[jwr]

> 90+% of the things people complain about would no longer be a problem if they got a traditional A/V receiver, plugged all their sources such as streaming boxes and game consoles into the receiver, and just used the smart TV as a monitor (and as a tuner if they watch OTA television).

The problem there is the terrible UI of those A/V receivers, designed by committee that upholds long-standing traditions. It takes a lot of fussing with the complicated remote to get to where you want, which is perhaps fine for geeks, but annoying in a family setup, where all household members would like to know how to watch Netflix.

BTW, these traditions are ridiculous: as an example, my DENON receiver has two monstrous knobs on the front, like most AV receivers. The one on the left I will never use in its entire lifetime: it is for manually sequentially switching input sources, which nobody does anymore. And yet they still place it as the most prominent feature/control on the front panel.

The buttons that I'd like to use are small, black-on-black with dark gray labeling in 8pt type, so basically impossible to use unless you use a magnifying glass and a flashlight.

[smackeyacky]

The Harmony remotes used to solve this problem - I am dreading the day my old Harmony One dies.

[jwr]

Kind of — Harmony remotes still had way too many buttons, you had to keep them pointed at the thing being controlled for the entire duration of a sequence, things could get desynced, and we shall not mention the horrible software, right?

[mvanbaak]

this is true for the IR based harmony remotes. But they also have hub based systems where the hub blasts the commands (over IR or BT) and the remote talks to the hub using RF or BT. No need to point at things.

[dfex]

Oh man - I used to have a Harmony remote and thought it was the best thing ever for my multi-vendor AV setup...

...then the AppleTV was released, with a remote that made the Harmony look like the console of a nuclear power plant by comparison, and I never went back

[alabastervlog]

Seconded, I’m happy with my Denon (especially because I got it cheap) but only because I rarely touch it. The front panel design is demented.

[anton-c]

My receiver(amplifier is a better name for its job) is mounted sideways on l-brackets so the power and volume knob, the only things that sometimes get touched, are at the top within reach. I do audio work but once a receiver is set up I don't mess with it. So easy for consumers to mess things up.

[timc3]

Yeah I agree. There are maybe 6 buttons used regularly on mine. Everything else is not needed for the family day to day.