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.

 

 

 

 

[aussievintage]

 

I sit, in a recliner, nearly 4 metres from a 75"  and it is just right IMO.

 

I have a stereo system with Osborn Eclipse floor standing speakers in front and to the side of the TV.  But they are not use for TV sound.

 

For TV sound I have an LG SL10YG and subwoofer  (https://www.stereonet.com/au/reviews/review-lg-c9-4k-oled-tv-sl10tg-soundbar)  and could not be happier.  Handles most formats including ATMOS.

[john.reekie]

Just a note that a lot of content is higher aspect ratio, so the image is a fair bit smaller vertically than the actual screen.

[jamiebosco]

I sit a little under 2.5m from a 75" tv and find it's a bit too small , I want to upgrade to an 85"

[Jeddie]

I sit in recliners about 3.5m from 85" screen. No problems.

 

You will soon get used to 65" screen.

 

Refer to Rtings guide > https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-size/size-to-distance-relationship

[evil c]

I went from a Sony 55 up to 65"", and that would be typical minimum size screen you'd go nowadays. 

I'm at 2.9m viewing distance, and just big enough, lot of people would go to 75".

I also have a drop down 100" screen for home theatre which is perfect at 2.8m. 

[Snoopy8]

A common regret from TV buyers is not buying the larger TV when they had the opportunity.  You will quickly adapt to the larger size. 

 

Get the TV first.  Where you sit, what you sit on and what speakers you use are decisions that can made after....

[oltos]

1 hour ago, Snoopy8 said:

Get the TV first...........what speakers you use are decisions that can made after....

 

Hmmmm....I thought this was a forum more for audio than videophiles. 

[oltos]

Thanks guys for the great feedback, though things turned bad with a second look at the numbers. Most of your rooms are probably 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 from my horn speakers is a big concern.  

 

 

[aussievintage]

Sounds like, with the lack of space, you really should be using a soundbar like I do.  It goes under the TV and takes no room.  The wireless subwoofer can go anywhere.  Trust me, the higher end soundbars have excellent sound.

[proftournesol]

55" LG OLED; when I bought it nearly 10 years ago, I went for quality over size, and also had it calibrated. It works well with my system, and my speakers are quite bulky and 1.5m in from the wall.

[betty boop]

 

used to be a 50" pioneer kuro... upgraded eventually to a 65" sony a90j oled... would have been no less to replace...

 

We sit at around 3m... and that seems about right for what we use the TV for... streaming, FTA... and given the quality of material and variability can get i wouldn't go any bigger really...

 

for larger screen we drop down a projector screen in front of it for immersion to THX spec to have that covered  this tend to use for movies and larger screen enjoyed stuff like concerts and sport and such ... 

[oltos]

35 minutes ago, proftournesol said:

55" LG OLED; when I bought it nearly 10 years ago, I went for quality over size, and also had it calibrated. It works well with my system, and my speakers are quite bulky and 1.5m in from the wall.

May I ask what viewing distance?

[proftournesol]

36 minutes ago, oltos said:

May I ask what viewing distance?

3.5m

[RCADees]

We use a 49" Sony TV for most watching and sit at 3m.

 

This was on purpose as I wanted TV content to look, well like TV content.

I didn't want the news to look like a movie (like Civil War).

The projector's 120" screen then drops in front of the TV for movie watching. It is super immersive and works very, very well. 

As someone above mentioned, some movies' aspect ratio makes them very narrow and the image looks small and this is definitely where a bigger screen fits the bills to look best.

And yes, I have also heard a number of people always saying that you will get used to the bigger TV size very quickly. And then they regret having bought a smaller TV.

A 65" TV will look huge at first and then within a few weeks that impression will fade away. Then when you watch particular movies with say a 2.39:1 (Eg: No Time To Die) it will look much smaller than what you are used to watching.

 

Maybe prioritise what is more important to you, movies or music? 

Or alternatively try to consider if it may be possible to use a drop down screen for movies with a projector etc.

Or what about a couch "watch movie only" set up facing one way of the room. Then if listening to music changing seats (single chair etc) to a 90 degree angle facing the other wall?

