The Home Theater Showcase Thread

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Okay...

I almost just bought my set-up but I'm already in the process of upgrading. That cheap NS-P40 system isn't doing it for me. It can't handle ****. It's amazing on low to mid sound level, but it struggles when it get past that and also in some frequences even at low volume.

So. As y'all can see in the last post on the previous page, I upgraded to the NS-333 to use as front speakers... amazing set, but the rest - especially the centre - still struggled. So I got a good deal on the NS-C444 which fits with the two front Yamaha speakers. The list price is $217 and I got it for $87.



BUT then I suddenly could get a deal on two front towers - the Yamaha NS-555 - which was TOO GOOD to pass... I have NO IDEA how I'm going to fit all this in. But hey, you don't arrange your speakers according to your home - you arrange your home according to your speakers - right? the list price for these EACH is $290... I got A PAIR of them for $173 !!! That's more than $400 saved - and they are basically brand new. Insane.



Now I got the complete set. F*ck yeah.



I converted my loft about a year ago. I've since had a skylight fitted and I plan to go proper surround sound one day, but for now the sound coming out of this Sony speakers I use is fine.

Swanky lighting scheme. I dig that nice job



As much as we all love movies, I think we can agree that movies are more enjoyable to watch on bigger screen with better sounds.

So I created this thread for us to share how your home theatre is set up, so we all can discuss and borrow some good home theatre set up ideas from each other.

Please note this is not meant for show off (You are welcome if you'd like ) but simply idea sharing.

I will go first obviously:

TV Model: Vizio P75-C1
Amplifier: Yamaha RXA760
Sound System: 5.1
Front Speaker: Totem Arro
Center Speaker: Totem Dream Catcher Center
Rear Speaker: Totem Dream Catcher Book Shelve Speakers
Subwoofer: Wharfedale D10
Devices: Most of the time I use WD TV Live for all movies I downloaded, along with Playstation for Blurays and the DVD player.



When I got this setup done, I was so happy.
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That's a pretty awesome setup. Not sure about the WD TV live though. I had one of those and just didn't get on with it. Too clunky. I now use an Intel NUC running LibreELEC to create a library of all my downloads from a central network drive. At the moment i've only got a Sony BDV 5.1 system hooked up to a 43" samsung tv, but once the kids are past the "damaging my equipment" age, I'll get a new amp with proper speakers.



That's a pretty awesome setup. Not sure about the WD TV live though. I had one of those and just didn't get on with it. Too clunky. I now use an Intel NUC running LibreELEC to create a library of all my downloads from a central network drive. At the moment i've only got a Sony BDV 5.1 system hooked up to a 43" samsung tv, but once the kids are past the "damaging my equipment" age, I'll get a new amp with proper speakers.

I often see criticism towards WD TV LIVE, which I cannot understand why. Can you share more on why it doesn't work for you? Maybe I know more secrets about the device than you do.



The People's Republic of Clogher
We've already got a home theatre thread here. I'll merge this one.
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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan



I often see criticism towards WD TV LIVE, which I cannot understand why. Can you share more on why it doesn't work for you? Maybe I know more secrets about the device than you do.
I had problems with just about everything. It wasn't playing some mkvs. There were sound dropout on some movies with particular codecs and the picture was not as good.

I delved into the world of xbmc and haven't looked back.



I had problems with just about everything. It wasn't playing some mkvs. There were sound dropout on some movies with particular codecs and the picture was not as good.

I delved into the world of xbmc and haven't looked back.
Interesting, my WD TV LIVE plays almost every mkv files I have. Not those 4K mkv files, but the most of mkv files are always working.



I had problems with just about everything. It wasn't playing some mkvs. There were sound dropout on some movies with particular codecs and the picture was not as good.

I delved into the world of xbmc and haven't looked back.
I know nothing about xbmc, would you mind sharing more details?



I know nothing about xbmc, would you mind sharing more details?
XBMC has developed in time into KODI. Which unfairly gets bad press these days. Mostly because it is used for piracy by many people. But it's 1005 open source software, free and I use it to stream my own content from my NAS drive. It creates a really lovely customizable layout for all my downloaded content, like this for instance:



You need a device though. Raspberry Pi3's work very well with LibreELEC and can be got for as little as 45GBP. I have 3 dotted round the house.

As well as your own content you can also use it for addons like youtube, bbc, music stuff etc.

