Do we really need anything more than 8" woofer and 1" tweeter for medium size room?

My monitors have a 7" mated to a 1" and I have all the bass I need. It helps that my room is about 10’ X 15’ so I get very usable bass down to the mid 30Hzs. It’s only down 4-6 dbs by then so I can clearly hear and feel it. Just ask my neighbors. :-)

All the best,
Nonoise

Hi Tim. I would think that 8" driver is overall a good compromise. 7" is not enough for bass and 10" won't do for midrange. The unattainable ideal is one driver, right? Well, big electrostatics, but that's different, we are talking about dynamic speakers.

Erik, let's assume that room acoustics and wall current are done right.
I would say that my 8"/1" with 120 watts/ch Redgum integrated amp go down to low 30s in a pretty good fashion. Vifa drivers. But that's still only $1.5k speakers with $1.7k integrated. I can imagine that the same speakers would do much better in every respect with, say, class A Gryphon or older Rowland or Lamm hybrid, and many others. Not to mention better speakers with better drivers.

The speakers cost $1.5k 17 years ago, and the amp cost $1.7k 16 years ago.

Inna, I agree that all things being equal, 8" would be much better for bass but my room constraints would just exacerbate those room nodes. I've learned my lesson from having too big a speaker. Again, ask my neighbors. :-)

As to a single driver, I'm with you on this. I used to have a pair of Hornshoppe Horns which satisfied me for quite awhile but that 4" single driver just couldn't plumb the nether regions to my satisfaction. That, and the lack of "meat on the bones."

I just feel that since all speakers are a compromise, one should get one that gets the highs, mids and upper bass as close to perfect as possible within the confines of one's space: just let the room fill in the lower end as best as possible unless you're fortunate enough to have a room large enough to use a good subwoofer.

All the best,
Nonoise