What to upgrade first?

[Manbatius]

Hi all,

I am considering upgrading some of my AV equipment as some of it is quite old, I am unsure which to upgrade first.

Current kit:
TV: Samsung LE40 A656 (6 series around 6-7 years old)
AV receiver: Marantz SR4400 (12 years old)
Speakers: Cambridge audio Minx10 x3, Wharfedale SW150 sub, small sony rear speakers.
Virgin Tivo 500GB
Xbox one: now used as blu ray player
PS4

Things I am considering:
New tv, 49 inch 4k with HDR. Samsung likely a 6 series.

Av receiver (current one only has 2 optical inputs, a bit of a nightmare) it is also silver and no other equipment is.
I was considering replacing this with a marantz slim receiver NR1506, but unsure after reading negative things about power output. Also Getting a slim receiver is my only way of fitting a standalone blu ray drive in the unit though.

I also had xbox one S on this list, but richer sounds have some good buy tv get ultra blu ray player half price. (saying that if I had a one S, I could fit a clu ray player underneath without upgrading amp

Tivo 4k when released (mainly hoping it streams to devices like sky Q)

I am likely to upgrade in stages. Around £400 saved so far, equipment is used for Gaming, Films, TV in that order.

TLDR:
Upgrade TV, amp or something else, first.

 

[Manbatius]

Normally I would always say that any AV system starts with the best TV you can possibly afford, so if you're unhappy with your TV then upgrade that first.

However you state gaming as your main use, so I'd say it depends what you currently use for gaming.

The X1, mainly as I prefer the controller,I have a fair few backwards compat games on there, it has 1tb. It is also my blu ray player as the PS4's blu ray drive is horrifically loud.

I would say I may move back to PC as I have just got a Radeon RX 470, however I have pre ordered Dead rising 4 and Resident Evil 7 on consoles.
In reality I am somewhat tied to console as Konami's pc release of Pro evo is always wonky.

 

[Manbatius]

Id upgrade the xbox to a slim one (can do the upgrade for circa 100quid, and buy a new TV. Depends on your preferences tho .

How far do you sit from tv? I've got a 42" just now but i think next upgrade will be 55"+

Yeah I had considered that, read a ps4 slim review but the drive is still really loud so it would be no good for Blu rays (missing the 4k drive as well)

I sit quite close 2M ish in the man chair, I find if I am on the sofa which is probably about 3.4m away I need to put my glasses on for gaming. The reason for not going above 49inch is the unit is just over a metre wide. Think a tv overhanging may look odd.

will find a pic.

 

[Manbatius]

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Eurgh need to sort my cable management, Recently hooked the ps4 up with ethernet as the store would never load.

 

[Manbatius]

Get a new TV.

Position your speakers better, it's pointless having surround sound if you're going to have them that close together.

Yep, aware of that. They're closer as I had the ps4 on top for a while.

I can only get them so far apart on that unit though. I considered putting the right one in the other alcove, but thought that might be too separated?

 

[Manbatius]

General consenus is TV, which was my first thought before I got muddled.
Will continue to save for that. Hopefully early next year get something!

To the chap above, sky Q is a no go in my area, think BB is something like 3mb at best through the phone. Also the wiring from the the telephone pole, all the rubber has worn away and the wire is bare.
Having to stick with virgin for Broadband me thinks!

Cheers people.

No doubt will be back for tv advice in a few months.

 

[Manbatius]

Issue is, you could really do with an Amp that has HDMI and lossless audio to take advantage of the Blu-Rays.

Just spotted this, must have posted similar time to my above post.
Agreed, it would also be easier having hdmi inputs on the amp.
Since getting the PS4 my tivo sound now comes through the tv. Only 2 digital inputs on amp. I can hook the tivo up with some aux leads to the amp, but it involves dragging the unit out.

Likely sort it next device I change.

February/March time is a good time of year to buy a Telly. The big Manufacturers release models for that year about that sort of time (April too)
so Retailers will want to sell off 'last years' models.

I think that is around the time I will be looking!