I use mine daily. Go to kodi.tv if you need to download . You can try the software on a PC first.



XBMC has developed in time into KODI. Which unfairly gets bad press these days. Mostly because it is used for piracy by many people. But it's 1005 open source software, free and I use it to stream my own content from my NAS drive. It creates a really lovely customizable layout for all my downloaded content, like this for instance:



You need a device though. Raspberry Pi3's work very well with LibreELEC and can be got for as little as 45GBP. I have 3 dotted round the house.

As well as your own content you can also use it for addons like youtube, bbc, music stuff etc.

I use mine daily. Go to kodi.tv if you need to download . You can try the software on a PC first.
Wow, as techy as I consider myself, there are a lot of things you just posted didn't make sense to me. LOL

I will start from the dumb questions:

Are the movies free in Kodi or it is like Netflix?
What devices do I need to purchase? and how much?




Are the movies free in Kodi or it is like Netflix?
No. The movies I'm discussing here are ones I have ripped myself from blurays/DVD using software called Handbrake. Or downloaded if I have not been able to locate a copy.

As I said there are addons available for Kodi. Some endorsed by Kodi and totally legal. Some not. This is the place to discus the legal ones.

What devices do I need to purchase? and how much?
As I said, Raspberry Pi3 is an amazing solution for a home theatre device and is very cheap at around £40 to £50. You'll need a class 10 SD Card, a HDMI lead, and a USB PC remote, all are fairly cheap. You then download libreELEC onto the sd card using a laptop and / or sd card reader.

As I said, download kodi from their site and test it on your PC first.



No. The movies I'm discussing here are ones I have ripped myself from blurays/DVD using software called Handbrake. Or downloaded if I have not been able to locate a copy.

As I said there are addons available for Kodi. Some endorsed by Kodi and totally legal. Some not. This is the place to discus the legal ones.



As I said, Raspberry Pi3 is an amazing solution for a home theatre device and is very cheap at around £40 to £50. You'll need a class 10 SD Card, a HDMI lead, and a USB PC remote, all are fairly cheap. You then download libreELEC onto the sd card using a laptop and / or sd card reader.

As I said, download kodi from their site and test it on your PC first.
I guess you're way more hardcore than me when it comes to movie streaming.

I am good with my WD TV LIVE for now. LOL



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
To make amends for my link, I'm rockin' a Hitachi 51s715 from like 2004 maybe. Rear screen projection and as big as a freezer. It's held up pretty well considering its age. You can't align the edges for crap and text is near impossible to read if its not huge. Still, it's been a work horse keeping Dootle-bug company through Sponge Bob while at work and me watching whatever at night.

I run a PS3 through it for gaming, DVD, and streaming. Used to have surround but got tired of Db finding the cables.



You ready? You look ready.
Depends on what "replacing" means, doesn't it? It's already replacing some of it. It'll definitely be years and years until it replaces it almost completely (if that ever happens; I have my doubts), but I think most people will consider physical media "replaced" long before it has some huge majority of the market.

If you mean replace in purely technical terms; that is, duplicate the quality and (almost) the reliability and speed of in-house physical media, then yeah, it'll take forever. But I think people will give up a lot of that picture quality for accessibility and cost. I know I sure will.
I'm telling you, dude. Streaming is years and years away from replacing DVDs or Blu-Rays.
I think it's safe for us to say that streaming has replaced discs now, yeah?


Oh, and for streaming your movie collection? I've been using Emby for the last 6 months and find it an awful lot better than Plex.
I'm still running Plex. Any particular reason I should switch?

As for my current setup: I have a 43" LG 4K with HDR hooked to a Xbox One S, and I'm rocking a 2.0 sound setup using my M-Audio AV40s (studio monitors).
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The People's Republic of Clogher

I'm still running Plex. Any particular reason I should switch?
I've gone back to Plex.

The heart of both systems is basically the same, but the apps where you actually watch the stuff differ. I have an Android TV and stream directly to an app on there and for ages, the Plex one was awful with Emby's just working better with that particular setup. The TV updated to the latest Android OS a few months ago and Plex has been updated and is running flawlessly.

If you're streaming to, say, a games console I'd go for Plex all day long because the only way you can run Emby on a Playstation or Xbox is via their paid app and, in the PS4's case, the 'app' is basically the PS4's web browser.