My dad hooked up some old stereo speakers rather than a soundbar and it sounds great.
The best thing about our sound bar was getting rid of the old stereo speakers!
My initial thought was that too but his old speakers sound a hundred times better than the sound bar.
We were looking at replacing our 720p 40 inch samsung a while back (it’s 10 years old and is mounted over the fireplace).
Some issues we ran into were that the 4k tvs had an amazing picture but very little programming that could take advantage of it.
There were some good HDTV’s with higher resolution than our current one at Costco, but we just decided to ditch DirectTV (we were subscribers since the early 90’s, but since ATT bought them they’ve gone down the toilet and we ditched them in August), the higher resolution of a new TV would result in higher bandwidth usage from internet provider for streaming content.
So, we’re waiting. Waiting until our internet provider has a higher cap on the amount of gigs we can use each month, and waiting until 4k becomes standard.
Our other tv is an Epson projector-we have a 17 foot screen in the basement for it. It is fantastic for movies and video games, but requires a very dark room to be at its best, and the bulbs are 50/pop, and they burn out about every six months. It’s worth it for us, we love the cinematic experience.
There are many options for larger. If I am serious about viewing a show I especially enjoy, I’ll watch it on a 144" screen in my theater, which uses a projector. You can also get TVs without projectors that are as large as 100", although like you said, there is a noteworthy price increase once you get much above 70". The optimal size relates to a number of factors. For example, the chart at http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-size/size-to-distance-relationship suggests that with a 12ft distance and the discussed 65" size, ideally you’d want to have at least 1080p resolution and corresponding subscription from your cable/satellite provider. Other things like light control, advanced TV settings (brightness, contrast, gamma, …), and type of cable connections are important as well. You’d also want to consider how it fits into your room, with wall indents and such. Flat screen TVs are usually not heavy. I’d expect 2 people to have little trouble moving and installing it, regardless of size. I personally find that a larger screen really enhances the viewing experience. I have trouble getting into shows as much, when viewing them at my GFs house, with a ~40" screen.
Sound quality is going to be poor with nearly all flat screen TVs. If you want good sound quality, I’d suggest a setup with external speakers that are purchased separately from the TV. “The best” speaker/amplifier setup probably costs upwards of $100k. However, you can get a large improvement over a typical flat screen TV sound for under $200.
You know…for me…it’s just TV watching. I’m not spending an arm, a leg, and two feet for it. And I don’t want it taking up my whole family room. If I want to go to the movies…I’ll go to the movies. I don’t want a movie theater in my family room.
^^That’s why we put it in the basement. No crying kids, no obnoxious cell phone users, and the bathroom is always clean 
@MotherOfDragons You don’t have to have 4K content to see the improvement in those sets. A set with good upscaling should provide an improvement.
I didn’t read this whole thread but did want to let you know to pay attention to the Box. There are some TVs out there they’re not actually TV’s they’re called displays. Which means they don’t have a tuner which means you have to connect them to the internet in order to set settings and adjust the brightness and that kind of thing you actually have to use your phone as a remote. Don’t like that. So if the box says it’s a display and it doesn’t specifically say television in means it doesn’t have a tuner.
I also have an Epson. Most of their models have an expected lamp life of 2000+ hours, some significantly more. If you are getting less than 1000 hours, you might want review things like if there is adequate ventilation. Mine has modes for viewing in well lit rooms, but I agree that it is best in a light controlled room. I’d make a similar comment about typical flatscreen TVs.
The biggest advantage for me is being able to watch the movie I choose (usually not new releases) on my schedule, which includes being able to pause the film. Privacy, seating, convenience, customization (including both HW modifications and things like sound/CC settings), and similar are also important.
I love my Samsung but if you’re at Best Buy and looking at the DVD (seven wonders of the world is one) they display for pix realize that you will NOT get that picture at home. The DVD they run is a SUPER high definition DVD that you can’t even buy. It shows you what the TV is capable of but nobody broadcasts anything close to those standards.
Have to say I love the smart TV features of looking at Youtube, Netflix etc. So easy