V385 is only a 5.1 channel receiver, it does not have support for Atmos.

I tried CoreElec a long time ago, it is indeed very good. Extremely convenient and I think it's almost as user friendly as Plex (as long as the skin is easy on the eyes for non-tech savvy people).

The only flaw and really is the only flaw which haven't made me jump ship is support for Dolby Vision passthrough, unless they have changed that recently so correct me if I'm wrong.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Nov 7 2022, 08:02 PM

Doubt it's a licensing thing when Plex and Kodi supports them just fine. HDR10 is still fine for the most part, but more and more movies especially in the last 2 years are being released for home with DV and it just looks significantly better.

Also another thing I forgot that CE cannot do is passthrough Auro3D, so that's another no go for me.

You're right, CE is technically Kodi in Linux variant. But for whatever reason, I'm unsure why it hasn't ported DV passthrough from the Windows/Android builds over. I scoured the CE forum and can't seem to find a direct answer, do you know why?

Yeah I'm just using Plex now for the most part. Sometimes I would go back to my HTPC for lower quality content (720p or under) to utilize madvr's STILL industry leading upscaling ability.

Well Plex is technically Kodi too... So, yeah.

In any case, if no DV then no switch for me.

Plex has no issues with DV and bitstreaming all lossless HD audio, they've been supporting it for years.

It's the client that is important. Nvidia Shield Pro for example supports DV layer 5 and 8. But OTOH Apple TV4k although can theoretically support DV, due to Apple's ecosystem is not allowing users (unless you jailbreak of course) to playback local content, it's as good as no support anyways.

Other high-end Chinese android players like Zidoo Z1000Pro also has DV support locally and through Plex.

Yes but only for local playback, no streaming over local network.

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/pl...EF%BC%89.94140/

Smart TVs sucks lol. You can take a look at the Plex forums, more than half the threads on issues are from people using it on a Smart TV. They're just way too slow, prone to crashes, and unstable connection.

Not to mention there are other issues like ARC and eARC not always working the way they should, many TVs also don't passthrough all the audio formats.


Currently Shield is still the best as a Plex client.

That's subjective. If I'm gonna game (which I do), I already have a top-end HTPC for that. Series S is a joke, despite it being at a good price point.

Currently waiting for MadENVY to be available on mainstream market. Once that's out, I'll stop using the Shield.

On my LG C9, Plex crashes often. Worse still, it is a coin toss if DV gets passthrough properly or not. Sometimes it'll just fallback to HDR10, gotta restart the movie until DV kicks in (and at the same time hoping the app doesn't crash).

Have a few other TVs around like a Sony X930e, it's running on Android so the native Android Plex client works but it's stupendously slow. Fast forward, wait 10 seconds before starts playing again, when it starts the audio is out of sync for another few more seconds.

You won't see another Shield until there is another Nintendo Switch. Nothing to do with chip shortages, it's just Nintendo being a bitch.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Nov 12 2022, 10:38 PM

You can't compare brands like that. You gotta specify which model to which model in comparison, as most don't share the same design philosophy much less to say the same materials.

Def Tech BP90xx series are nice speakers, similar to Golden Ear Triton speakers but the former is at a somewhat lower price point. But the DefTech BP speakers are a hybrid of active and passive speakers design, it's very different to what you get from the more traditional passive speakers you see from Wharfedale and Klipsch.

You can't do a 1:1 comparison of them like that, because at the end of the day it still depends how good your room is and how your taste in speakers are.


The old RF series were bright and harsh, exaggerated by rooms that has next to no treatment (which is basically majority of rooms). The current RP series is no longer "bright and harsh", unless... the room is untreated and the speakers are placed poorly; which has been the case in E-V-E-R-Y Klipsch demo room in this country today.

The only exception being MaxxHT when used to have the Klipsch THX series in his demo room years ago.

1) Yes, but make sure to set Sound Settings > Digital Output > Pass-Through when watching a BD movie on the PS5.
2) Yes, BUT there is a caveat. If your soundbar doesn't conform to the 40gbps bandwidth the Series X outputs, you will have to sacrifice for a lower bit depth and chroma setting.
3) If eARC is active, yes.
4) No it shouldn't.

I am unsure what soundbars have a proper HDMI 2.1a implementation, do your research. Unfortunately the mess that HDMI 2.1 created means that there are repeater devices (soundbar, AVR, pre-pros) that are equipped with anything from 24gbps, 32gbps, 40gbps and the full 48gbps bandwidth limitation. The PS5's HDMI 2.1 chipset is only 32gbps capable, where as the Series X is 40gbps. It's very important that you match everything in the chain so that everything is as compatible as they can be.

I won't tell you what to get because previously when I did for many other forumers, there are people who gets overly butthurt about it.

I will only tell you my opinion about your proposed setup and you can decide if you think that's the route you want to pursue.

Personally, I never liked soundbars and I continue to not like them because they are simply a compromise on the fundamentals of good audio. The HTA5000 sure on its own in relevance to TV speakers, it is a huge step up but it's like comparing a high school bully who thinks he's hot shit but when thrown into the real world is still just a kid.
Point is, if you have RM5.5k as your budget, why do you want to do Atmos or surround sound? You could get a pair of good bookshelves and settle for stereo until you have more funds to upgrade the system IMO.

