55” or 65” TV Screen Size and Your Speakers: Please Join Survey


 

With my two-way speaker build on hold as the clock ticks towards December 31st when my $1200.00 in Sony card points expire, I am struggling to decide between the 55” or 65” Sony A95L OLED TV. Sitting on chairs at Best Buy, I tape measured 11 ft from the 55”, which looked small, while the 65” looked too big at the same distance.

 

My largely empty living room is 20 ft x 11, with the west side open, crossing a 4 ft wide x 27 ft hallway and into a ~ 10 ft x 9 kitchen and then 3 ft wide staircase. A triangular ceiling that peaks at 11 ft is above it all.   

 

I plan to listen 10 ft from my speakers, with the TV between them and a foot or so behind the horns.

 

I built the 65” (56.9” w x 33” h) cardboard mock and to my eyes at 12 ft the 65” “screen” looks immersive.  

 

I will build the 55” (48.25” x 27.5”) mock as soon as I can get more cardboard from the local supermarket.

 

Meanwhile, it might be very helpful to learn of the experiences of other 55” and 65” TV users.

 

How far are you from one of those screen sizes?  

 

Do you sit on a chair or recliner?

 

Please describe the speakers that you use in place of the TV’s internal speakers, and how far you sit from them.

 

 

ajant

85 inch Sony LCD from Costco. Sound by Yamaha NS-5000's. Paid an electrician $350 to move the rj45 jack (Cat 6e cable) from the garage to beneath my main TV so now everything is hard wired to fiber optic service. TV is also hardwired to a rooftop antenna. $45 by a local guy. 

The building is a newish tract house with PVC pipe strapped to a stud inside the sheetrock with access high and low so all the TV cables are hidden in the pipe. They also placed an AC outlet high where the TV can use it hidden. Same set up in the master suite with older gear. 

Go BIG! I am looking at a projector hung from the ceiling, and a retractable 110" screen. I don't when to stare at a screen when listening to my hi fi. 

Bigger=better every time.

NAFTA hasn’t really changed my TV viewing habits.

Don’t mean to rant, but yes, I sure can thank NAFTA legislators, the transnational investor elites they serve and conspirators like these bums for driving up the cost and down the quality and quantity of every basic human necessity-and that goes double for living space-not to mention having zero issues with accelerating climate change. https://fortune.com/2023/12/16/jeff-bezos-elon-musk-human-population-outer-space-mars-spacex-blue-origin/  Indeed, that self-serving mentality has firmly put life on earth on the road to this hideous and terrifying future.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Planet_Aqua/O28TEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover

An alternate view, though good luck finding parallels even on PBS.

https://www.theglobalist.com/is-population-growth-a-ponzi-scheme/

Meanwhile, let’s not kid ourselves: For a bigger TV to always be better, you need to have adequate space for it, versus space for better audio. Footprints of my speakers and subs will be nearly as big as James633’s. That plus my electronics forces me to count every inch. For me, and I’d think like James633 and most forum members, high performance audio must trump video every time.

So, like Stereo5 and a few others on this thread, I’ve had to face the miserable fact that I don’t have adequate space to do both-at least the way I want to. But at least they don’t seem to find the 55” screen oppressively small, as some even view it from 10 ft or more. The 55” will have to be 10.5 to 11 ft behind the horns, and with the speakers 10 ft from me. Such are the economics of living space on Schiit Island.  

I got lucky last night and picked up this big slab of cardboard; resembles the size of 77” Sony I saw last week at Best Buy. I’ll cut it down to a 55” mock of the A95L and compare it to the 65” mock at various distances.   

 

When you go to the movies (do people still do that?) where do you sit?  How immersive  do you want the experience?  I usually try to sit where the screen fills my whole field of vision so usually try for the seats behind to the crossing isle.

My current TV is 85 inch and doesn't seem to big at all.

My TV in my main listening room is 65 inches.  I sit in a recliner right in the middle about 3 meters/9 feet away.  I have it hooked up to my 2.2 music system.  Thinking about getting a used soundbar just for watching TV when needed.