[oltos]

On 22/11/2024 at 8:16 PM, RCADees said:

As someone above mentioned, some movies' aspect ratio makes them very narrow and the image looks small and this is definitely where a bigger screen fits the bills to look best.

 

And yes, I have also heard a number of people always saying that you will get used to the bigger TV size very quickly. And then they regret having bought a smaller TV.

A 65" TV will look huge at first and then within a few weeks that impression will fade away. Then when you watch particular movies with say a 2.39:1 (Eg: No Time To Die) it will look much smaller than what you are used to watching.

 

Maybe prioritise what is more important to you, movies or music? 

Or alternatively try to consider if it may be possible to use a drop down screen for movies with a projector etc.

Or what about a couch "watch movie only" set up facing one way of the room. Then if listening to music changing seats (single chair etc) to a 90 degree angle facing the other wall?

 

Excellent comments and suggestions. But first a LOL moment. This will be my first widescreen TV, as the only TV I've owned has been a 32" CRT in my bedroom, which I watch at 10 ft. I've prefered CRTs as they have OLED like blacks. Also, much of my vintage movie and TV show content was shot in 1.33:1, so no hideous vertical black bars on the 4:3, albiet tiny, screen. Strangely, I don't mind the horizontal black bars when watching 1.85:1 or wider content. 

 

As for prioritizing movies/TV or music, I'm choosing to buy a 65" over a 77" TV  as I want to minimize my left speaker's early reflections, and where the 77" would push that speaker too close to the side wall. Of course, that's all because the cost of housing is obscene on this disgustingly overpopulated and overtaxed island. But audio quality always comes first. After my large floor standing mains are built I may move them elsewhere in the room to use them for music only, after I buy or build other speakers for the TV. Indeed, my easy/swivel rocker chair is what I will use to enjoy either system!

 

.......Meanwhile........... HELP! Will A95L Stutter with DVDs and Youtube Downloads?

             

I can’t believe that Sony’s top model OLED TV has this problem, which I only just learned of when reading this review. https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/compare/sony-a95k-oled-vs-sony-a95l-oled/31217/39009   It shows the supposedly “new and improved” A95L scoring worse than the A95K on this parameter.

 

Until I read this review I didn’t even know that stuttering over low frame rate content was a problem with any OLED TVs!!

 

How will this impact the A95L’s DVD performance? This is critically important as many of my favorite movie titles and TV shows in my large collection, on DVD for years, have next to no chance of ever being issued on BD. And I have no plans to subscribe to any streaming service as an alternate source.

 

I also have numerous Youtube downloads, of either 720p, 420p-and early ones at 240-that I would also want to view on this TV occasionally. 

 

I had planned to buy the A95L this week. But if it’s likely going to stutter on any of this content please suggest the next best Sony OLED model that won’t. However, the TV's 4K performance is irrelevant as I only play 2K BDs and DVDs from my collection and those I borrow from local public libraries.

 

What's very bad now is that the best such 65” model (s) may no longer be available at Best Buy, PC Richard, Wal-Mart, Target, Microcenter or other retailers in the New York area.

 

I would order said models from online stores but they MUST be authorized Sony retailers or I will not be able the redeem my $1200.00 in Sony Card points-and the sale must be made before December 31st!

 

Please advise ASAP.

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2024 by oltos

[betty boop]

34 minutes ago, oltos said:

.....Meanwhile........... HELP! Will A95L Stutter with DVDs and Youtube Downloads?

I have an A90J OLED which is excellent 65" will see in photo above...

with DVD and youtube... and even low bit rate streaming FTA etc...

just matter of real aligning expectations.. a larger screen will make some things more obvious.. but also the scaling etc the sony does is quite good..

 

so eg going 50" pioneer top line master series plasma to 65" a90j oled i was quite worried .. instead was pleasantly suprised... 

 

eg below is just sbs catch up ... not bad hey ? this is taken with a 50mm lens on full frame camera from main viewing position so pretty much as i see it ... nothing done to tweak or adjust just straight out of camera ....  

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2024 by betty boop