Best TV for 2021: Sony A90J OLED TV. This TV is the best set that we’ve ever seen at the consumer level. You may have read our prior articles about OLED technology and why it is awesome (SEE LINK OLED review).
Sony has taken this OLED technology and overlaid it with their world-class color and motion processing. The end result…a picture that in our opinion, is unparalleled. These are available in 55", 65" and 83" offerings (XR55A90J, XR65A90J, XR83A90J). P.S. Sony has announced their new "K" series OLED TVs that will be replacing these. We'll let you know when we have more info about these new OLED sets.
Best surround sound receiver for 2021: Marantz SR8015 surround sound receiver. This is a repeat from our "Best AVR of 2020" list. In the past, you would normally choose a separate pre-amp and amplifier combo when you want HIGH-PERFORMANCE out of your audio and video system. With Marantz’s new receiver option, there may be no need for this added expense. This 11.2 channel X 140 watt having, Dolby Atmos providing, 8K processing, multi-room sending, toroidal transformer possessing, 38.4 pound weighing BEAST is unbelievable. Sonos vs. Heos? It’s got Heos built-in which saves you $$$ over buying a separate music streamer. The best surround sound receiver we’ve installed.
Best tower speaker for 2021: Martin Logan XTi60. This is another repeat from our "Best speaker of 2020" listing. See our video review Martin Logan 60XTi that goes into detail about these wonderful sounding monkey coffins. We love when we get a new product and are blown away…especially when they are speakers. Home audio speakers and audio in general have an emotional component that you don’t get out of wireless routers, TVs, etc. These speakers sound SOOOOOOOO good! This 66 pound monolith features 2 X 8” drivers, 1 X 6.5” mid-range speaker and Martin Logan’s reference 2.4” Folded Motion tweeter. More importantly, they provide a presence and presentation of music that made one of our in-house listeners simultaneously want to cry and then fight, depending on the content being played. That emotional response is what great audio and speakers can provide. We like these so much we got a pair for our San Diego Martin Logan showroom.
Best WiFi for 2021: Eero Pro 6. With WiFi, we have a couple features that we see as very important. 1st, it’s just got to work. We’ve worked with other WiFi companies (we’ll omit the names so we don’t get sued) where every other job is a nightmare of slow speeds, devices not working and that have no concrete resolution from the manufacturer’s tech team. Eero just works with no nonsense. We’ve got hundreds of Eero and Eero Pro 6 mesh WiFi extenders in the field that attest to this. 2nd, Eero gives us a way to “see” your WiFi network remotely so we can tell you if it is up or down, if your connected device is misbehaving, if an Eero mesh extender is unpluggged, etc. This is VERY important for us to be able to service our clients in a quick and efficient manner. See link HERE. Want better WiFi San Diego? Eero Pro 6 is the answer! NOTE: Eero has just released their new tri-band Eero Pro 6e models which are their new reference WiFi extenders. We'll be reviewing them shortly. UPDATE: See Eero review here.
Best universal remote for 2021: URC universal remote. In this category, we are picking a universal remote company instead of a specific product. URC is the best universal remote company for 2021 in our opinion because: 1) Things just work. We get calls frequently from people that have universal remotes from other companies and they HATE them because their systems aren’t intuitive and their home automation products get out of sync constantly. This doesn’t happen with URC. 2) Multiple solutions: URC has universal remotes that can “talk” to your WiFi network and ones that don’t. Want a universal remote for your 93 year old grandparent to watch TV? You DON’T want something that relies on the Internet. When the Internet or WiFi is down, Grandpa can’t watch TV. URC has remotes for Grandpa and for someone that wants an Elon Musk-level of technology. They also kept their products in supply when lots of other companies didn't during Covid. This was important to us and to our clients.
Want the best home technology in 2021? We sell all of these products. Come to Aire Theater Designs for the best TV, stereo and WiFi that you can buy. P.S. Stay tuned for our "Best Outdoor TV of 2021" and "Best Outdoor Speaker of 2021" blog...coming soon!