglas Quaid said:
That Sony amp isn’t great, you’d probably be better off getting a denon avr and a cheap tripod then run audyssey. A 2800 would do you. A tripod you can get for about 15 quid off amazon.
You can set it up so the tv turns the amp on and then that turns the sub on. I have it set like that so my wife can use it as although she enjoys good sound she doesn’t want to mess about either. It’s pretty straightforward to set that up though.
Hmm, it got decent reviews, not averse to a change but would need to know it brings worthwhile improvements.You can set it up so the tv turns the amp on and then that turns the sub on. I have it set like that so my wife can use it as although she enjoys good sound she doesn’t want to mess about either. It’s pretty straightforward to set that up though.
https://www.whathifi.com/sony/str-dn1080/review
Got it sounding a lot better, sounded thin and lifeless.
Think it’s mainly as the speaker setup had been changed and the settings hadn’t, used the mic to re configure it all and added a bit of equalisation and now, even though I would t call it the last word in hifi, it’s much better.
Can now get the menus to appear on the TV, which involved doing a factory reset and unplugging the hdmi.
Might do some upgrades at some point and look into your recommendations but it is at least not embarrassing now !
Think it’s mainly as the speaker setup had been changed and the settings hadn’t, used the mic to re configure it all and added a bit of equalisation and now, even though I would t call it the last word in hifi, it’s much better.
Can now get the menus to appear on the TV, which involved doing a factory reset and unplugging the hdmi.
Might do some upgrades at some point and look into your recommendations but it is at least not embarrassing now !
I have an AVR-1700, TV, SKY, BLU-RAY, with a pair of book shelf speakers and an SVS sub. Never seen the need for a centre speaker. The book shelfs are either side of the TV and I sit directly in the middle. Never used the AVR remote other than for initial setup. There is a Denon phone app if I want to tweak maybe the Dynamic EQ and SVS have an app if I want to turn down the sub.
Turn on SKY with it's remote and that switched everything on and adjusts the volume. If I switch to TV apps, the AVR automatically changes the input and the SKY remotes still does the volume. Only other remote I use is for the BR player and again, the AVR switches automatically and SKY does the volume. If I want to stream music from my phone, again everything is automatic.
Couldn't be simpler.
Turn on SKY with it's remote and that switched everything on and adjusts the volume. If I switch to TV apps, the AVR automatically changes the input and the SKY remotes still does the volume. Only other remote I use is for the BR player and again, the AVR switches automatically and SKY does the volume. If I want to stream music from my phone, again everything is automatic.
Couldn't be simpler.
Edited by TEKNOPUG on Sunday 29th December 21:54
I have had several av amps, hdbaset matrixes and every type of logitech remote, nevo remote, philips smart remote and i just got sick of all the bullst and footering around when something stops working and irritade calls from the mrs wjen i am at work and pared my av back to the bone, while still keeping decent sound and not spending too much.
Main source is a firestick on evey tv. Running sonos s1 as you can get used kit not compatible with s2 dirt cheap , plus s2 app is a car crash in my opinion.
Living room audio is a sonos new gen hdmi amp, in wall decent speakers, svs pb2000 sub, 2x play 1 as surrounds, kitchen and master bed, old sonos playbar, sonos sub gen 1 and old gen amp with ceiling speakers for surround. Other bedrooms, games room, bathrooms garage and gym have old gen sonos amps with the tv headphone out or a hdmi arc to headphone converter going to aux in with autoplay set plus whatever speakers suited the room, veling speakers or floorstanders, plus whayever analoughe subs i had lying around
Easy controls for music, every tv in the house has a firestick remote, apart from the odd firestick anomoly it all works and is easy to operate without irate phone calls. Every room sounds great to my fked ears and it didnt cost a fortune.
Bliss.
Of all the smart remotes the harmony elite was the one i liked best, but they still misbehave from time to time, and logitech have discontinued support for them so its only a matter of time til the cloud platform goes down.
For proper oomph i love the svs ported subs. Fitted a few for others and never seen anyone unimpressed with the sound and range of clean deep bass.
t and footering around when something stops working and irritade calls from the mrs wjen i am at work and pared my av back to the bone, while still keeping decent sound and not spending too much.Main source is a firestick on evey tv. Running sonos s1 as you can get used kit not compatible with s2 dirt cheap , plus s2 app is a car crash in my opinion.
Living room audio is a sonos new gen hdmi amp, in wall decent speakers, svs pb2000 sub, 2x play 1 as surrounds, kitchen and master bed, old sonos playbar, sonos sub gen 1 and old gen amp with ceiling speakers for surround. Other bedrooms, games room, bathrooms garage and gym have old gen sonos amps with the tv headphone out or a hdmi arc to headphone converter going to aux in with autoplay set plus whatever speakers suited the room, veling speakers or floorstanders, plus whayever analoughe subs i had lying around
Easy controls for music, every tv in the house has a firestick remote, apart from the odd firestick anomoly it all works and is easy to operate without irate phone calls. Every room sounds great to my f
ked ears and it didnt cost a fortune.Bliss.
