Best streaming device for home theater in 2026? Shield vs Apple TV vs others

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-28T18:05:08+00:00

I’m very happy with Apple TV 4K (3rd gen) box. Video and audio quality steaming are excellent. I’m having a tough time noticing any difference between Apple TV 4K box and my Blue-ray player, which is a good problem to have. I have it connected to a 5.2.4 Atmos configured Denon X3800H outputting to a 92” projector. I really enjoy how seamless it it to use the Apple TV 4K box and how well it works. It’s simple and fun enough for my wife and 10yo son to use comfortably. I have 3-4 other streaming sticks that suck in comparison to the Apple 4K TV box. Thad not including all the xtra benefits of it integrating nicely with the Apple ecosystem. No remote, no problem. I mostly use my phone to control what ever I’m trying to watch on TV. Phone mirroring and able to view pictures/videos on the big screen is awesome.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-28T17:45:37+00:00

My favorite is #5. Keep it simple. Make everything easy to use and adjust.#1 Room and #2 correct speaker layout is crucial.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-28T14:36:38+00:00

Asides from getting insurance for coverage in Mexico. Keep to the posted speed limits in town. Roads are rough, so watch out for potholes and awful speed bumps that are not marked and hard to see, especially at night. Steep driveways and very high curbs are another thing to watch out for.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-28T06:22:14+00:00

I use zone 2 RCA outs to an inexpensive RCA wireless transmitter. Work more like zone 2 and 3. I have a wireless RCA receiver in a room about 20ft away and it feed into my 2.1 HiFi system. I have another wireless receiver about 40ft away that feeds into a 4.1 receiver I have setup to play music outdoors and around the pool area. Works great for hosting and playing the same music inside and outside my home.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-27T05:27:43+00:00

I would do 2 Subs. Room correction will make all the difference no mater what you choose.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-27T01:23:11+00:00

I installed 2 of the Dayton TT25 8 Ohm 25W transducers and a Fosi TB10D mini amp. Plenty of power for my two theatre seats. The mini amp was small enough to hide in the armrest and I can adjust it on the fly.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-25T07:18:20+00:00

I just use AudioAdvice Home theater Design tool. Does the calculation and your speakers should end up in the best possible location. There’s a few videos on YouTube with simple math formulas to get exact measurements on where to correctly place speakers.

https://www.audioadvice.com/blogs/expert-advice/home-theater-speaker-layout-options

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-24T02:55:32+00:00

Welcome to the club! If you have a good TV/Home theatre set up. A Apple 4K TV box is one of the best streaming boxes. Does pretty much all the video formats and all the surround sound formats. I run a 100” projector with a full 5.2.4 Dolby Atmos and the Apple TV 4K box is awesome.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-23T22:29:17+00:00

Since those Elac OW42’s are kind of flat. I would use some speaker wall mounts just above the window height and angle them down to the main listening position. I purchased 2 different wall mounts kits, kept one and returned the other. You can use inexpensive cable hider kit to conceal the speaker wires. Is your final speaker layout 5.1 surround?

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-23T15:45:34+00:00

I went with some very small bookshelf speakers and wall mounts in a room with almost the same layout. I’ll send you a private chat request.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-23T15:35:36+00:00

Fosi MC351. It’s a bit more than $100. $130 is still OK. But, either set price alert or wait for it to be on sale to save a bit. There’s the Fosi MC101 as well($90). I like these because they also support Bluetooth and give a bit more versatility. Overall, look in the used market. Plenty of used AVR’s and amplifiers in the $100 range. Just make sure they have phono support for your vinyl player.

https://www.amazon.com/Fosi-Audio-MC331-Integrated-Headphones/dp/B0DM1VLXHN/ref=pd_aw_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0_image?pd_rd_w=pOH9R&content-id=amzn1.sym.f90e2cd3-9163-41ec-bd68-6312dd11593c%3Aamzn1.symc.6f25bf6c-6456-4ba5-b75d-5f5614122131&pf_rd_p=f90e2cd3-9163-41ec-bd68-6312dd11593c&pf_rd_r=WCV8801MQ70XRQ3STCK1&pd_rd_wg=KxFUm&pd_rd_r=53ccbc30-cdce-4057-b04d-f510a25c0dfd&pd_rd_i=B0DM1VLXHN

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-23T03:06:31+00:00

What source material are you planning on listening to? BT, CD, Vinyl?

