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I went from Celestion SL700 to Thiel 3.6 and never regreted it, Now , I think of similar size or bigger when i dream of new speakers.
The conventional wisdom that "bigger is better" doesn't always hold true in audio. High-end speaker systems, for example, have evolved in both directions—some designs have grown enormous while others have almost disappeared entirely. Which trend do you favor?
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What matters most to me is the sound---I've heard big speakers that sound great and others that sound awful. The same goes for small speakers. It seems to me that it is harder to get it right with large speaker systems---more chances to get it wrong..
Floor standing speakers are best because you don't have to worry about proper height. Newer ones have no larger a footprint than small speakers on stands. Sounstaging and imaging are just as good as small speakers with the same bass response. Low bass is best provided by a subwoofer anyway.
I'm looking for speakers that will work best with my room first, so size doesn't really matter to me. My room will accomodate minimonitors better than it will accomodate larger floorstanding models. I do prefer the larger models as a rule.
People think I'm crazy just because my speakers seem to be growing faster than my apartments. I always buy the largest speakers I can fit in my living room. Each pair has sounded better than the last. I could probably find smaller speakers that cost the same as my current towers and have better imaging, but they wouldn't be able to roar like my system does now. Bjork's voice just wouldn't sound quite right, and the only people that would please are my neighbors. Besides, as I recall, HI-FI '98's Best Sound at Show came from those monolithic Martin-Logans. And does anyone remember the Genesis 1 system? It weighs in at more than a TON. I can't wait to hear "Army of Me" or "It's Oh So Quiet" coming from a veritable WALL of sound. Of course, these are the top of the high-end market. But I can dream, can't I?
Given that it's tough to reproduce bass tones without substantial size, I'll cast my vote for "bigger is better." A speaker that doesn't reproduce 32-60 Hz tones cannot produce what the composer wrote. How can such a speaker be termed "accurate"?
I am running a pair of ReQuests and a Velodyne FSR18 sub, and am looking hard at the Gallo Micros for home-theater back and center channels. I guess that would indicate a mixture. I would really prefer smaller speakers just for the sake of convenience, but sound comes first.
I moved from the Vandersteen 2Ces, which were great, to the smaller Avalon Monitors. I get enough bass to satisfy me, but the Monitors are superb in the mids and highs. I am also able to drive them with the incredible Pass Aleph 3 amp at 30Wpc. So much depends on the room, the electronics, and your musical tastes.
There's no substitute for cubic inches; Chrysler knew it and created the 426 Hemi. Wilson, JMlab, and Dunlavy all know it. (Unless you're Bob Carver and build a 2400W amp/tire-sidewall driver combo. That puppy KNOWS how to move some air.)
In the past year or two I have gone from NHT floorstanders to Celestion A1s to my present Avalon Monitors. I really prefer the flexibility of smaller speakers. However, real sound quality and acceptable levels of bottom end in a small package come at a pretty high price when compared to "full-size" speakers.
reason: my new house has a bigger living room, so bigger speakers are a more synergistic match for the room. I don't think the size of the speakers matter, what matters is the interaction of the speakers and the room. I have heard huge expensive speakers sound worse than cheap and smaller speakers in rooms that are too small for the bigger speakers.