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

[oltos]

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.

 

[-Jim-]

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.

I went down your road a couple years ago when we were going to make the move to a 4K TV for our Games Room. We remodeled in 2018 and were using a 55 inch Samsung in there for years and years. We currently (mostly) sit in a sectional when watch TV / Movies etc. I sit directly in front of the TV 10 feet from the screen (which hangs from the wall on an easily pivoting bracket that is tiltable (but that part takes tools). My HSU CCB-8s are on stands a foot or so (18"?) off the back wall while the center is below on the stereo stand under the TV angled up. All of them are about 10 feet from my sitting position.

Initially we were going to buy a 65 inch TV like a friend of ours has, but when we went TV shopping both my wife and I were drawn to a Samsung QN75QN85AAFXZC which we ended up buying. I actually wanted to go even larger in the store. (There are some Big Boys out there!) We were assured we could return the TV if we found it too large or small. Going from a 55 to a 75 inch was / is dramatic but it made watching Movies, TV (especially Sports), much more engaging. And my Concert Blu-rays are just about like being there. We haven't had Buyer's Regrets for even a moment.

I suggest you go large as you dare, and mount it at the proper height (it makes a difference). Perhaps it can be like our other 55 inch Samsung in the Family Room (the Games Room one went down to the Man Cave /Junk Room where my Lazyboys got banished to after the Reno of 2018). The Family Room one is mounted on a Tiltable, Pivotable, and height adjustable (about a Foot) wall bracket, so we can lift it up a foot and swing it towards the Kitchen, so it's watchable when in there.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[trochetier]

I'd recommend the 65" A95L. I have the A95K 65" that replaced a 45". You will get used to the larger screen very quickly.

 

[ryanosaur]

At roughly 7-8’ from my mains with the screen another 1-1.5’ back, my 55” looks good. The 49” it replaced was too small.
Mind, I’m also a gamer and am sensitive to too large as it becomes easy to miss things popping up on the screen.
My mains are 6’ apart on-center, and while a larger screen would fit between, it would also be tight.

All things considered, at my distance, I’m right at the threshold between 55” and 65” being recommended. At your 10’ seated distance, you should definitely go larger.

65” FTW.

 

[TLS Guy]

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.

That is a good question. In our family room we sit 8' from a 55" plasma TV and it seems fine. In our great room we are about 10' from a 65" plasma TV and that seems really good. We use that system a lot. In the AV room the MLP is 15' from a 77" OLED. In all honesty that is a little small, but the definition is fantastic. I really don't want to be bothered with a projector and screen. Part of the problem with that room is the mismatch of video and audio stage. The audio stage in huge in breadth and depth with good discs and streams. This is a room were I listen to discs and streams of concerts and operas. Many of these are very high quality 4K and either really good two channel streams up mixed, and in one case Atmos streams that seem to be improving at a really encouraging rate.

 

[Paul DS]

This size calculator may help:

TV Size to Distance Calculator and Science

Our TV Sizes to Distance Calculator helps you choose the right size TV for your space. The optimal viewing distance is about 1.6 times the diagonal length of the television. For example, for a 55” TV, the best distance is 7 feet.

www.rtings.com

 

[oltos]

Thanks guys, but 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 these.

https://ucarecdn.audiogon.com/7ea4a59c-552e-46d5-8a36-4c7835b8d85e/-/preview/-/quality/smart/-/format/auto/

That plus my electronics forces me to count every inch. For me, and I’d think like most forum members, high performance audio must trump video every time.

So, like a few others on this thread and elsewhere, 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 cruel 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.