4.5" (114mm) King set: Too Big?

Hi all. I'm contemplating the purchase of a nice wood set for home use with my wife or with friends who visit. The set that has caught my eye has a 4.5" (114mm) king height on a 23"×23" (58mm²) board. Each square is 2.5" (63mm) with the king base about ¾ that dimension at 1.9 inches (48mm). While the overall scale is sure to be impressive in person, I'm concerend the novelty might wear off if it becomes unwieldy. My questions are thus: Has anyone played with a set in this size range, and if so, does it become visually fatiguing to analyze a board so large? Is it cumbersome to reach across a board so large? Is there anything else I should consider before shelling out a few hundred dollars for a fancy oversized chess set? Thank you all in advance and I look forward to your replies.

I find just the opposite.  I have a huge HOS Sheffield set on a board with 2.75" squares and now anything smaller seems not quite right.  OK it's maybe not the greatest for study with a book but I have other sets including 12" plastic magnetics for that.  I also have an almost as large ebony set on a 2.5" board that I sometimes alternate.  Every once in a while I'll go back to a standard size set just so if I go play somewhere I'll be at ease.  They're all good.  I have heard others complain in the forums that it's too hard to analyze on because of the reach, and they certainly have a point, but it never really bothered me.  Certainly does class up my otherwise wretched living room. 

I find larger sets a bit awkward for blitz but fine for all other uses.

Wookie,

Your set is within published standards, which means that it's acceptable for USCF events (see tables below). But regardless, if it doesn't work for you, I'd see how the set looks on a slightly smaller (or larger) board.

The SID column are dimensions I came up with based on some interesting mathematical calculations.