Do you know of small speakers that sound ''BIG'' ?

"Small speakers should not sound big.Trying to make them sound big gives them a fake sounding bass which detracts from their potential for purity of sound.[More excursion equals worse midrange]You are best off with a small speaker that only goes to about 60 hz and then using a subwoofer."
-JT

Good point, and probably true for most two-way designs. However, I can't detect this problem with the Intuitive Design Summits that I own, and I pointed that out in my review of that speaker. Maybe it would be an issue if they were cranked to ridiculously loud volumes. I haven't been able to hear it, though. I can only assume that they might sound even BETTER than they already do if they had an AGILE crossover set at or above 60 hertz, and ALSO were mated with subwoofers sufficiently fast and up to the task. As for now, no problems, even with hypervigilant listening.

Mdhoover,I just looked at the Intuitive Design website.I'm not saying your wrong .How could you not believe such a spiel?Very compelling stuff and obviously great science involved[cryogenics even]Almost as good science as Intelligent Design.

JT

Jtgofish:
The Intuitive Design website is certainly short on details. Dale doesn't do a "spiel" at all; in fact, his taciturn nature is something I've found rather frustrating. I did NOT purchase these speakers based on reviewing his website, believe me. I listened to them, TWICE, and they sounded even better in my system than they did at the store.

If anything, Dale has tended toward being very highly critical of any potential flaw, and pointing it out, as I mentioned in my review of that loudspeaker:

"The midbass punch is just as excellent as that of the Paradigms, and just a tad richer without being soft or fuzzy. I had had concerns about a two way system going so low, but the midrange doesn’t suffer at all. Dale Pitcher had mentioned some potential “Doppler issues”, potentially introducing distortion when the 7” carbon pulp driver has greater excursion at higher volumes. I have simply NOT been able to hear this, ever. I think that they are actually “Doppler NON-issues.”"

Please read my Audiogon review of the Intuitive Design Summit Loudspeakers if you want to get an excruciatingly detailed account of just how great these things sound. I don't expect anyone to believe my review, but hopefully it might cause some people to listen to these speakers for themselves.

As for product literature, be it printed brochures or website material, I am extremely skeptical. This is because of an experience that I had years ago, looking at a great sounding product brochure about a line of speakers and some electronics. The brochure was gorgeous and, as I recall, it had graphs, and things that looked like scientific measurements, lots of very scientific-sounding explanations of the design and the unique radiation pattern, yada yada yada. I figured the flagship would sound phenomenal, and went to the company HQ to listen. Holy mackerel, what an overpriced, gosh-awful stinker! (In my opinion only, maybe you'd love them...).
Now THAT company had made up a spiel!

I am and will remain a firm proponent of people ACTUALLY LISTENING FOR THEMSELVES before buying loudspeakers. That's what I did for the Summits, and THEN pulled the trigger. I agree that Dale's website may not be the most glamorous, but I would strongly encourage you and anyone else to at least LISTEN to these prior to dropping a big wad of cash on some other "mainstream" speaker. As I said in the poem:

"for then you should find my words to be true
but ‘til you listen, you won’t have a clue"

I forgot to mention audiophysics virgo.

I'll say based on my humble experience that Celestion Kingston which looks like a Sonus Faber Guarnieri Hommage but made in a Alpha Cristal(synthetic Granite)enclosure and Dynaudio Crafft(professional serie ancestor of Dynaudio25SE)can certainly fill the requirements of big sound.