What Hifi

2022-07-15 19:43:03 By : Ms. Carol Chen

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By Ruben Circelli published 13 July 22

Watch movies, play games, and stream whatever you want with this budget home theater Prime Day build

Amazon Prime Day is here, and many deals are still live on Day 2. 

The problem is that if you're in the market for a home theater setup, you're probably expecting to spend thousands, regardless of when you decide to take the plunge. This doesn't have to be the case, though, because with Prime Day deals you can build yourself a solid home theater setup for less than $1000. To prove it, I've done just that.

With a 55-inch 4K HDR TV with HDMI 2.0 support (opens in new tab) , a 3.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar with a wireless sub (opens in new tab) , and a full-fat 4K HDR Blu-ray player (opens in new tab) , all for a grand total of $979, you can hunker down in your home theater and be truly immersed in whatever you're watching, thanks to the following Prime Day deals...

Amazon Fire TV 55-inch Omni Series 4K TV $560 $350 at Amazon (save $210) (opens in new tab) We haven't reviewed this TV, but if you're looking for a big 55-inch screen with built-in streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Hulu, plus a 4K HDR picture and hands-free Alexa voice control, this is a great deal at $350.

LG SP8YA Dolby Atmos soundbar $800 $402 at Amazon (save $398) (opens in new tab) This Dolby Atmos soundbar with a wireless sub has many of the features of LG's higher-end models, including eARC, HDMI 2.1 input, optical connectivity, Bluetooth and wi-fi, Chromecast and Airplay 2. Sonically this 3.1.2 package punches above its weight with a broad, vibrant soundstage.

LG UBK90 4K HDR Blu-ray player $300 $227 at Amazon (save $73) (opens in new tab) This player does it all when it comes to discs, playing 4K Blu-rays and supporting many flavours of HDR, including Dolby Vision. Twin HDMI outputs allow you to split picture and sound. At $227, this is hard to pass up.

The heart of any home theater is the TV you'll be watching everything on, and for Prime Day, as you'd expect, Amazon's got big discounts for their own Amazon-branded products, like Fire TV. The Omni series of Fire TVs offers up 4K HDR support alongside a built-in Fire TV that can handle all your streaming needs. At just $350, the 55-inch Omni TV is big enough to be the centerpiece of a home theater while still supporting the flashy features you'll want.

Plus, while the speakers on Fire TVs are so-so, that's not a problem, because we'll be using a soundbar with this build. Also, if you aren't the biggest fan of the Fire TV interface, not to worry, because you can also stream content through the Blu-ray player I've paired with this build. For gamers, this TV can handle 4K/60Hz gaming, which is about the best you'll get with next-gen consoles anyways.

For this budget build, I've picked a soundbar with a wireless sub, the LG SP8YA, that offers up 3.1.2 channel sound with full Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support for the spatial audio fans out there. Plus, you can pair this soundbar with a wireless transmitter to make it fully wireless, and it supports Bluetooth, Alexa integration (which pairs nicely with the Fire TV), and even high-resolution audio.

While you'll be able to stream what you'd like through your TV, the quality of a 4K stream vs a 4K Blu-ray is night and day, and in a home theater, you'll want the best. Accordingly, a 4K Blu-ray player, like the LG UBK90 I've picked for this home theater build, is a perfect fit.

Not only will you be able to enjoy the full 4K experience with a 4K Blu-ray, you can also stream content through the player, which might be your preference if you're not the biggest Fire TV fan. Conveniently, this player supports HDR playback (and Dolby Vision HDR as well), and it's backward compatible with DVDs of course.

All told, this will run you about $979 thanks to these Prime Day deals, and with this setup, you can enjoy any show or movie you like in crisp 4K with beautiful HDR and Dolby Atmos audio, played off a pristine 4K Blu-ray, anytime you want. 

Have more to spend on a home theater setup? Not to worry, because we've got more home theater Prime Day deals right here...

Browse all the best Prime Day hi-fi and audio deals

View all the best Prime Day OLED deals

See all the best Prime Day TV deals

Ruben is a Staff Writer at What Hi-Fi? and longtime consumer technology and gaming journalist. Since 2014, Ruben has written news, reviews, features, guides, and everything in-between at a huge variety of outlets that include Lifewire, PCGamesN, GamesRadar+, TheGamer, Twinfinite, and many more. Ruben's a dedicated gamer, tech nerd, and the kind of person who misses physical media. In his spare time, you can find Ruben cooking something delicious or, more likely, lying in bed consuming content.

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