A 55" was the right size for us, but it only comes as a curved display, not flat. I almost didn't order it for this reason, but now that it is here, I like the curved screen. I find that moving a bit one way or the other in front of the curved screen can reduce reflections a huge amount. At least, I think it is because of the curve, but others have complained the other direction. In any case, the picture is superb and I'm glad we got one.
Back to the original question: I ended up punting and just getting a cheap DAC that handles 5.1 formats. The original idea had been to hope for a 2 channel and then get a "good DAC" that would also be useful for music. I'm glad to have gotten the cheap 5.1 DAC because it means I don't need to reconfigure the audio out on the TV when I want to use the headphones. So, the final configuration was to take the optical out through an active splitter, then to an Orei DA34 DAC, and from there to a little headphone amp. The other leg of the splitter goes to a sound bar. My objective in this setup was to direct the cash towards the TV and minimize expenditures on the TV audio so that I can use the saved money later for the audio equipment that I use for music.
Back to the original question: I ended up punting and just getting a cheap DAC that handles 5.1 formats. The original idea had been to hope for a 2 channel and then get a "good DAC" that would also be useful for music. I'm glad to have gotten the cheap 5.1 DAC because it means I don't need to reconfigure the audio out on the TV when I want to use the headphones. So, the final configuration was to take the optical out through an active splitter, then to an Orei DA34 DAC, and from there to a little headphone amp. The other leg of the splitter goes to a sound bar. My objective in this setup was to direct the cash towards the TV and minimize expenditures on the TV audio so that I can use the saved money later for the audio equipment that I use for music.