Creating the perfect viewing environment

[NiteJones]

First, first post.

Now, down to business.

I have a husband who's about to have serious surgery with several months of recovery. He's going to be sitting...a lot. So, I want to create a fabulous home theater environment for him in our living room as a get well/Christmas gift.

Our floorplan: The area involved is a living room/dining room/kitchen, all open to each other. The entire footprint is 26 feet deep by 32 feet wide. The living room portion is 26 deep by 16 wide, and obviously, the kitchen/dr combined are the same as the l/r, mirror image, split in two. There is a loft that is on top of the kitchen section and looks down onto the d/r and l/r (for potential placement of speakers). The ceilings are cathedral, 25 foot. The l/r has a couch and chairs at the deep end of the rectangle and face a corner fireplace and the wall where we'll place the new TV. Couch would be 20-25 feet from TV, chairs @15 ft. Couch faces TV wall dead-on. Chairs are at a slight angle to the TV on each side of the 16 foot width of the l/r.

Current electronics: Not much. I have DISH HD, every channel known to man. I have an ancient VCR (yes, VCR). I have an ancient DVD player that needs to be replaced.

What I want:

TVs: For this size room and the distances involved, I need something in the 55-65 inch range. I have a 37 inch LCD currently and it looks teeny! I've been researching LCD LED TVs such as the Samsung UN55B8000. I've seen it on sale online for as low as $2500, free delivery, no tax. That's the highest I'd prefer to go on the TV. I've also read the current fight over Kuro versus Vizio versus Samsung versus younameit. I'm open to any brand, if it has a lovely picture, but am definitely interested in backdimming and 240 hz refresh rate. I haven't really looked into plasmas, but this area of the house has many, many windows, with no drapes. (We live in the woods in a house on pilings with no nearby neighbors, so unless there are some really tall deer out there who are desperate to check us out, window treatments aren't necessary.) So, during the day it's very bright. At night without lights it's pitch black. Other TV suggestions are very welcome.

Audio System: I know nothing about audio systems. I'm not busting open walls. I hate having wires every which where, especially with all the dogs. But I also understand that I'd lose sound quality with wireless, so best options with such a large floorplan appreciated. I'll be doing the install, myself. I'm extremely logical and understand how to put complex systems together and have always taken care of our electronic setups, which in the past have been fairly complicated.

Receiver: Don't currently have one but assume it's necessary with an audio system and to control all the other components? I've used them in the past, but it's been a while.

DVD Player: Blu-ray, of course. Which one?!?

Okay, it's a ton, I know. But I'm sort of overwhelmed and want to make smart choices, reasonably priced. IOW, where do I put the bucks? TV and audio? Is a high-end receiver necessary or will a modestly priced one do? Are all blu-ray DVDs fairly much the same (or am I now officially kicked off the site?)?

All suggestions appreciated.

Best, Nite