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.
Another option if you are not pressed for cash is both a TV and a projector. You can mount the 55” TV as planned. Then put a pull down acoustically transparent screen in front of your speakers. Best of both worlds. Bit movies at night and no 2ch compromise. some of these cheap life style projectors are good enough for the casual movie watcher. |
@waytoomuchstuff thanks for all the science, very interesting and informative. OP, here's another strong vote for the 65. My listening room is ~ 19' x 14' with a 65" TV centered on the end of the rectangle. It's flanked by a pair of Magnepan 3.7s and a Perlisten D15s sub a few feet forward of the TV wall, and I have Ikea Poang chairs ~ 15' feet from the TV wall. My 65" TV is great but getting older and when I replace it, I will likely opt for a 75". I have definitely never wanted a 55" in that space. When the 65" TV is off, it does look pretty damn big hanging on the wall. But when I turn it on, it seems like the right size if not slightly too small. I don't use it very often but I will occasionally watch sports with the sound muted while spinning records. I don't think you'll regret getting the 65". I suspect you will regret a 55". Every now and then, size does matter. 😉 |
I watch a lot of vintage BDs from the 50s through the 70s. While there are some very impressive exceptions- https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/PJ-Blu-ray/258849/ https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/North-by-Northwest-Blu-ray/139345/ -the audio of most of my titles were often hit with a lot of dynamic range compression for various reasons. https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Big-Heat-Blu-ray/170647/ While the compression may not necessarily make the movies sound as bad as if the audio had clipping (overload) distortion https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Inferno-3D-Blu-ray/174325/ , hum or other audible noise, if you were often to play such content, might the lack of dynamics and flatness of the sound become very fatiguing, even with well-designed horn speakers? https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Laughing-Policeman-Blu-ray/155116/ https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Parallax-View-Blu-ray/42659/ And since the dynamic range of a recording cannot be restored once it has been compressed-even with software like this https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx.html?srsltid=AfmBOoprArvJASWIn_nRl5VfwNTUTkD4b1iscv0adPnsn6rzV9aHxAcG -might we then be more inclined to instead choose direct radiator cone speakers for movie soundtracks with such audio quality problems? Perhaps even some of the better turnkey speaker systems? https://www.crutchfield.com/g_12000/Floor-standing-Speakers.html?fa=1#&price=3070-7130
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