Thanks - the Sky subs aspect is another thing in my thinking e.g. whether I switch to streaming (perhaps via BT). I’ve some friends who live in what I consider to be a semi-rural environment and they’ve had nothing but problems with streaming TV (via BT), I suspect due to their local cabling.
Virgin and TalkTalk don’t even enter my thinking, such are the experiences of locals.
Whenever I enquire about sports packages, I always get met with a few seconds of silence when I ask what the subs are for ex-football packages (of course they don’t do these!).
I live in a very rural area, the village is about ten square miles* with 350 people, the nearest house in front of my home is about 400 metres and the nearest behind me is about a kilometre
I can’t think in square kilometres yet
It really depends on your super fast broadband. The only option is Gigaclear , as for BT , I think it stands for Big Trouble or B****y Terrible .
Chez-HL has had FTTP since January**, which should support decent streaming but I continue to have reservations around the quality and reliability of this, hence continuing with Sky via dish ftb.
** where OpenReach managed to turn a drama in to a saga
I need to review the overall economics of all this e.g. see what the streaming packages offer. I get a lot of utility from my Sky box, as I don’t tend to watch catch-up, I simply store and watch later, and if I’m watching ‘live’, there’s always the option to record on the +1 channels.
My small project (TV replacement) is turning in to a much larger one.
Thanks. I have and it seems it will. I must admit I haven’t rechecked Sky’s various services & deals over the last 3/4 years, what with Covid et al, and these thing do iterate. It seems what’s currently costing ~£84pm can now be £54pm. Kudos to the chap I spoke to at Sky - very helpful. Haven’t committed yet, as I now need to check whether my target TV is UHD (I’m 99% sure it is/will be).
I’ve also checked BT’s streaming packages (inc their Sky-provider offers) which, at face, look competitive but are wrought with numerous T&C’s, especially around contract lengths and CPI-linked increases. Ugly.
Having had a very bad experience with BT many years ago, following which they had to process a material rebate (of course no apology for their shambolic invoicing), I think taking their BB service is enough - and this was only done as the price was ~ the same as continuing with PlusNet.
Much the same experience, including them setting debt collectors on me for a debt run up by somebody I never met , and who’s only connection with me was they rented my old flat .
Then a year later, it was different debt collectors…
Sky Q has a terabyte of memory, which I have used to judiciously stored 37 episodes of Midsomer Murders …
Midsomer…a.k.a. the most dangerous village in England to reside in … a bit like the crew members in Star Trek who were invited to beam-down with the main cast members. You always knew they would come to a sticky end
Not the last word in quality I’m sure, but your TV almost certainly will have a 3.5mm Mini Jack output on it so you could in fact use a Mini Jack to RCA cable and connect it directly to your preamp, even as a stop gap solution.
Then a cheapo optical to RCA converter from Amazon for twenty quid (or if you want something a little better, the well regarded Topping E30 for £150, from the same retailer).
Thank you. Having ‘paused’ given my discovery of ‘no RCAs nowadays’, I’ve now been doing my homework. The TV has been purchased - a Samsung model with lots of characters in the model detailing!
Am now going to undertake DAC research, which I want to be mains powered and good quality given the pre-amp feed.
I used a Cambridge DAC Magic (small version from around 10-15 years ago) for ages to bring the digital outputs world to my then 72 based system. It was a very capable little thing and worked well for TV, DAB and later on a Raspberry Pi based streamer, it maybe worth a look for a good value s/h option. Albeit with different sources/expectations it certainly wasn’t disgraced by a CDX2.
But even now having a N272 and running the TV digital output into that it doesn’t seem to add much to the TV sound other than some heft/scale of the bigger speakers. Vocals are still mostly poor and we’re frequently fiddling with the sound sync which changes between different apps, broadcast and even during programs sometimes (I suspect a newer TV with a more capable processor would help here). All this makes me think a sound bar that has a centre channel capability ie to deliver some better vocal clarity is worth consideration for TV duties.
Thanks - I think my first play will be to use the RCA outs on the Sky+HD box and see how that goes, synching as best possible (obviously HDMI to TV).
But it seems SkyQ (as @Ian2001 kindly pictured above), which is a cheaper Sky service than Sky+HD, doesn’t have RCAs, as it’s all digital.
This is the tease for me, in not knowing what quality I may land with. I play Blurays via my Oppo and the sound is very good IMO, this delivered from my Pioneer TV back to the hi-fi via RCA to DIN.
Thanks – all correct with clarifications as inserted.
As I’ve already got the Chord RCA/DIN cable, it seems the simplest solution is just to insert a quality DAC between the TV optical out and pre-amp, hooking up the TV & Oppo via the HDMI’s.
When I set up the sound via the Pioneer many years ago, my dealer said it was better to run the sound in to the TV via HDMI and loop-out via RCA/DIN, rather than taking a feed from Sky box direct and synching.
You will want to play both Oppo & Sky through your TV. The HDMI inputs to the Samsung will both give you the best audio quality of which they are capable.
I assume that whichever input is selected, the digital audio will be routed to the digital (optical) output.
As you say, the simplest connectivity will be by hanging any DAC (which has an optical input) off the TV’s digital (optical) output and using your existing RCA-DIN lead from DAC to preamp.
And your DAC can be anything from twenty quid up to a second hand nDAC and beyond.
And on a lighter note, our 20 year old Pioneer 504 has only one HDMI and no speakers. Dont think it had audio out sockets either (other than “speaker” level.). We had multiple sources, all of which seemed to have different varieties of audio out connectors. The video was routed via Oppo/Meridian HDMI switching boxes, and the audio needed several audio format converters (three at one point) before it arrived at the Meridian 5.1 DSP system. It was a right rats nest!
The TV screen is still going strong - not one dead pixel; however we’d like to buy a new humungous screen, but the bloody Pioneer just wont die!!
Thanks - yes, that seems the solution. I may splash for a reasonable DAC, perhaps pre-loved. I’ve no experience with standalone DACs or the quality of optical feeds.
I’ve also realised the new siting of the TV (from wall to on top of a unit at the other end of the room) and the need to power the DAC will mean using an extension block (yikes), as the nearby-ish sockets (double) now feed a lamp, the FTTP internal box (which needs power) and the router.
A good job this is an every c.14 years project
My lounge is going to look like one of those cable-cluttered music studios at this rate!
I’ve also been waiting for my Pioneer to fail (50’’) but post a power-board repair c.6 years ago, it’s continued on its way flawlessly. I see pre-loved ones appear on auction sites with regularity.
FYI, I was going to replace like 4 like on size i.e. get another 50’’ but when I measured the Pioneer including the 60mm surround, it’s pretty much the same as a frame-less 55’’.
… a bit like the crew members in Star Trek who were invited to beam-down with the main cast members. You always knew they would come to a sticky end 
