Use a TV as a music streamer??

[seananeely]

After years of disappointment over the quality of sound from my old Samsung TV (despite connecting the digital outputs different ways through different amps and speakers) I recently purchased a low cost Samsung UHD DU8500 4K Smart TV for the bedroom, plugged it into an old sonos beam ... and hey presto the music quality was amazing (from the Amazon music app) .... miraculous.

Makes me think whether I can get a high end TV for the living room and use it as a music streamer (via a Marantz PM6007) ... if so which one would be best?

Thanks for any advice

 

[R2D2]

After years of disappointment over the quality of sound from my old Samsung TV (despite connecting the digital outputs different ways through different amps and speakers) I recently purchased a low cost Samsung UHD DU8500 4K Smart TV for the bedroom, plugged it into an old sonos beam ... and hey presto the music quality was amazing (from the Amazon music app) .... miraculous.

Makes me think whether I can get a high end TV for the living room and use it as a music streamer (via a Marantz PM6007) ... if so which one would be best?

Thanks for any advice

Just because it’s a high end TV doesn’t necessarily mean it will sound good. Why don’t you buy a Sonos Arc from Peter Tyson for £550 brand new and buy another 4K Blu-ray player, then you won’t have to worry about if the sound on the TV is good or not. And often the step down TVs from flagships are a lot cheaper but don’t have much difference in terms of image quality.

Sonos Arc Premium Smart Soundbar - Black

The premium smart soundbar for TV, music and more. Enabled by Sonos’ powerful new software platform, Arc introduces Sonos’ most immersive home cinema experience yet.

petertyson.co.uk

Here’s a great deal too get a flagship LG OLED tv and a quality soundbar for £1250:

LG OLED55G45LW 55" 4K OLED evo TV

LG OLED55G45LW 55" Gallery Edition OLED TV Brightness Booster Max 4K OLED 120Hz Native α11 AI Processor 4K Dolby Vision / HDR10 / HLG G-Sync Compatible (Nvidia) FreeSync Compatible (AMD) Dolby Atmos

www.spatialonline.co.uk

 

[R2D2]

Best TVs for sound:

The best TVs for sound 2025: from Sony, Panasonic, Hisense and more

The best TVs for sound offer theater-style audio without adding any extra devices

www.techradar.com

 

[Shrek]

After years of disappointment over the quality of sound from my old Samsung TV (despite connecting the digital outputs different ways through different amps and speakers) I recently purchased a low cost Samsung UHD DU8500 4K Smart TV for the bedroom, plugged it into an old sonos beam ... and hey presto the music quality was amazing (from the Amazon music app) .... miraculous.

Makes me think whether I can get a high end TV for the living room and use it as a music streamer (via a Marantz PM6007) ... if so which one would be best?

Thanks for any advice

you can connect via Optical from new TV to Marantz then use the Apps on the new TV to stream music

 

[seananeely]

Just because it’s a high end TV doesn’t necessarily mean it will sound good. Why don’t you buy a Sonos Arc from Peter Tyson for £550 brand new and buy another 4K Blu-ray player, then you won’t have to worry about if the sound on the TV is good or not. And often the step down TVs from flagships are a lot cheaper but don’t have much difference in terms of image quality.

Sonos Arc Premium Smart Soundbar - Black

The premium smart soundbar for TV, music and more. Enabled by Sonos’ powerful new software platform, Arc introduces Sonos’ most immersive home cinema experience yet.

petertyson.co.uk

Here’s a great deal too get a flagship LG OLED tv and a quality soundbar for £1250:

LG OLED55G45LW 55" 4K OLED evo TV

LG OLED55G45LW 55" Gallery Edition OLED TV Brightness Booster Max 4K OLED 120Hz Native α11 AI Processor 4K Dolby Vision / HDR10 / HLG G-Sync Compatible (Nvidia) FreeSync Compatible (AMD) Dolby Atmos

www.spatialonline.co.uk

What I would like to do is play music from the Amazon music app on a large screen TV in the living room, and through this achieve a sound quality at least as good as a WiiM pro - I like the Amazon Music app interface, and being able to see the album art and lyrics on a large screen while the music is playing - I realise that all high end TVs don't necessarily sound good, but wondering whether anyone has really tested whether any could deliver music streaming sound quality comparable or better than a WiiM pro ?

