OP, if you want HPs, get them. They are great for what they are. If you need group validation to support the purchase, you can easily get it in a thread like this and all over a very Apple-centric website. I think they sound great too.
However, again, HPs- no matter how good they are reviewed- are stereo at best. There are ZERO rumors of them ever becoming more than stereo. In the hop to a single new generation, Apple chose to not even let gen 2 stereo sync with gen 1.
Stereo stopped being "best" for home theater in about 1991, with the arrival of Dolby Surround Sound systems for the home. You are the one who titled this thread. It's not what's the best option for speakers
only from Apple (or is it)? You are seeking the
best option for TV speaker.
If you want best sound, the non-HP advice offered in this thread will get you that. If cost is a big factor, you can start with the same base platform of (2) stereo speakers while retaining an ability to add to the non-HP options you've been offered over time. That's a great penny pinching way to eventually get to a full 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system (or more).
The whole "integration" argument is tied to HP "smarts." You already have those same smarts in whatever other Apple stuff you have. For example, you have an AppleTV. It can fill in for HP-like smarts with whatever speakers you might choose here. Ask Siri (remote) to play something and it will... to whatever speakers you have attached now. If you have an iDevice, you have smarter-than-HP-smarts always with you, ready to do much more for you than HP smarts can do. If you have a Mac, it too is loaded with "smarts." I ask Siri to play my music playlists through my NOT-HP receiver hooked to "dumb" speakers regularly and it "just works" the same as it would work doing the same to only 2 HPs. I can order it to play in select rooms in my home and it "just works" too. Want it to play in all rooms? No problem.
Hook AppleTV into ANY speakers and any of those existing "smarts" you already own can play anything on them from Apple. If you opt to go the receiver route, choose one with Airplay 2 built in and it can independently handle anything you would Airplay from any other Apple stuff to HPs... playing on any number of speakers with a subwoofer that can deliver superior bass vs. HPs. Go the cheaper Sonos route and you can enjoy Apple Music just the same. It directly supports Apple Music as one of
many dozens of platforms should you ever want to branch out from only Apple.
And again, I'll re-offer the biggest question: anything non-Apple that generates audio that you would like to hear on the same speakers? HPs are thoroughly locked down (not even an AUX port), heavily married to sources from Apple. Just about any other choice will be the opposite... "OPEN!"... which means you can mix any other source of video or audio in and have a way to enjoy audio on your best speakers too. Game console? Over the air free HD television? Cable? CD player? Blu Ray Player? Some friend wants to play something from their Android device for you? Windows PC? A rediscovery of lost music on an old iPod? Old Zune? Old discman? Old cassette player? Vinyl albums? Etc.
There's a LOT of video & audio sources one can enjoy/add without being inside the walled garden. Perhaps you are entirely inside that garden right now but any anticipation of ever adding anything outside the wall? Think of all of the electronics that provide audio that is not a Mac, iDevice or AppleTV. Maybe take a stroll through an AV superstore like Best Buy and think about whether you will ever buy any of the non-Apple sources of anything you can see in there. If that's a maybe for you, would you like to play the audio on your "good speakers?" Is locked-down HPs going to be able to do that for you? Hint: probably NOT.
Apple fans will keep pounding this thread with arguments for HPs. And again, I too think they are
great speakers. I'm a near Apple-everything guy myself. But for
this purpose as titled in your thread, you should carefully think about the present and the future to help you make a good decision. "Dumb" speakers can last 10-20 or more years, sounding as good in 2043 as they will in 2023. I suspect HPs purchased in 2023 will be made software obsolete by about 2028 or so. The speaker portions will still be just as good but the smarts- tied to a branch of tvOS- will probably be vintaged, pressing you to throw out perfectly-good speakers because a part on which they completely depend has been made obsolete by choices of a company that wants you to re-buy the same speakers again & again & again (like phones, tablets and Macs).
I encourage you to think carefully, do some
objective research on this topic and choose wisely. No hurry. If that's 2 HPs, enjoy them. If that's something else, enjoy that. Unlike thousand dollar phones and multi-thousand dollar computers, this is a purchase that can be enjoyed 10-20 or more years from now with no loss in quality. Or not.
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