I’ve been watching my late grandfather’s TV since he moved out of his house so many years ago I can’t remember. It was a 32” RCA tube TV and was about as deep as it was wide. It was time to invest in a new setup.
I got hung up trying to find an entertainment center for a year or two but once I found a manufacture I liked it was a done deal. BDI makes quality stuff. They have hidden vents, hidden wheels, cable management, adjustable shelves, and nice adjustable hardware. I got the TV stand as well that mounts on the back of the entertainment center and has a nice swivel feature. They aren’t far away in Chantilly, VA so the whole building and delivery process took two weeks instead of three.
Once the entertainment center was found and ordered the TV was the easy part. While exploring my entertainment center I happened to see it in the store floor with a 55” TV sitting on it. This appeared to be the perfect size. The newest bestest TVs are anywhere from $3500 to $6000. Coming from last century’s technology I don’t need the best available today. I was looking at last year’s top models at discount prices and some 2011 models that didn’t have necessarily have all the latest buzz words. LG seemed to be the company I kept coming back to. I happened to find their latest model, not available in stores yet locally, for $750 off the regular price online. I jumped on that and it was delivered the day after my entertainment center.
I took a day off work to accept delivery and set it all up. It was great to throw out my old TV stand and get some new modern furniture. The TV delivery guys actually took my old TV for themselves. I got my sweet inherited Marantz receiver hooked up to my new HD cable box and Paradigm Reference speakers. I also moved my router from my desk to my entertainment center so my TV and Sonos system could be wired. Then I ran an ethernet cable to my desk with a switch so I can plug in over there as well. I have been having an issue streaming FLAC files on my Sonos system so being wired at my entertainment center will prevent that from happening (at least at that location).
I got the whole thing put together no less than 30 minutes before the Lupulin Reunuless Do. It was Sunday night before I had spent a whole hour watching my new set up with all the SAVOR events going on. The TV has “apps” and internet access. The apps are horrible. Why would I want to use LG’s version of Twitter or YouTube? They are so hard to use compared to the actual web pages. The browser is horrible too. I’m debating whether I should get Google TV so I can have a real browser on my HDTV. I’d like to watch motorsports and other content on the internet that isn’t shown on TV. The Picasa app isn’t too bad as I can put on a slideshow of all my pictures from online. It has Netflix integration which is great. Currently I’m logged in to Teri’s account so I have access to all kinds of movies and TV shows. The TV is 3D as well. It is passive 3D and came with four glasses. Comcast On Demand has some 3D content so I’ve checked it out and it’s better than I thought it was going to be. I just read about ESPN 3D and I’d like to try that out although I’m sure it’s not worth it to me to pay for on a regular basis. I have three remotes now for my receiver, TV, and cable box but I hope to consolidate that someday. There is one for my DVD player as well but why watch DVDs when I have access to Netflix and the internet?
I was getting a delay while listening to the audio through my stereo system. My insanely awesome but 10 yr old receiver doesn’t have any HDMI inputs. It does have digital optical inputs though and I found if I go from my TV to my receiver with the digital cable there is no delay. It sounds quite good.
The details:
- LG 55” 3D 240Hz LED LCD
- Marantz SR-19 receiver
- Paradigm Reference speakers
- Sonos multi-room music system with:
- internet radio
- Pandora
- 94 GB / 18,000+ track personal music library
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