We've built a cutting-edge home cinema system around LG's superb C4 OLED TV

We opened last month's LG C4 65-inch TV review with, "This is the big one". After all, LG's C-series has been a big deal for years on account of its esteemed reputation for balancing performance, features and price, so much so that it's become arguably the most anticipated TV each year. And guess what? This year's all-new C4 didn't disappoint, with our expert TV reviewers praising the set's punchy, sharp and rich-yet-natural picture quality, excellent user experience and flawless gaming specs.

All of which makes the OLED65C4 absolutely ideal as the starting point for a superb home cinema and gaming set-up; such as the one we have put together here. We marry this excellent new TV with a belting surround sound system, a capable 4K Blu-ray player, and a next-gen games console to do the picture capabilities of this fine TV proud.

The system

• TV: LG OLED65C4 (￡2699 / $2699 / AU$4299)

• AV amplifier: Sony TA-AN1000 (￡799 / $799 / AU$1699)

• Speaker package: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 HCP (￡999 / $1227 / AU$2423)

• Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB450 (￡199 / $NA / AU$399)

• Gaming console: Xbox Series X (￡479 / $499 / AU$749)

• Total price: ￡5175 / $5224 / AU$9569

TV: LG OLED65C4

When you refresh a product range each and every year, as pretty much all television manufacturers have for the past decade and more, it is quite difficult to make massive improvements from one iteration to the next. Which is why we weren’t massively surprised, when we reviewed LG’s C3 range of TVs in 2023, that they didn’t take things on greatly from the impressive C2 model that preceded it. Disappointed, perhaps; but not surprised.

This year, though, with the introduction of 2024’s LG C4 range, things have moved on considerably – so much so that the range is right back up at the top of the tree as far as OLED sets go.

The most obvious improvements that are visible right off the bat are to brightness and picture sharpness, which take things to a whole new level, without making the image too garish and unrealistic. Sound quality has also improved – but that’s an irrelevance for our purposes here; it’s the picture in all its glory that merits the C4’s place in this set-up.

And that’s not only when streaming or showing a Blu-ray in 4K either. This LG is also a belter of a set to play next-gen games on. It sports four HDMI 2.1 sockets with support for all the important gaming features. And, while the C3 was equally well equipped for gaming, the general picture improvements that come with the C4 make a noticeable difference to take it a step above its predecessor when playing Call of Duty or EA Sports FC 24.

You can read about every difference between two generations of model in our LG C4 vs C3 comparison.

AV amplifier: Sony TA-AN1000

It’s an oft-repeated fact that the sound in a home cinema system is equally as important as a great picture. A weedy soundtrack with hard-to-discern voices will ruin the magic of a movie night just as easily as a blurry, smeary image would.

To that end, we give our surround-sound sonic duties to a truly dynamic duo: Sony’s TA-AN1000 multi-channel amplifier and Wharfedale’s fine Diamond 12.1 Home Cinema Package. Award winners both in our 2023 cohort, these two provide outstanding sonic performance for the money – easily outperforming what their outlay would suggest.

The Sony amp is astonishingly accomplished for the money, with a powerful, dynamic performance that can deal with anything a movie’s sound engineer could possibly want to throw at it. Importantly there is a precision and clarity to dialogue that means even the most distracting of background sounds won’t disguise what the character is saying. All those background ‘distractions’ however are also presented with pin-point accuracy and power, meaning this is an all-round powerhouse talent.

Speaker package: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 HCP

And it pairs beautifully with the Wharfedale speaker package. One of our Best Buy packages in the 2023 Awards, the 12. HCP comprises four 12.1 standmount speakers, the 12.C centre channel and the SW10 subwoofer providing the low-end oomph. The Sony amp can accommodate another couple of speakers in either a 7.1 surround set up or a 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos configuration, so you can add to the system at a later date should the urge to upgrade come upon you.

As it is, though, this is a fantastic little package. It brings a rich and lively sound that still manages to stay firmly in control of things and retains an entertaining immersion and precision to proceedings. Importantly, and in contrast to a number of potential rivals, the centre speaker and the subwoofer integrate their sound beautifully with the four little 12.1 standmounts. Which means the Sony amp can do its thing without there being any obvious glitch in the sonic matrix when the sound pans from one side of the room to another. It’s really all very immersive.

As we say in the verdict of our full review of the Wharfedale package: “With poise, effortlessness, cut glass diction and charisma, the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 HCP is essentially the Audrey Hepburn of home theatre speaker packages. It offers rich bass without sacrificing or overpowering the mid and treble, presenting a mature sound that’s rich in impact, agility, detail and sensitivity.”

Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB450

While the LG C4 comes with pretty much all the streaming options you could want, it is still our belief here at What Hi-Fi? that the very best in 4K pictures come from physical software. You simply can’t beat a 4K Blu-ray for the very pinnacle of peak picture performance.

Which is where the Panasonic Blu-ray player enters the fray. It has the crucial advantage over its cheaper 150 sibling that it can handle Dolby Vision HDR signals as well as HDR10+ and HLG. There are better-performing units than this out there, but they will set you back more of your hard-earned – and that, we feel, wouldn’t be appropriate for the rest of this fine system; which, while being excellent, can of course be bested, in a Manchester City kind of way, if you are willing to chuck money at it with abandon. We aren’t going down that route here.

The Panasonic DP-UB450 gives a bold, dramatic picture with instant appeal – yet enough subtlety and definition to provide a nice sense of texture. It certainly allows the LG OLED to shine in the way only a Blu-ray can really provide.

Gaming console: Xbox Series X

The final piece of our mid-range home cinema comes in the form of the Xbox Series X. Clearly either the Xbox or the Playstation 5 would perform equally well in a system such as this. Suffice it to say that either one will provide an absolutely stunning 4K gaming experience over this TV and home cinema sound set-up. Which one you choose is really down to which of the console-exclusive games you might want to play, or brand loyalty. Otherwise, there isn’t really a wrong choice.

The next-gen games console rounds out a stunning home cinema and entertainment set-up that will be an absolute delight for a few years to come. The only difficulty you will have, of course, is deciding which source to use, and fighting off your housemates for the controllers. Good luck with that.

MORE:

Why must we buy a TV with a fancy sound system to get the best picture quality?

We built a budget big-screen TV system to maximise movies while minimising expense

OLED vs QLED: which is the best TV technology?