The "up firing" drivers in the A5000 means you'll be relying on reflected sound for height audio. Unfortunately this barely works even in a perfect room designed for reflected sound reproduction. The way I see it, Atmos is not a usable feature on the A5000, you're basically buying a very expensive yet compromised 3 channel driver setup in a slim box.

But if the allure of having a system that is theoretically (not practically) capable of doing Atmos is too much of a sweet pot for you to ignore, then at the very least I hope you can place the soundbar and wireless speakers well enough. With the sub being wireless, you also have more freedom in properly placing the sub in your room to have the best bass response (and yes, sub placement is a very critical yet often ignored topic).

I'm still unsure why you die die want to get a 5.1.2 system as your first setup. Is your room even appropriate to place the speakers properly in the first place? Understand that speaker placement is VITAL to a good Atmos experience. If you can't place the speakers right, you might as well not have them.

More importantly, the most important speaker to buy in a surround system is the front 3 LCR speakers, BY FAR. Highly suggest to spend the majority your budget there, instead of anywhere else. In fact like I've told you from the beginning, spend the money on the the L and R speakers first. Everything else can come later.

A lot of budget friendly speakers in the market now. Q Acoustics, Mission, ELAC, Polk, and Wharfedale to name a few.

The entire definition of "active" speakers means you don't need an external amp. Please read up what active speakers actually are.

As for an input source so that your speakers can actually play the audio, you need at least a DAC - preferably with an optical input at the very least.

Been using A6A for the last 9 months, bought it after it got the firmware to enable 4k 120hz.

There were plenty of drop out issues initially when I connected to my PC which has a RTX 3080. Turned out the issue was the ugreen HDMI cable. Changed it to RuiPro and it's been rock solid ever since.

PC games been running fine at 4k120 HDR and VRR enabled (played RE4 Remake on the PC few months ago, was amazing) as long as everything is set to fit within the 40gbps input limit the A6A has. This means no 12-bit color bit depth, max is only 10-bit @ 4:4:4 HDR. Not too big of an issue since my OLED is only a 10-bit panel anyways and 12-bit being downscaled doesn't really improve contouring issues that much either.

PS5 has no issues either, since the max HDMI 2.1 bandwidth from the PS5 is only 32gbps. PS5 forces games to be in 12-bit 4:2:2 HDR (or 8-bit 4:4:4 if you force enable PC mode on your display) so it's well within the bandwidth limitation of the A6A.

In terms of A6A vs 4800H, you gotta pick your poison. The main difference is really just DIRAC vs YPAO, and it's no secret that DIRAC is simply in another league vs YPAO. It simply is a much more sophisticated room EQ, much more advanced. That said it is extra cost as a DIRAC license has to be purchased on top of the receiver.
If you're a tinkerer who knows how to take your own measurements and have external tools (like a minidsp), then getting good bass from your subs and integrating the rest of your speakers is still possible due to YPAO allowing full customizability of the PEQ bands for each channel. I do however like the abilities of the 4800H being able to completely disable the internal amps when connecting an external amp. The 4 independent sub-out channels which allows grouping of zones is also very nice.

Considering the A6A and 4800H (the latter much more expensive if you add in the DIRAC license) is very similar prices these days, you just gotta choose which features from either receiver stands out to you more. I know some people here and across the internet will swear that receivers from different brands sound different to one another, but the reality is what makes them sounds different is the room EQ software they're equipped with.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Aug 3 2023, 11:44 PM

Yeah I switched from A3080 to A6A.

Honestly the "sound improvement" is really from YPAO being much better in this new generation of Yamaha receivers. Biggest improvement is seen on how YPAO now does not EQ above 1khz in my room, which is a very nice thing to see as the most important frequencies to deal with is below the treble range. Next improvement I'd like to see is to allow users to set a custom curtain filter (like DIRAC, ARC, and even Audyssey) to stop EQ at a certain frequency (500hz for example).

While I don't use any EQ for the subs since I have my own minidsp for that, I can confirm that out of the box YPAO also does a lot better with sub EQ and integration than before. Still some ways off Audyssey and far from DIRAC and ARC, but it's a good improvement over the past versions of YPAO.

But my main reason to switch was for 4k120 and VRR on all 7 HDMI inputs, I have 4 sources that requires it and I also got a fairly nice deal on on the A6A at the time of purchase too (RM8.2k from Harvey Norman). So that was the driving factor to switch.

Yeah indeed.

That price was lower than any other shop I've asked at the time. Everywhere else was RM10k with RM100 TnG reload, so end up RM9.9k.

Bought direct from Amazon. They will ship from HK because that's where their HQ is.

I think I paid around $170 for it IIRC, mine is 30ft length.

Huh? I don't use eARC at all other than the streaming apps on the TV (Netflix, AppleTV, Prime).

There is no reason to use eARC with a direct connection. Audio from the PC is sent to the receiver either via LPCM (or WASAPI) or bitstream if watching a movie with either Dolby or DTS encoded tracks.