Living room is only 16 by 18. Have a Sony 55 inch OLED TV kitty corner and perfect for the size room, as my audio system already takes up much of the room.
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.
32 responses Add your response
Always get the bigger TV, always! Every time you watch it, you will be asking yourself if you should have got the bigger one. You are totally overthinking this.I would have a bigger one, but my better half has a thing about the TV hanging over the entertainment center, don't want to buy a bigger one and a bigger TV. 65 is really not that big, vs a 55, it's less than 10in bigger the way they are measured. Think my bedroom TV is a 55in. My room is slightly bigger, sit about 12ft back, have a 9.4.2 system, all horn speakers. My TV is a 85in, still thinking about getting a 95-100in. For movies, the center is the most important speaker, think something like 80% of all movie sound comes from the center speaker. Getting all the levels correct is very important. The entire front soundstage should be the same level across the board, where you can't tell if the sound is coming from the center or the sides, unless it's panning, if so it should be seamless. The Klipsch R34 is a good little center, easy to place, and not very big. But it is prone to reflections, if you place it on anything, it should be at the edge, so no driver is reflecting off the top of bottom of the cabinet/shelf. It's also good to have all your HT speakers timber matches, as sounds pan/move they all sound the same. |
OP, You mention horns, I learned from the video-centric cross dispersion pattern of the DBX 100’s, and change the toe-in of my 2 Channel Music System Horn Speakers when listening with a friend, both of us off center Toe-In Alternates, Stereo and Video His speakers are on Spikes, they are amazing sitting centered, but when we are both off center, not great, we always end up talking a lot there, listening more here. |
Center Speaker. YES, centered right under the monitor! If you do not change a 5.1 program to forced 2.0 or forced 2.1, then all the specific center content will be MISSING. Always use Center Speaker: NO I often force a streamed source to 2.0 and it often sounds better, some pseudo processing may have been done along the way. When the original 5.1 is done well, it is terrific! Dual Mono Phantom Center at least captures the content, but just like any Stereo Imaging, there is an entire front, and the mix/positioning can be anywhere the director want’s it, that imaging will be compromised when processing the center content to dual mono. This little Bose Center Channel can do a darn good job. Bose VCS-10 Little Center Speaker
Initially I used it behind a Big CRT in a big cabinet, another time behind the open legs of a 47" Monitor, and lastly under the riser below my 55" monitor I showed above. In all cases, the sound appears to come from the Image, and the content’s imaging was created. I switched to the Klipsch R-34C, no rear vent
It is very cool looking, but I didn’t compare, so better than the Little Bose? The Bose has some output from vents on it’s top, they were below but under by the riser’s glass shelf. Klipsch is super efficient, I had to cut my center signal’s strength in the AVR to blend with the DBX Soundfield 100 fronts. |
It is not too close for the bigger 65", just a matter of appearance when off. Resolution: you can readily see in a store if you stand too close to a too big screen, typically not the issue. Too big: It really is the width related to your field of view, seeing both sides without needing to shift your eyes left or right any, Imagine reading sub-titles, while viewing. Paper is 8.5" wide based on natural field of view at reading distance. I chose a 55" Sony, nearly identical distance, I sit 10'-6" eyeball to screen. Moving up from a 47", I thought a 65 would just appear too big in the space when off. Since visiting a much bigger screen at a friend's home, his looked too big when off, but was not too big while viewing. Mine certainly could be 65" when on.
Height: We made a temporary adjustable stack of books to find the best height because Donna is 5' tall, I'm 6' tall, and I wear eyeglasses with progressive lenses and it effects your natural gaze, neck muscles .... I made a 6-1/2" riser, and that allowed me to place the center speaker directly below the Screen, which has always sounded best for me. bottom of 28" high screen is 39", center 53" Center could be a bit higher like my friends was. |
Have a 51ish" LG 9~11' away from many's the fave IKEA chair v. the chaises' high end. There's more, but the 'head shot/talking head only' views as realizable as similar to ours....so anything I wish to do with 'the Else' around here is what I've in mind. We control our media and How it's presented, whereas the audio portion can be many things as desired. Spouse just wants it to sound Great. No problemo.... ;) |
65" all day long.
I was redoing my den, and put a TV over the fireplace. It was between a 55" or 65" Frame by Samsung, and after making cardboard cutouts to show size, my wife insisted on the 55". She said, "You have a 75" Mitsubishi DiamondVision in your Man Cave, 55" is fine for the Den."
