A new HD smart TV will come with Wi-Fi, and most of them can receive streams from your computers, as long as the file being streamed is in a format it can interpret. Check for that before you buy!
An older receiver is probably still fine. Even newer HD tvs still do usually have a set of RCA jacks to connect old-style. Unless, of course, that's the component that died! But, to be honest, if you want decent sound, you still need a receiver and speakers separate from the TV, because TV speakers just don't cut it, not even high-end ones.
If you're using Airplay I assume you have an Apple TV cranked into this. A newer smart TV may or may not be able to replace that. I'd be inclined to leave it in place, just as back-up. If the new TV can't interpret some movie or music file, you can still mirror to the TV over Airplay and just play it with computer software.
The smart TVs are attempting to be the all-in-one hub, but to be honest they're not quite there yet. It's still at the stage where every brand has their own proprietary network of "apps" to do streaming and connecting with, which is never a good sign, and they don't talk to radio signals at all. They certainly aren't able to act as a media hub and /store/ all your media files yet. So, bottom line, I think we're still at the hodge-podge stage.
Also: if you do get a new HD tv, you'll also need a new dvd player, one that can "upscale" or "upconvert" your dvds to be pretty on the high-resolution screen. Otherwise they look rough and pixilated. The tech race never ends!
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An older receiver is probably still fine. Even newer HD tvs still do usually have a set of RCA jacks to connect old-style. Unless, of course, that's the component that died! But, to be honest, if you want decent sound, you still need a receiver and speakers separate from the TV, because TV speakers just don't cut it, not even high-end ones.
If the speakers themselves died, I'd say get a new set of Bose shelf speakers, like the Bose 301s (http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/speakers/stereo_speakers/301_speakers/index.jsp). You don't need the five-cube sets to get good sound; you just need good speakers period.
If you're using Airplay I assume you have an Apple TV cranked into this. A newer smart TV may or may not be able to replace that. I'd be inclined to leave it in place, just as back-up. If the new TV can't interpret some movie or music file, you can still mirror to the TV over Airplay and just play it with computer software.
The smart TVs are attempting to be the all-in-one hub, but to be honest they're not quite there yet. It's still at the stage where every brand has their own proprietary network of "apps" to do streaming and connecting with, which is never a good sign, and they don't talk to radio signals at all. They certainly aren't able to act as a media hub and /store/ all your media files yet. So, bottom line, I think we're still at the hodge-podge stage.
Also: if you do get a new HD tv, you'll also need a new dvd player, one that can "upscale" or "upconvert" your dvds to be pretty on the high-resolution screen. Otherwise they look rough and pixilated. The tech race never ends!