5 Basic Things I'll NEVER Do Again in Home Theater & Hi-Fi

[@shaner3d]

Great video! Got an 85” for my living room. Sitting anywhere from 12 to 25 feet away. Made a huge difference.

[@Techthusiasm]

Nice!

[@SunnySkiesInAZ]

The larger screen segment struck me the most. I sit 11’ away from the screen and bought a new Sony oled 65”, very underwhelmed with the size. My space is 11’x18’ and I though this would suffice. I’ve been waiting for the new 77” a95l to be released, but now you have me thinking I need bigger…

[@Techthusiasm]

Go big! :)

[@Chris-hr2uj]

I have to agree with your point on screen size. My theater has a 150 inch throw projector from 9 feet 720p with 3D playback, as well as a 65 inch 4k tv. And for movies, I'd go 150 inch 720p everytime. No comparison. Size over quality all day. I get crap for it, but I think that is from people who havent experienced or compared both. However for competitive gaming, smaller is better, due to limited peripheral vision and reduced latency. So i game on the 65 inch.

[@rts100x5]

Dirac Live has been a drastic improvement in the room correction dept - as in game changer improvement... even with room treatment panels , there are some serious speaker + room corrections that need to be made .... Audessy is worthless ... Once you learn to use Dirac Live , you'll NEVER go back to anything else ..I even have it in my truck system now .....

[@bingdong8571]

The followup model to nz will be a 8000 ish dollar 120" oled. Were already there. Just need to find offset center channel work around.

[@Techthusiasm]

We'll see. 120" 16:9 would be smaller than I'd like for my theater room, especially for scope content.

[@JS-shim]

With regard to Native 4K, Christie do a pixel shifter called “M”. Most people agree that it produces pictures than the equivalent natives from Sony and Barco.

[@stephenphillips1660]

Do you feel like the NX7 has enough light output for a 163" 2.35:1 image? Assuming you aren't using an anamorphic lens, you are projecting about a 173" diagonal 16:9 image (including the black bars).

[@Techthusiasm]

I do. Seems like it might not be, but I've had a number of folks over and no one thought it was light starved. That said, I look forward to my next projector being 2,500 lumen or higher.

[@kevonmanuel]

Forgot: Buying a PS5 for $500 +, selling it to go all in on PC gaming. Then repurchasing another PS5.

[@Techthusiasm]

LOL, that was for science... At least I didn't lose any money on that indecision. :)

[@PrezidentHughes]

I definitely agree with the HDMI thing. I'm not so much into home theater, but I would love some powered speakers with HDMI that didn't cost an arm and leg, or at least a basic stereo system with HDMI. But most of those seem to be huge overcomplicated things. Pioneer had a slim Class D option, but similar is neatly impossible to find.

[@Techthusiasm]

Check out the Dynaudio Focus series. I was looking at those some time back for wireless/powered speakers that looked interesting.

[@gregheard6024]

Acoustic treatments 100% agree. Small investment makes a huge impact on performance. Was surprised how much improvement came from that upgrade

[@Techthusiasm]

Yes!

[@Antibackgroundnoise]

Yeah man some very good tips there. Especially the one about room treatment. In fact I was was amazed what one diffusion/absorption panel was able to accomplish within my small living room. So much so it's actually made me a little extra careful about not overdoing it.

[@Techthusiasm]

It transformed my room, so sure.

[@JLRJ]

I’ll never go smaller for a Living Room Tv screen size. I have a 75in now and my next will be 85in. I think that’s the max size screen for my Living Room. If my 75in Tv can’t be repaired then I’ll have an 85in by Summer! I’ve never owned an OLED but I think I’m staying with Samsung’s QLED. I love a bright Tv!💯

[@Techthusiasm]

Do it!

[@yolosuarez]

On my semi-offtopic Q since you brought up fightsticks (SF6 just released!) I’m building a home theater now, but how do you go about playing with a fightstick if the planned rack and console are in a different room? Is there a solution? Or any reliable wireless options?