2 years later and I'm still bitter. The 65" would have been perfect, and a 70" would even work. When tv shows do a cut scene showing someone's phone with a text message, I have to pause the TV, get up, and walk in front of the screen to read the damn writing! Not with my 75" TV. Get the 65" and thank me later. |
Actually, I respectfully disagree with the bigger is always better. Good piece several years back in Consumer's Report about sizing a screen to your room and distance from screen. The primary thing I picked up about too big is that you can have difficult seeing the whole screen if you get too close. I have an older (2019} non OLED Sony 55X950G, 55" that I watch from about 11' away sitting in a recliner. I use KEF R3 META speakers. HDMI Arc feed to the preamp. Sometimes use the TV itself for center channel for football games and non critical listening. |
Yes bigger is correct but I missed that ajant is physically limited on width. To be clear I would just fill the entire space between the speakers with a tv/screen.
If the TV is behind the plane of the speakers it will not affect the sound much. I have done sighted A/B with my screen between the speakers and removed. I am not convinced a TV is anymore reflective than dry wall. Horns greatly limit the reflections off the front wall too and will be less effected by a TV. Technically a viewing angle of 60% feels about right and that happens to be the typical audiophile setup too (equilateral triangle). |
Everyone who says go big is correct. IMHO. Forget your initial reaction to the size of the screen. Your brain will quickly adjust to what it is seeing. In no time at all you will be wondering how you ever lived with a smaller TV. Also, the price of TVs is falling monthly. You no longer have to be rich to have a high quality monster screen hanging on your wall. Cheers. |
53" Sony approx 10 ft from viewing position (leather sofa); L/R are JBL horn-loaded 2-way stage monitors; C are two 12" from same series (daisy-chained); rear is summed signal to JBL tower w/2 of the 15" woofers; sub is 18" JBL stage. Been considering a more "audiofool" setup until I watch a film with good soundtrack after which I always say "why?". (Today: Ghost in the Shell) |
We’ll never compromise audio for a bigger screen as you will regret it. Not wanting to move my left hand speaker closer to the wall is what stopped me from going with a 130” screen. Going from a 110” to a 120” screen was 7” wider and even having the speaker 7” closer to the wall affected the sound negatively. It is all a balancing act. I just use phantom center and see no reason not too (I have owned centers before). If you sit in the middle the sound is 100% correct in the center and I like to watch movies by myself. People talk about comb filtering on movies with phantom center as the speakers are in mono for most speech but as a very picky audiophile (aren’t we all) I have no issues with phantom center. The center is really a benefit for people off axis more than anything. On a side note I bought my house in Ohio for $95 a square foot…
revel’s 226be is a nice sounding slender speaker if you ever wanted more room but I think they lack dynamics/snap next to a good horn. I would keep the horn and rock the phantom center. |
Thanks guys for the great feedback, though things aren’t good with a second look at the numbers. James’ room looks at least 50% bigger than mine, here on obscenely overpopulated, overtaxed Long Island, where the price of living space is equally obscene. Of course, > 3.5 decades of NAFTA driven bipartisan legislated massive over immigration made that inevitable. The 8.9” width difference between the 55” and 65” TVs can matter badly. Nope. On the 11 ft wall, the 65” TV, the speakers plus a foot between the speakers totals 14 ft, not including the subs. Even toeing in the speakers and subs would be a gamble to keep the right speaker and/or sub out of the hallway.
There would be plenty of room to put everything on the 20 ft wall but at least half of the back of my chair would be in the hallway. The other option might be to place everything diagonally across the room, but that still might not work either. Last resort for the 65” TV would be to use smaller speakers and dedicate my horn speakers for music listening. Not a desirable alternative, but unless you have a good-sized house Schiit Island’s a bad place to be an audiophile wanting to add a nice TV, where every inch counts here. But I’m stuck here until I retire; should have thought this through better. Looks like it’s the 55” or nothing. At least that way if I got Revel or Wharfedale tower mains I could then fit a center speaker below the TV and still have my eyes on axis with the screen’s center, as a decent phantom center for movie dialogue my horn speakers is a big concern, though I doubt James has that problem with his JBLs.
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In my main system, I have a 75" TV. My speakers are a little over 10' apart and my sitting position is about 10' from the front baffles. The TV sits a couple of feet behind the speakers. My living room TV is 65". I sit about 13' back. We just use a Yamaha soundbar and subwoofer there. TV could be bigger, but for general tv watching, it's fine. |
Hmm, always bigger always. No one ever said I wish I bought a smaller set. I watch on a 120” screen from 10’ away (pictures in my bio). I also sit 10’ from my speakers (also horns). I own an 83” tv too and it looks so small after sitting in front of my main rig. I sit in a powered recliner. I would really go bigger than 65. 83” is the new 65”, and for watching wide screen movies from 10’ an 83” is really the minimum. If you are just watching the news and what not it really does not matter what size you go with and 65” is fine. |
