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

I took my centre speaker over to two friends' who also believed a centre was not necessary, and after trying a few films with/without, they both bought a centre speaker and said it (watching a film), was a MUCH more involving experience with a more even soundstage where vocals were much better produced, and the whole film sound stage was more clearlly defined. And, as for the poster who doesn't use a pair or rears!!! Wake up man, you're missing a MASSIVE amount of film experience.

Trust me, I'd have no problems spending serious money on a center speaker.

https://www.crutchfield.com/shopsearch/center_channel_speaker.html?fa=1#&price=1370-3340

But as I just explained above, all DIY speaker builders I've consulted strongly advise not using dissimilar drivers in mains and center speakers. But are you saying from experience that YMMV that much in favor of disregarding this advice? I'd hate to have to ship a > 45lb center back to an online store. 

But again, don’t you guys get some kind of eyestrain if or because your field of vision is overshot by your > 55” or > 65” screen size?

I ask this because of this supremely relevant post by Dave in Green:

THX recommends a “best seat-to-screen distance” FOV of 40 degrees. But that's based on averages where some prefer greater and some less. An FOV of 50 degrees is more like front row seating at a commercial cinema. Some people prefer that level of immersion while others don't. It would be best to experiment by viewing content with a 50 degree FOV before locking into it as it will create a lot of eye movement that could get tiring when viewing fast moving action content depending on your individual tolerance.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/would-50-degrees-horizontal-viewing-angle-be-too-much.3006084/

Clearly, screen size vs. viewing distance is largely a matter of 1.) How visually immersed one cares to be and 2.) what kind of content one typically views. For sure, if I were a gamer and/or a big fan of “action” movies, I very likely would get eye fatigue or even headaches with a 65” screen-even at 13 ft. But save for a James Bond film now and then, I’m mostly a fan of film noir genre and other classic and new but fairly slow-moving TV shows and movies. Furthermore, I keep my living room dimly lit, at least for TV viewing, so there may therefore be less risk of eyestrain.

Given these facts, I’ll be ordering the 65” Sony A95L this week at Best Buy. I can always exchange it for the 55” within the 10-day trial period, but thanks to Dave in Green’s presenting of those crucial facts, after some hours viewing of various BDs from my collection there’s at least a 50% chance that the 65” will be the one.

From what I’ve usually heard at speaker design and home theater forums is the trouble with adding a center speaker is that unless the drivers are virtually identical to high, mid and midbass drivers in your main speakers you’ll likely end up getting discordant timbre and other unpleasant issues. It may be hard enough to “match up” drivers in a Re

If optimizing for a single listening position, you don't need a center.

It is indeed hard to find a good center speaker design. A concentric driver would most probably be needed for such an application and you will need woofers crossed over 250hz or under (not too high).

Nevertheless, two wide dispersion Fronts and two wide dispersion Surrounds (@ approx 110 degrees)/ optimal positioning should work for a lot of guys....i.e., if it is a single listening position.

This week with hundreds in Sony Card points it’s time to buy a new TV.

It’s probably laughable to those here but I don’t subscribe to any streaming or even basic cable service. I get news via internet, NY Times, et al.

Except for free services like Kanopy, all my movie and vintage TV show content are from Youtube, but mostly from my own collection of 2K BDs and DVDs and those borrowed from local public libraries.

Being a huge film noir fan, OLED is the only way, and everyone also says Sony has the best upscaling for DVDs, which is essential as many of my favorite titles will clearly never see a BD release. So even though I will rarely be viewing 4K content the A95L still seems justifiable.

Where problems lie are with viewing distance. I want to keep my ~ 26” wide Troy Crowe floor standing main speakers 10 ft from me, which means that the TV must be at least a foot behind the front of them.

Would 11 to 12 ft be too far to enjoy my non-4K content?

FWIW, I keep my room dimly lit and will therefore be dialing down the TV brightness.

Note that a 77” TV is not doable since as its width would make proper speaker placement impossible, which will already be challenged by the 65” TV’s footprint.

If only I had more space this would have been the one.

https://electronics.sony.com/tv-video/televisions/all-tvs/p/xr77a80l

No tv in my (main) basement listening room, but I replaced the Plasma’s with a Sony A80j 65" oled in 22 and in the family room in 23 the A85 Sony oled. Both sets are google OS and have been problem free. The family room can’t be difficult for friends or family so I use the Yamaha YSP-5600 with a 15" paradigm sub that doubles as an end table. The living room sports the 65" with a revel ultima 1 center, a pair of VA beethovens being drivin’ by an ancient HK AVR. I’ve found audio requirements are less critical for an immersive experience with video.

While I don’t have the experience to compare Sony oled to other brands like LG (which makes the sony panels) or Samsung I come from using Plasma’s so while the Sony’s are much brighter in comparison to what I was used to I have read reviews that state the ultimate brightness may be lacking for some rooms, idk.  Regarding screen size? As big as will fit the room that doesn't give you a headache while watching! always get a 2-4 week return/exchange guarantee.