Do Bigger Speakers Mean a Bigger Window?

Yes, but is it a fair analogy to compare recordings to images? For example, if you attempt to enlarge a low resolution image beyond a certain point it only becomes pixelated and distorted, doesn't the same apply to recordings?

This is often an argument used by high-end salesmen when your favourite recordings sound worse through their speakers. I can still recall how bad 'You Are the Quarry' sounded through Quad 2905's. I know they're great speakers but are they really too good for most recordings? Too much resolution?

Or perhaps they just weren't mastered through a pair of Quads!



 

You may be interested in the current trend (past 20 years or so) of manufacturers designing speakers that are @ 6' tall or taller.

I always wonder where they got this idea...and why.

Neither PC desktop speakers or automobile can be considered Hi Fidelity. Most here probably consider your post a troll and hence the lack of typical blatherskite response.

An ideal source would is a point as it would have no coloration from cabinets, crossovers / driver displacement interactions.

Speakers have become taller because they fit beside TVs. Multiple woofers in a column have a time delay.

Big does not mean better. There are a 1001 things to get right and size is no guarantor that any are correct.

Small speakers on stands do not interact with the floor. Small boxes can be very strong and more rigid. Small drivers can be very fast without the need for massive power. They will not play as loud but they can as play better.

Recall Amercian cars of the 50's & 60's? They were huge because that's what people wanted. Great on the newly constructed freeways but hopeless in the twisties.

@ieales   "An ideal source would is a point as it would have no coloration from cabinets, crossovers / driver displacement interactions."  Please edit.

"Speakers have become taller because they fit beside TVs. Multiple woofers in a column have a time delay."  Please supply the data that supports this assertion.

"Small speakers on stands do not interact with the floor. Small boxes can be very strong and more rigid. Small drivers can be very fast without the need for massive power. They will not play as loud but they can as play better."  Please edit.  Please explain how the laws of physics have been defeated by speaker stands.

Small speakers (in a car or on a desktop) can be wonderful on voices. I actually heard the best imaging on a car stereo (an Alfasud in Wembley). There was an uncanny spread of image across the front two seats. Sure there was little real bandwidth but the image was astonishing, I never forgot.

Isn't it the case that with small speakers you hear more of the speaker because of the greater direct sound compared to reflection ratio?  If so then I guess with larger speakers you hear more of the room because of the way the speaker drives the room and the reflected sound.

Of course there's also volume, seating distance, loudspeaker dispersion characteristics, people's hearing characteristics etc to also consider. In fact the science of acoustics seems so complicated that I'm wondering if anyone understands it completely.

Right now listening to a BBC podcast via the Logitech's (Dell branded) the voices do sound pretty life-like. On larger speakers they might sound exaggerated and larger than life.