Home Theater
The Home Theater is also rather small compared to what some others have. It is of secondary importance to me after the audio only system. I've tried to make it sound nice while keeping the costs down. I suppose it would be called a 5.2.2 or 7.2 system. It consists of these components:
AV Receiver: Yamaha RX-V683. 95 watts per channel( 7 channels) with Dolby Atmos. I'm not happy with the Atmos of this receiver. It isn't discrete, but shares front Atmos output with the surround rear, auto switching between them. I've found I get one or the other, but I've never heard the auto switch work. I want a true 9.2.2 setup.
Television: TCL 65 inch Roku 4K with Dolby Vision.
Speakers: L/R- Klipsch RP-600M, Center- Klipsch RP-400C, Side- Klipsch R-51M, Back- Klipsch R-41M, Atmos- Klipsch RP-140SA. For many years I used a Bose center speaker. Changing to the Klipsch 400C was a huge leap is sound quality.
Subwoofers: Klipsch R-100SW & R12SW.
Interconnects: AQ Chcolate HDMI (eARC), AQ Forest HDMI (Apple TV to receiver).
Streamer: Apple TV 4K.
Speaker Cable: Micca L/R, Audioquest X2 Center. 14 gage zip cord Surrounds. Subwoofers use Audioquest Black Lab.
Best deals for Mr. Cheap: Klipsch R-12SW for $158 at Amazon. Not that great a subwoofer, but at that price I couldn't resist.
The Yamaha V683 was discontinued and on sale for $335. It replaced a very old Pioneer 5.1 AVR.
Update: On Jan. 9, 2023, the Denon AVR-X3700H will arrive. It is discontinued by Denon and was on sale for $1,199. I used a $40 coupon and paid $1,159. It is a 9.2.4 receiver. Reviews have been very good for it. I admit that I didn't realize that the x.x.2 didn't mean 2 more channels than the 7.x.x number. To get front Dolby Atmos, I really have a 5.2.2 system with the Yamaha. The Denon should correct this. As of now, the rear speakers sit dormant.
I don't watch many movies, but my little system sounds pretty darn good when I do. Those Marvel movies shake the house with their LFE. I also use an old Panasonic 42 inch TV to have two football games on. It only does 720 and uses an Amazon Firestick for streaming. It has a little Wohome 66 soundbar thats much better than the TV speakers. The wife has a Bose 5.0 soundbar(AQ Pearl HDMI) on her 55 inch 4K Samsung upstairs. I was surprised that the Bose actually has some output at 50Hz.
The little Wohome 66 soundbar is connected via optical. The stand does help to improve the bass a little. I guess it's fine for a football game. The optical cable that came with it went straight in the trash. For $32 I wasn't surprised. Poor man's home theater at its best. Thanks to my older sister for telling me to put the soundbar on the shelf instead of on top the stand. Looks much better there. Roll Tide!