Have you moved away from full range to standmount speakers + subs?


I want to know if you have been on a journey moving from a large full range speaker to a smaller one paired wit subs, maybe even four subs.


Maybe you moved away from the big speakers because you had too much bass or you got a better soundstage from the smaller speakers. Let me know what motivated you and if you think it’s better now.


My motivation for wanting to try smaller speakers.


I have the Tekton DI and until a month ago I was using a LM845P SET amp to drive them.

It only sounded good on simple jazz and vocals but on complex music everything was falling apart.

I am not playing loud but I think it was the low 2 ohm load in the midrange that made the LM break down.


I bought a used PS Audio BHK250 and pre and it was like getting new speakers. Never ever had it occurred to me that speaker and amp matching could have such a profound effect.


So I am enjoying my speakers now and listen to music I have avoided like the plague and enjoying it (:


But all of this got me thinking, what if I paired my LM845P with an easy to drive speaker and paired it with some subs?


Then the LM845 could do what it's best at, playing glorious midrange and the subs could play the bass.

So that's my motivation for trying smaller speakers.


I am also hoping that maybe I could get better and more even bass with 2 or 4 subs. Maybe a better soundstage because the small speakers have a very small baffle.

martin-andersen
I am not an expert, but I always thought you went with tower speakers was to create a bigger sound stage.  Why do some systems sound better because they created a sound stage to allow the listener to visualize their sound.
Read wolf's earlier post. He raises a good point when he states that large speakers are nothing more than a collection of smaller ones in a larger box. For example take the same midrange driver, allow this driver the required cabinet space behind the driver and then place one is a small narrow box and the other in a larger box with a wider baffle. In the better design you will hear less of the cabinet and more of the driver itself. It can be no other way. Large cabinets are almost universally a detriment and this is especially true of large lossy thin walled cabinets. Generally speaking I believe that it is much easier to get a smaller speaker to image well than a larger one.

I think that dougshroeder is dead wrong when he speaks in absolutes about such things. He often leaves out the necessary caveats of different designs. Give his post on this issue no more credence than you would any other member!
My first experience with a "satellite/sub-woofer" system was about 50 years ago. It was the M&K (Miller & Kreisel?) system.  I was blown away
by it.  And I had heard quite a few not quite full-range systems.  As a kid
it was difficult to get to audition big time systems in NYC, had to sort of piggy back on a "real" buyer. 

Even at that juncture I knew that the smaller system wasn't for me.
I'm all about big and full range.  At some point I will have to simplify things as a thousand pounds of audio will be unmanageable.  Yeah right!  When they pry my cold dead fingers from the remote!

Just my $.02.

Regards,
barts

You may want to audition some, "Servo Controlled" subwoofers if your going to tread this path.
 None are available on the cheap. But "IMHO"? They are well worth the extra cost involved.
 I have been using these since first finding them in the early 80's.
"I have even modified (non-SC sub's) and built from scratch a few in my quest as an audiophile". So I do have a bit of experience with this subject matter.
Why 'Servo Controlled"? Because everything else, "Regardless of cost". Simply pales in comparison!
Their accuracy is quite addictive...