Sad story:
Yesterday morning, lightning struck near my house and fried my TV, receiver, and a few other electronic things.
So... I need recommendations on the TV and receiver. TV size is 50-55 inches, 8-10 ft distance. Receiver needs to be beefy - needs pre-outs and/or 4 ohm support.
I enjoy Samsung tvs and recently got a smart tv. I wish our Samsung was a smart tv and our smart tv was a Samsung! Our Visio smart tv just isn't on the same level as our 1 1/2 older Samsung.
For the receiver, I'd watch CLs for a high end one being replaced with the latest and greatest. Check CNet for their review of the specific model or a audio mag. That's how I'd start.
Then also buy yourself a nice power conditioner/surge protector like a Panamax so this doesn't happen to you again.
TV, Receiver and networking equipment were on surge protectors.
z31maniac wrote: Then also buy yourself a nice power conditioner/surge protector like a Panamax so this doesn't happen to you again.
would this have saved my TV several yrs ago … the lighting came in on the cable line, not the power line ?
I think the surge was through the cable line in my instance, actually.
so power conditioner/surge protectors really wouldn't have helped either of us 
My five CD carousel (for those under 40, they’re cute little shiny discs) blew up last month. Wally World, Best Buy, etc. don’t even stock them anymore so I was looking at dropping $160 on Amazon to get one (because set in my ways – get off my lawn).
Anyway, I took one of my daughters to Good Will to scrounge some electronic parts for a school science project and I was delighted to find no less than five units to choose from. All were priced at $20 Net and one was even higher end than my previous unit but I took the one that was just like what I had (because set in my ways – get off my lawn).
I struck up a conversation with a guy that was rummaging through the other audio equipment. He said he comes in every week and segregates all the units that look and smell right and have gold connectors. He then uses his smart phone to get the original sale price and goes home with the best stuff.
So, I’d recommend hitting up some Good Will stores in nice neighborhoods and see what you can find.
Update: I just dropped off the TV and receiver at the repair shop. Insurance requires anything over $300 to be inspected for repairability before I can replace it.
The receiver I think might be repairable, but I think the TV is dead.
I won't find out until next week.
wbjones wrote: so power conditioner/surge protectors really wouldn't have helped either of us
Incorrect.
Nice units like the Panamax have surge protectors for phone lines and cable lines.
good to know ….I need to look into them
thanks
Update: I got word on Friday that both the TV and receiver are considered total losses.
On the receiver front, I've got it narrowed down to a few contenders:
Yamaha RX-V777 (current revision of previous, has HDMI 2.0)
Yamaha Aventage RX-A840 (One step up, also has HDMI 2.0)
Emotiva Fusion 8100 (only HDMI 1.4, but has a beefy amplifier)
Integra DTR 30.6 (If I can find it)
On the TV front, I'm more confused than ever. I'm looking at a 55" or so. I went to Best Buy, and liked the high end 1080P Samsung plasma, the 4k Sonys and Samsungs, and have heard that the newest Vizios have very good image quality (but they weren't in stock at that particular store). If I got a 4k, it would have to have HDMI 2.0, in my opinion.
The things I noted about the 4k were more color related than resolution related. The difference at my seated distance for a 55" is subtle. Since I do a lot of web browsing from my couch, though, I think the biggest appeal would be in text rendering in 4k. (Mac OS X would let me use it as a "retina" high-dpi display, halving the screen real estate but doubling pixel density.)
Have you checked CNet for reviews: http://www.cnet.com/topics/tvs/best-tvs/52-59-inches/
Yes, and the one I wanted to look at was the Vizio M-series, and the ones I really liked that I saw were the Samsung PNF8500, Samsung UNF8000s, and Sony XBR-X900B/X850B. So, I guess I agree with their assessments in picture quality. Just not sure if they are worth the extra cheddar though.
Plus, there's a 4k Vizio P series coming out soon. If I can muster myself to wait for it, I think it might be a winner.
+1 for the Yamaha RX-V amps. They've gotten great reviews for the last 10 years or so. I've never heard of the Emotiva or Integra brands before, but now I have my own Yamaha receiver, I haven't closely browsed Hi-Fi stuff much lately.
Submitted the insurance claim today.
BTW, I looked at a curved TV and was really turned off by it. Lots of distortion of the picture at the top and bottom.
Right now, I'm almost sold on just waiting until Vizio's P Series 4k TVs are released.
Update:
Finally replaced the TV with a Sony X850B 55" 4k TV. It arrived about 3 hours before we had gone on vacation. Sat in the box for about 5 days.
Yesterday, we got home and set it up. First thing we looked at, for my son's sake, was Curious George on Netflix (via the TV). Ho-lee crap! It was literally mesmerizing. I had to tear myself away. The picture was that good. All I wanted to do was watch TV. Plus, the Netflix interface is worlds better than our Blu-Ray player. It was very responsive and had beautiful preview pics.
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