...but I got some questions left considering the idea being future proof for gaming etc.
I couldn't find a general AV/sound system thread so I hope it's ok to open this one.
So, I currently own an entry level set of speakers by Teufel (Magnum Concept E I think) and paired it with an Onkyo receiver. Apart from the lack of BT or network connectivity I'm actually pretty happy with the results.
BUT I realized that I just don't get that much use out of a dedicated 5.1 setup as I used to. I play games with a headset pretty often and for watching stuff I rarely turn the volume and bass up, partly to not annoy the neighbours (they don't care about not annoying us, but whatever). And I hate the necessary wire management that comes naturally with a 5.1 system with a passion.
So when I recently stumbled across an article on the Sonos Playbase I thought: "Thats exactly what I want."
Well, except the one from Sonos is too expenisve. So I did some research, as it was actually the first time that I heard of soundbases being a thing, I had only ever known soundbars. Turns out that there are some good sound bases with a lot more inputs (HDMI + Optical) as well as being a lot cheaper by Sony, Onkyo and Teufel for example.
I am currently looking at the Sony HT-XT3 and the Teufel Soundbase.
Reviews sound great and I'd love to finally have a BT capable system with the potential for a multiroom setup in the future.
So on to my questions:
I've been concerned about the new HDMI 2.1 standard when thinking about upgrading my sound setup. But do I even have to bother if I had a soundbase?
Right now I own an old Panasonic Plasma TV but I m intend to upgrade to a 4k display in the relatively near future, likely once 2.1 is on board already. So for HDMI passthrough it would make sense to have a HDMI 2.1 sound system as well, right? But couldn't I just plug all my HDMI devices (I'll probably never use more than 3-4 at the same time) directly into my hypothetical new TV and connect that with a single optical cable to my hypothetical new soundbase? I'm no expert at all at these things but that way the soundbase should only get the audio from the TV instead of functioning as receiver/complete passthrough device, right? So what I want is to have the future benefits of the next HDMI standard my next TV will offer for TV/gaming but while using one of the current soundbases as nothing else but a speaker system which will not support 2.1. Is it possible via optical? Am I missing anything here?
Any other drawbacks I may haven't thought of yet?
I couldn't find a general AV/sound system thread so I hope it's ok to open this one.
So, I currently own an entry level set of speakers by Teufel (Magnum Concept E I think) and paired it with an Onkyo receiver. Apart from the lack of BT or network connectivity I'm actually pretty happy with the results.
BUT I realized that I just don't get that much use out of a dedicated 5.1 setup as I used to. I play games with a headset pretty often and for watching stuff I rarely turn the volume and bass up, partly to not annoy the neighbours (they don't care about not annoying us, but whatever). And I hate the necessary wire management that comes naturally with a 5.1 system with a passion.
So when I recently stumbled across an article on the Sonos Playbase I thought: "Thats exactly what I want."
Well, except the one from Sonos is too expenisve. So I did some research, as it was actually the first time that I heard of soundbases being a thing, I had only ever known soundbars. Turns out that there are some good sound bases with a lot more inputs (HDMI + Optical) as well as being a lot cheaper by Sony, Onkyo and Teufel for example.
I am currently looking at the Sony HT-XT3 and the Teufel Soundbase.
Reviews sound great and I'd love to finally have a BT capable system with the potential for a multiroom setup in the future.
So on to my questions:
I've been concerned about the new HDMI 2.1 standard when thinking about upgrading my sound setup. But do I even have to bother if I had a soundbase?
Right now I own an old Panasonic Plasma TV but I m intend to upgrade to a 4k display in the relatively near future, likely once 2.1 is on board already. So for HDMI passthrough it would make sense to have a HDMI 2.1 sound system as well, right? But couldn't I just plug all my HDMI devices (I'll probably never use more than 3-4 at the same time) directly into my hypothetical new TV and connect that with a single optical cable to my hypothetical new soundbase? I'm no expert at all at these things but that way the soundbase should only get the audio from the TV instead of functioning as receiver/complete passthrough device, right? So what I want is to have the future benefits of the next HDMI standard my next TV will offer for TV/gaming but while using one of the current soundbases as nothing else but a speaker system which will not support 2.1. Is it possible via optical? Am I missing anything here?
Any other drawbacks I may haven't thought of yet?