A "smart" TV is one that is connected to a network (typically the Internet) for the purposes of streaming content (Netflix, Hulu, CBS News, music, etc.). This will duplicate some of the function of your DirecTV.

Some people like the idea of having such function on the TV -- you don't have to find room to cable in and power an outboard box, the same remote handles everything. But a smart TV is at the mercy of what the manufacturer provides for user interface and is willing to take on in support (security updates, content changes, new functionality, etc.). Personally, I'd go with an outboard box (Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast); I think it's more futureproof because it's easier to replace a $150 Roku in a few years than it will be to replace an otherwise-working 55-60" TV because you want to stream something new.

If you don't already have DVDs, I wouldn't buy a player. The only caveat to this is if you have a significant collection of CDs and a CD player that's no longer working well. OTOH I wouldn't make a CD player the center of my AV system, either.

As for the receiver, I would not get too hung up on the presence of an on-board phono preamp. There are plenty of decent inexpensive outboard preamps which will feed one of a plethora of high-level inputs on whichever receiver you buy.

@steve_o: "Personally, I'd go with an outboard box (Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast); I think it's more futureproof "

So you are saying each of these 'services' have their own device. So the receiver should have multiple inputs (so one can select the device?)

Do each of these have a remote??

How does this look:

Yamaha AV receiver with phone preamp

Thanks again!

The Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, and similar devices all have their own catalogs of services. Some services are predictable: only the Apple TV had HBO-To-Go (for a while; I don't think it's exclusive anymore but maybe it still is); only Amazon's Fire Stick gets Amazon's streaming content (and ever likely will; it's Amazon's carrot for their own box); etc. They'll all have considerable overlap in content and they'll all have a few services that only that brand has.

But channel count is not all there is to an outboard box (or a smart TV). We have an AppleTV with a couple dozen channels we never ever watch. But it works like an Apple product and everything else we have is Apple so it's a better fit for us than, say, a Chromecast device.

As far as I know, all of these boxes come with a remote. It may hold true for the others, too, but Apple offers a free iOS Remote app so we can run the Apple TV from an iPhone or iPad. It's more comprehensive than the one that comes with the Apple TV itself.

As for the Yamaha to which you linked, I will have to plead some ignorance of the many video standards out there now. Back in the day, I had a 5.1 system with Dolby Surround (not even Digital Dolby). Turned out I really didn't care about emulating halls and arenas with music and we watched movies even less, so I pulled back to a 1080p TV, the Apple TV, an older integrated amp and a 2.1 system. Our streaming is primarily Hulu through the Apple TV and our music library and a few radio stations. So terms like "Atmos" and "HDCP" are not anything to which I can assign values.

What I can say is that the Yamaha looks like a comprehensive solution; my only question (and I'm not sure of whom you would ask it) is if Yamaha could or would ever update the receiver to handle, say, software changes in a particular protocol (or "technology" as Yamaha seems to call it). You may just prepare yourself for the idea that, as new technologies come along, your $900 receiver will fall back from the front rank. Perhaps that's not an issue for you.

Hope that helps...

"only Amazon's Fire Stick gets Amazon's streaming content (and ever likely will; it's Amazon's carrot for their own box); etc."

This is plain wrong. amazon streaming is available on literally hundreds of devices... my wife watches on her smart TV and I watch on my old Xbox-360, for example.

IIRC Apple will not allow the amazon prime app on any of their devices.

^^^ Thanks for the correction on the one service. But my point stands: there will be common content and exclusive content on each box. If Amazon content is a deal-breaker for the OP, (s)he has some more options. Caveat emptor.