Speaking of surround sound. What is the best surround sound nowadays? I used to be a big Sonos fan but I've waned on them over the years since. What are folks doing nowadays?
Bonus if its wireless and supports Airplay 2, but not required
Bonus if its wireless and supports Airplay 2, but not required
All receivers these days will do AirPlay, Spotify and Bluetooth on top of HDMI and other inputs.
But... somehow I doubt that's what you were thinking of with "best"? Something cheaper maybe? :)
- Wireless if at all possible. Really almost a must, as I can't run the wires in the wall
- Airplay 2 support would be ideal, since I use an Apple TV and have many Apple devices this would be a nice to have, but not required strictly
- I do prefer a 7.1 setup over 5.1
- Dolby Atmos would be great
Technically best - dedicated AV receiver that supports as many channels as you're interested in (5.1, 7.1.2?), if you're looking at anything above bargain bin this probably includes Airplay 2. Dedicated hard-wired speakers for each channel, making sure to get a set that has good frequency response and focus on a subwoofer that provides adequate range to prevent roll-off.
Advantages: incredibly broad options, can go as high or low-end as you want. Independently up-gradable, most components are very repairable, often this provides the lowest latency possible, generally has the least amount of "magic" in the software stack.
Disadvantages: high price floor relative to a lot of consumers, usually lots of wires (wireless options exist for satellites, but add disadvantages of latency and software messiness). Adds lots of boxes to a room (front LR pair usually kind of large, center channel kind of large, receivers are often pretty large).
Aesthetic best - Broadly speaking, soundbars. Sonos is the name to beat generally here. I like the Sony HT-A9 as it breaks the mold a bit, I think there's probably a lot of disagreement as to what stands out in this space. I think Samsung stuff is generally well regarded, the HW-Q990C is spoken highly of.
Advantages: very few wires and very few boxes. Usually fairly affordable.
Disadvantages: lower overall quality and customization. If anything breaks, you're at the whim of the manufacturer.
I've recently gone the route of the dedicated receiver and it _is_ great. I'm pretty sensitive to audio qualities in ways my wife isn't, but it's made a world of difference to me just upgrading from an old 2.1 system I'd used for 15 years.
The only real downside of this is you won't see any OSD information from the receiver when using the splitter.
No OSD is unfortunate, but certainly usable. You'll miss out on volume and source indicators if you can't see the receiver's screen, but you can connect a cable for receiver menus, and usually once you get things setup, you don't need to spend much time in receiver menus.