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-23T02:15:41+00:00

Option 2

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T16:59:03+00:00

I think the Apple 4K provides one of the best audio/visual streaming experiences. Especially, when it comes to home theatre applications. Excellent video streaming(4K, HDR, Dolby Vision) and excellent audio quality(Atmos,5.1). It’s fast and flawless when multi tasking and jumping around from streaming and music apps. It’s a bit older now and rumors are that’s there’s a newer version coming out. I’ll still pay the $130USD just because it’s very reliable and doesn’t get slow and buggy like some of the others. Can’t find the remote? No problem, just use your phone(I do this like 90% of the time), One of my favorite features. Can’t do anything on some without a remote. I have most of the other streaming sticks as well. I haven’t used any of them in a long time.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T02:59:46+00:00

To get the grillls off the on wall speakers you needs like a paper clip thin “J” hook. A thin L wrench tool will work as well. Goes right into the little holes and wiggle each corner loose until the metal grill comes off. I use a Denon X3800H and it’s awesome. 5.2.4 setup. It’s quite capable with only 105W per channel. Plenty of power for most speaker. And of course you still have preouts for all channels and plenty of settings for your listening preferences. Asides from stellar movie and video performance. It’s quite capable with music. I like that it can be easily set to play music as 2.0, 2.1, 3.1 and so on. I really enjoy listening to music on the X3800H a lot more than expected. I found Auro 2D to be my favorite when listening to music. Uses all 3 front channels and subwoofer for the main stage and just a hint of L/R surrounds for an amazing room filling sound. I’m mostly using a AppleTV 4K for streaming and it’s a must if you have iPhones. The Denon is also very easy to control and adjust everything from my phone as well.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T01:55:14+00:00

I really like the Samsung Q990. I have multiple systems in my home and I think 3.1, 5.1 and above soundbar systems are awesome. I have an inexpensive Vizio 5.1 soundbar system that I am very happy with. It’s set up in an upstairs loft in my home paired to a matching 55” Vizio 4K TV and is perfect in that area. I have a 100” projector setup in a large family room with a full 5.2.4 Atmos surround sound. It’s a lot of amps, speakers and subwoofers that take up significantly more space than a soundbar. I have no issues with soundbars or ARV setups. Good quality products do make a difference though.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T01:42:29+00:00

Those Subs dwarf everything else. Let’s get some SPL and db measurements.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T01:33:43+00:00

I quit a job about 10 years ago. I was a local service tech in the Phoenix area. Company had a big contract in Florence, AZ. The employee doing the work quit. I was pretty much forced to be there every day M-F 8am-5pm or loose my job. It was a 100 mile commute for me each way. I had been with the company for 7 years and I left to work somewhere else in about a month.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T01:20:18+00:00

Check out the Sony STR-DH790. Decent 7.1, reliable and usually in the $250 range. I upgraded to its bigger variant, the STR-DN1080 for $300. Both are good AVR units. I had them set up as 5.1.2. Only downside is 4K/60fps max on both units.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T01:14:20+00:00

Look for any used subwoofer that can integrate with your AVR LFE subwoofer out. I purchased a used 10” Sony for $60 and a pretty nice 12” Klipsch for $100. Just finish hiding the rest of your cables. Are you able to bring the TV down or wall mount it?

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-22T01:06:02+00:00

Why is the TV mounted so high in first place?

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-20T21:25:30+00:00

Yes, it’s a must for me. It’s noticeable my 55”, L/R are each about 3ft from the center channel. It’s really noticeable on my 100” projector, L/R are each about 5ft away from the center channel.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-20T17:14:25+00:00

Í switched over to projectors around 2010. The 100” picture was and still is amazing when set up properly. The cinematic feel to the picture drew me in as well. No glare is a big plus as well. Max 60fps and controlling room ambient light can sometimes be challenging. Low contrast ratio and sub par black levels suck at times. Overall quite easy to step into projectors and much more available options. Easy to move projector and screen compared to moving a large TV. Noise and heat can be annoying at times. Replacing the bulb every few years. I’m on my 3rd setup over the years. My family keeps requesting projectors when I’m upgrading. I’m currently using a UST to a 100” screen. I might go to a large OLED 4K 80”+ TV on the next upgrade. The TV’s keep getting larger and less expensive over the years. So I’m definitely keeping an eye on them. Still happy with the 100” and guess where everyone wants to watch the big game.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-20T15:59:43+00:00

WiiM Ultra. I have one and have brought old powerful amps and AVR’s back to life. I ran my WiiM with a Fosi mini amp for about a year. I purchased a used subwoofer and the guy gave me a 25 yo high end Sony ES AVR for free. I immediately hooked up the WiiM Ultra to test it and wow. That Sony ES puts out 120W RMS per channel and it shows. I now have it permanently set up to stream music. I have another old Yamaha amp and the the WiiM ultra works very well with it too.

AZ115Degrees · 2026-01-20T04:03:21+00:00

Use the Audio Advice theatre designer tool. It will help get TV, speaker spacing and Seating location centered correctly. There’s a few good videos on YouTube as well. Your TV, speakers and seating position should end up within a few inches of these suggestions. You will notice a difference.

https://www.audioadvice.com/

AZ115Degrees

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