As I said, the Samsung UHD DU8500 I have in the bedroom, which is only £300, does a surprisingly good job (using the Amazon music app).

 

[R2D2]

What I would like to do is play music from the Amazon music app on a large screen TV in the living room, and through this achieve a sound quality at least as good as a WiiM pro - I like the Amazon Music app interface, and being able to see the album art and lyrics on a large screen while the music is playing - I realise that all high end TVs don't necessarily sound good, but wondering whether anyone has really tested whether any could deliver music streaming sound quality comparable or better than a WiiM pro ?

As I said, the Samsung UHD DU8500 I have in the bedroom, which is only £300, does a surprisingly good job (using the Amazon music app).

Only about 12 per cent of people in the UK listen to music via streaming devices on their TVs, and I personally don’t know anyone who does it.

Devices Brits use to listen to music on music streaming services

Which, if any, of the following devices do you use to listen to music on each of these services/channels? Please select **all** that apply for each service. Music streaming services (i.e. Spotify, Amazon Prime Music tc.)

yougov.co.uk

If an optical cable is the only way to do it won’t sound great in my view.

I suppose I use YouTube music through my TV and listen to it that way, as for sounding great, no I don’t suppose it does. I would be interested to hear if anyone on here has used a WiiM pro because I haven’t.

This forum may be of use:

Wimm and speakers for television

I am a novice for video applications. Untill now we look and listen to the television with the built in speakers. Now I wander, what is the best way to hook up speakers utilizing wimm gear ? what do i need from Wimm ? and what is the best connection ? I do not have a av receiver but a normal amp...

forum.wiimhome.com

 

[seananeely]

Only about 12 per cent of people in the UK listen to music via streaming devices on their TVs, and I personally don’t know anyone who does it.

Devices Brits use to listen to music on music streaming services

Which, if any, of the following devices do you use to listen to music on each of these services/channels? Please select **all** that apply for each service. Music streaming services (i.e. Spotify, Amazon Prime Music tc.)

yougov.co.uk

If an optical cable is the only way to do it won’t sound great in my view.

The reason only 12% is probably that is sounds so bad! In fact I am surprised it is that many. I have tried connecting my old living room TV(Samsung UE55JU7000T) through a WiiM Ultra HDMI arc through to a Marantz PM6007 - still sounds rubbish - I am thinking the TV source must be the problem ... but no one seems to know what if any TVs actually can deliver a reasonable quality music stream ...

 

[R2D2]

The reason only 12% is probably that is sounds so bad! In fact I am surprised it is that many. I have tried connecting my old living room TV(Samsung UE55JU7000T) through a WiiM Ultra HDMI arc through to a Marantz PM6007 - still sounds rubbish - I am thinking the TV source must be the problem ... but no one seems to know what if any TVs actually can deliver a reasonable quality music stream ...

I suppose some people have an amp and speakers hooked up to their TVs. Even then I use Bluetooth to do Spotify and Apple Music through just the speakers and amp. Using the optical cable via the speakers and amp to the TV does not sound great.

 

[Dave_]

you can connect via Optical from new TV to Marantz then use the Apps on the new TV to stream music

This^

 

[Dave_]

I suppose most people have an amp and speakers hooked up to their TVs. Even then I use Bluetooth to do Spotify and Apple Music through just the speakers and amp. Using the optical cable via the speakers and amp to the TV does not sound great.

Most people don't have amp and speakers hooked up to their TVs (neither M/C or stereo).

People will be listening through soundbars that were either bundled with or upsold when they bought their TVs if they're using anything at all