Finally upgraded our living room setup. Why didn't anyone tell me Optical cables can't carry Dolby Atmos? The future is weird, but this HDMI eARC (audio return channel) is pretty sick.
Our TV was an 8 year old LG, we replaced it with a new Samsung and good lord does it look nice. I usually match sound bar/soundsystem brand to TV brand for ease of remote control programming etc. Sound wise we did a sound bar with wireless sub and wireless rear receiver (the 2 rear speakers have to be wired to the wireless module but it's still nice). Having AirPlay instead of Bluetooth for music is awesome, sports sound great, I'm happy. It's not as beefy as my 5.1 system with 2 subs in my office but at least now the living room got a serious upgrade.
This Samsung TV has the main brains of the unit in a cable box looking unit. All your HDMI etc goes to that, and a single cable goes between the actual screen and that box. Would make wall mounting so much fucking easier especially without a full receiver.
I also like that the TV doesn't bitch at me to enable "smart" features. I have a Mac Mini hooked to it, I don't need my TV to run applications lol.