Speaker size and realistic sound?
- Thread starter caesar
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No, the size is merely to do with how you generate bass, the (valid) Bose philosophy, and at least big enough to house the drivers 
.
Frank
.Frank
If "realistic" includes dynamics, I believe that yes, size matters. If "realistic" includes projection, I believe size matters as well. While there are quite a few examples of small speakers that sound big, almost always this comes with a power penalty most especially in the bass department.
Whether bigger is always better, is another story altogether.
Whether bigger is always better, is another story altogether.
A sad reality is that the only (conventional) way of getting big bass with minimal size of enclosure is to use a sealed box, and power the bass driver with a humungous, say 2.4kW power
or bigger, amp.As far as everything else is concerned, attempt to balance the size of the owner's ego with actual necessary box size ...
Frank
This is one reason I had to have something different than the Watt/Puppies. On orchestral works, I was getting a balcony view instead of a floor view. Same with singers, the image was too short.
Pictures, Jack? Pictures of what?? Perhaps, perhaps you mean of something that I have that's big ...
Frank
Interesting. So you weren't getting the height with those speakers, perhaps it was a system problem. I've noted, as many others have, that with a setup on tune that the sound appears to increase in height, or more correctly, keeps in line with the vertical position of one's head. My bottom of my HT speakers are a touch over 2 feet from the floor but have no trouble in projecting an image at the correct height if I stand in front of them.
One of the key considerations with smaller speakers is to lock them in position as solidly as you can, weight or Blu Tak is your friend! Big speakers win, if they don't muck other things up, by their sheer weight and inertness. If you put absolutely rotten drivers into the Wilson boxes, for example, you'd be amazed by how good the speakers still sounded!
Frank
Don't worry, it's still on its way: I'm really focusing on getting a class D to do the job, and they are a bit tricky, because everything depends on everything, the talk on feedback in the other thread in fact was quite relevant here. The nice thing is that it should be able to do of the order of 1200W per side continuous, better than AB could, and be relatively light as well ...2.4kW not your imagination my friend!
Frank
In my experience, yes. Most specially for 'height'. I can't imagine singers to be realistic when their height is somewhere near the wall outlet, about a foot above our floors, which I have heard from some bookshelf speakers on stands. When I shifted from the B&W 801s to the 800s, it convinced me forever. So much so that after the 800s, the next speaker that would suit my needs was an equally tall Magnepan.
I think the height is important for the scale of the reproduced music. The only difference in the width, which would be the diameter of the drivers. You can have multiple 6 inch drivers and have a more articulate reproduction and still have a large sub to move the required air. This is the way my system is setup and I really like the sound. I think most probably would consider a large woofer necessary to experience a better low end,but that's not my experience.
If you want to have a "big" sound that captures as much of the dynamics of the music as possible, you have to move a bunch of air. That IMO is what creates realistic sound. My speakers have 9 drivers per cabinet (two of them are 14" passive radiators for the active 14" sub) and I think all of those drivers moving air is what helps them to sound realistic. Not to mention that I think the crossover network is seamless and they speak with one voice (to my ears).
One of the things that I think many of us 'philes miss when talking about the size of speakers and their ability to reproduce sound, is the correlation that the size of the speaker has to the size of the listening room and the reproduction that one can expect.
In a small room, IMO, a small speaker is a requirement for good sound. In a large room, generally a larger speaker is preferable. However, if you cram in a large speaker into a small room, you almost certainly will not get as good a sound as a small speaker more appropriate for the room size. OTOH, you may get a good sound from a small speaker in a large room...probably not as expansive or full-bodied as a larger speaker that can energize the room better, but serviceable nonetheless.
In my very small dedicated room, i get a much better sound with a small speaker than i could ever get with a large speaker that would over-pressurize the room. Only drawback is a loss of bass energy and some amount of stage width ( due to the width of the room, not the speakers ability to portray it). I am now thinking of adding a small sub to assist in the bottom end reproduction...not something easily done, but preferable to a larger speaker which would over drive the room.
In a small room, IMO, a small speaker is a requirement for good sound. In a large room, generally a larger speaker is preferable. However, if you cram in a large speaker into a small room, you almost certainly will not get as good a sound as a small speaker more appropriate for the room size. OTOH, you may get a good sound from a small speaker in a large room...probably not as expansive or full-bodied as a larger speaker that can energize the room better, but serviceable nonetheless
. In my very small dedicated room, i get a much better sound with a small speaker than i could ever get with a large speaker that would over-pressurize the room. Only drawback is a loss of bass energy and some amount of stage width ( due to the width of the room, not the speakers ability to portray it). I am now thinking of adding a small sub to assist in the bottom end reproduction...not something easily done, but preferable to a larger speaker which would over drive the room.
Matt,
That would be directly related in proportion to your listening room's size. ...I think.
But in general, a Full Range loudspeaker is a floor-standing model; and those can be quite 'large' indeed. ...
...From roughly 40" tall to about seven feet tall. ...And from about 50 pounds to 500 pounds each!
A 'small' speaker is usually a monitor, a satellite, one that uses a stand, and that is restricted in the bass department.
Hence, a Restricted Bass loudspeaker.
And then you have various room sizes, with some that are huge with very high ceilings...
* But why did I post that?
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