[@Techthusiasm]

Most fight sticks are wired with pretty long wires and you can reliably add another 10' to maybe 15' extension to that. If I played SF in the theater with a stick, I'm close enough to my rack to reach. If I play in the living room right now with the PC downstairs, I would have to use some USB to CAT5e adapters that I have. I can USB from the stick to the Ethernet jack on the wall which goes down to my rack. I may still take some moves to rebuild the PC and move it upstairs to the living room, which would make it directly wirable within reach. I'm still kind of TBD on that.

[@FrankieKennethL]

I’m back w my monthly recommendation for Jaremy to lower his surrounds 😂😂. Seeing you standing next to your speaker and seeing them at your ear level while standing is about as clear evidence they’re too high. I know I’ve vented about this w you in the past…what I would offer you is to bring out your UMIK 1 and REW and do sweeps at your listening MLP and then re run them with the mic raised to the acoustic mid height of your system. Thank me later.

[@Techthusiasm]

LOL, hey they are within spec! :) All will better once I get some higher back theater chairs in there...

[@patricklonski]

Good advise in all respects. Thumbs up

[@Techthusiasm]

Thanks!

[@HiFinest343]

I’ll never waste money on snake oil again (audioquest cables). I build my own speaker cables using Belden 1313A 10ga copper, maybe $8/ft all in materials. Sounds fine lol.

[@Techthusiasm]

That's cool!

[@KimmoJaskari]

Native 4K is nice I guess, but there's nothing wrong with the pixel shifting options either. You get functionally 4K. Hell, even my Epson LS800 UST which "only" does doubled-up 1080 gives me an astonishing image at 120 inches - and it's not the best for night time viewing, either. The issue with native 4K especially with LCD is light. My LS800 can reach 4500 real lumens and part of the reason for that is simply that there aren't 4K tiny tiny pixels that you need to fire a stupidly powerful light source through to achieve high brightness. The same is true of the normal front projectors. Full 4K will trade off brightness. And if you need to put more powerful light sources in, now you're generating more heat and thus more noise. And with more light coming in, it gets harder to block it where you want black. LCOS is probably better at that as is DLP as they're reflective technologies, but there are always tradeoffs. It's worth keeping in mind that you only begin to see some advantages from 4K from a normal viewing distance when you sit close and go huge, like over 120 inches. So there's some minor benefits to full 4K - but you're paying for it in the rest of the stats. The NX7 projector for instance may be full 4K, but it's a relatively dim 1900 lumens instead. So, categorically stating nothing but native 4K is acceptable is in my opinion misguided or at least an oversimplification of reality.

[@Techthusiasm]

It's an opinion piece. This is my opinion.

[@chebrubin]

Quick question: The Anthem HDMI upgrade includes eARC? Do you regret rolling back the Trinnov?

[@Techthusiasm]

The AVM and MRX Anthem all have eARC, yes. The STR I have for my living though does not. The Trinnov I had was just a demo. It wasn't one I had bought. So it was always going back. That said, I've very happy with Anthem and my next plan would be an AVM 90 for my theater.

[@enderrobinson5556]

Zero chance you can tell the difference in resolution between e shift and native 4k at normal seating distance. There are reasons to choose JVC or Sony over Epson, but resolution isn’t one of them.

[@Techthusiasm]

I agree, in general, on the lack of major real world difference. That item in the video is more about my own peace of mind and principle. I agree too on the other virtues of the JVC/Sony. Beyond the LS12000 price point, we are pretty much all native 4K now anyway.

[@tharrigan5661]

Great video. Really excellent advice for everyone in this hobby. Agree totally on the Anthem, by the way. I have my first Anthem and I am thrilled with the receiver. Keep up the great video’s.

[@Techthusiasm]

Thanks!

[@bigbro8439]

Hi. As i believe you have an AVM70 and an Apple TV 4K 2022. Do you have the Apple tv directly connected to the AVM 70? If I do that the board HDMI 2.0 is not able to handle the signal which shows in high white sparkling pixelation or no picture at all. It is not until I screw back the output of the Apple tV to for instance 1080P Dolby Vision that I actually receive a proper image. So now I have directly connected the Apple TV to my LG Oled C8 hDMI 2.1 from I think 2019 and it works flawlessly using the ARC to send the lossy Atmos to the AVM 70. Question: do I need to upgrade the HDMI 2.0 board to HDMI 2.1 to solve this problem?