Of all the smart remotes the harmony elite was the one i liked best, but they still misbehave from time to time, and logitech have discontinued support for them so its only a matter of time til the cloud platform goes down.
For proper oomph i love the svs ported subs. Fitted a few for others and never seen anyone unimpressed with the sound and range of clean deep bass.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Saturday 28th December 23:15
I’m considering ditching my 5.1 surround sound when we renovate the living room in 2025 as want to go for a more streamlined set up. Have had a 5.1 Polk speaker system since 1999/2000 although replaced the Yamaha AV Receiver about 10 years ago to a newer model RX-V475. The system is connected to a Sony blue ray and Sky Q. I mainly use the sound system to watch blue ray films and recorded music concerts. I use the Yamaha app on my iPhone or iPad to operate the system via Wi-Fi which works well. The system still sounds very good but am thinking about a top end soundbar with subwoofer such as Samsung Q990D. Thoughts on swapping from a 5.1 system to a soundbar ?
Edited by Mark-ri571 on Sunday 29th December 11:34
Edited by Mark-ri571 on Sunday 29th December 11:38
Mark-ri571 said:
I’m considering ditching my 5.1 surround sound when we renovate the living room in 2025 as want to go for a more streamlined set up. Have had a 5.1 Polk speaker system since 1999/2000 although replaced the Yamaha AV Receiver about 10 years ago to a newer model RX-V475. The system is connected to a Sony blue ray and Sky Q. I mainly use the sound system to watch blue ray films and recorded music concerts. I use the Yamaha app on my iPhone or iPad to operate the system via Wi-Fi which works well. The system still sounds very good but am thinking about a top end soundbar with subwoofer such as Samsung Q990D. Thoughts on swapping from a 5.1 system to a soundbar ?
Did just that. The quality of the sub will make or break your enjoyment of it.Edited by Mark-ri571 on Sunday 29th December 11:34
Edited by Mark-ri571 on Sunday 29th December 11:38
Fully automatic soundbar is far easier for non techy family members to get along with
OldGermanHeaps said:
Did just that. The quality of the sub will make or break your enjoyment of it.
Fully automatic soundbar is far easier for non techy family members to get along with
The main issue I have is that there doesn’t appear to be any nice contemporary cabinets to fit in all the kit - particularly the AV receiver. It’s a shame as my current system is working just fine and sounds good. Will try to get a demo of a top end Soundbar and Sub in the New Year.Fully automatic soundbar is far easier for non techy family members to get along with
Mark-ri571 said:
OldGermanHeaps said:
Did just that. The quality of the sub will make or break your enjoyment of it.
Fully automatic soundbar is far easier for non techy family members to get along with
The main issue I have is that there doesn’t appear to be any nice contemporary cabinets to fit in all the kit - particularly the AV receiver. It’s a shame as my current system is working just fine and sounds good. Will try to get a demo of a top end Soundbar and Sub in the New Year.Fully automatic soundbar is far easier for non techy family members to get along with
dickymint said:
That Q900 is an excellent sounding bit of kit (I have it's smaller brother Q700 i think which impressed me) especially if your existing TV has an eARC input as that makes it simple to control everything via you Sky remote. Just connect the soundbar eARC direct to the tv eARC and anything else to any other available HDMI slots in the TV.
Sounds good. Yes my Samsung TV has eArc which I currently use on my existing set up.Mark-ri571 said:
dickymint said:
That Q900 is an excellent sounding bit of kit (I have it's smaller brother Q700 i think which impressed me) especially if your existing TV has an eARC input as that makes it simple to control everything via you Sky remote. Just connect the soundbar eARC direct to the tv eARC and anything else to any other available HDMI slots in the TV.
Sounds good. Yes my Samsung TV has eArc which I currently use on my existing set up.TEKNOPUG said:
I have an AVR-1700, TV, SKY, BLU-RAY, with a pair of book shelf speakers and an SVS sub. Never seen the nerd for a centre speaker. The book shelfs are either side of the TV and I sit directly on the middle. Never used the AVR remote other than for initial setup. There is a Denon phone app if I want to tweak maybe the Dynamic EQ and SVS have an app if I want to turn down the sub.
Turn on SKY with it's remote and that switched everything on and adjusts the volume. If I switch to TV apps, the AVR automatically changes the input and the SKY remotes still does the volume. Only other remote I use is for the BR player and again, the AVR switches automatically and SKY does the volume. If I want to stream music from my phone, again everything is automatic.
Couldn't be simpler.
Just the PH double posts to sort out now 😉Turn on SKY with it's remote and that switched everything on and adjusts the volume. If I switch to TV apps, the AVR automatically changes the input and the SKY remotes still does the volume. Only other remote I use is for the BR player and again, the AVR switches automatically and SKY does the volume. If I want to stream music from my phone, again everything is automatic.
Couldn't be simpler.
Wife went out I and cranked it up, sounds alright but think partly it’s using Spotify, need to try a CD and see if it is much better, might buy a decent CD player, Spotify is so convenient but it is basically low bit rate mp3s.
Be interesting to see how different the cheapo DVD player plugged into it playing a cd compares.
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