[@Techthusiasm]

Yes, I have both the AVM 70 and latest model ATVs. I have one ATV connected through my AVM 70 to my projector in my theater. I have not experienced any HDMI issues. My AVM 70 does have the original "4K" board. I have not yet done the "8K" upgrade. Note that is not a DV connection though as the projector is not DV-capable. In general, I'm starting to prefer plugging my sources directly into my TV in the living room vs. switching through an audio device. I don't much more concrete help to offer you. Do make sure the Anthem is firmware updated to the latest.

[@gregheard6024]

great video and agree on most all items. Logitech though over Magic Mouse or trackpad is definitely better option :) small nitpick but definitely top notch products especially when using both PC and Mac with multiple monitors.

[@Techthusiasm]

I have a Magic Mouse for my laptop, and I do kind of struggle with it. I don't find it very comfortable. But I almost never use it. I just stick to the track pad. At this point, I don't even really dock my laptop per se. I just set it down at my desk, plug in a wired USBC ethernet adapter and then the HDMI cable to my 43" Sony TV with the laptop down right in front of the TV.

[@cbmore28]

Jeremy, does field of view matter? If you are 8’ from your screen or monitor do you think a 110” 2.35 screen is best? I’ve always thought it best to aim for a 40 or 45 degree field of view for my viewing. I know some prefer sitting closer or farther back but ignoring the FOV seems lacking…..

[@Techthusiasm]

Immersion is a function of size, in general, and FoV is an aspect of determining impactful size, yes. I don't really have an FoV target for myself. I think 163" 2.35 at about 14' is pretty great in my theater. I don't think I'd go bigger than that. So you can run the math and adjust for distance to see the equivalent. I know I would like bigger than 83" someday in the living room too.

[@xaviersreview1827]

What happened to the Trinnov? Is Anthem better?

[@Techthusiasm]

The Trinnov I had early in the channel was only a short term demo, not one I had bought. I bought the Anther after a lot of research and really like the brand and products. An AVM 90 would be end game probably for me in my theater.

[@xaviersreview1827]

@@Techthusiasm The setup of the Trinnov was absolutely brutal. I returned the Anthem AVM 70 and got the Trinnov. Too early to say if I like it or not.

[@chuckmaddison2924]

I have got 2 systems in one room. I won't get involved again, that's if I can get out of it.

[@Techthusiasm]

Like a flat panel plus a projector? I'm curious why do you want to get rid of it?

[@chuckmaddison2924]

@Techthusiasm system 1...2 channel NAD , Technics phono pre amp, Dali , Garrard hi fi. 2 ...Denon, Tangent, Epson projector. Sony BDP S760 disc for movie's and fetch box. Sony can switch between systems There is also a plasma that can go in front of projector screen if I don't want to use projector . There are also 2 old tube radio grams on the sides. I tend to buy and keep . I do have an LG dvd I'm trying to sell . Something has to go. There is more in other rooms and shed

[@Techthusiasm]

Yeah, I agree. I'm a fan of reduction and consolidation. Try to get a singular system in that room which is great for music and video content that you're happy with. Cut down the stuff, spend more on less but better gear, reduce complexity, and so on.

[@chuckmaddison2924]

@Techthusiasm This was the original issue. Finding something that works with both. The original movie system just didn't work with music and even with movie a noticeable nasal.

[@sammy10001]

movie watching, I also agree bigger is better. So, I am for a 40 degree Field of view. But gaming, I can't do that big size. Messes up my focus and overwhelms me, especially in games without an FOV slider. Latest game that gave me nausea is Atomic Heart. Free on game pass, so you guys can try it out yourself, but 40 degree FOV is too much - for me. For gaming, I sit so that my FOV is 30 degrees

[@Techthusiasm]

Gaming can be tougher to do on too big a screen, for sure.

[@marcosdellavalle2309]

Maybe buy the biggest your money can Strech!

[@Techthusiasm]

Yep!