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There's a lot more bass in a 6.5" driver than most of you think

One topic of discussion I often see new audiophiles touch on is whether to get larger speakers for more bass.

I usually suggest they tune the room first, then re-evaluate. This is based on listening and measurement in several apartments I’ve lived in. Bigger speakers can be nothing but trouble if the room is not ready.


In particular, I often claim that the right room treatment can make smaller speakers behave much larger. So, to back up my claims I’d like to submit to you my recent blog post here:

https://speakermakersjourney.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-snr-1-room-response-and-roon.html


Look at the bass response from those little drivers! :)


I admit for a lot of listeners these speakers won’t seem as punchy as you might like, but for an apartment dweller who does 50/50 music and theater they are ideal for me. If you’d like punchy, talk to Fritz who aligns his drivers with more oomf in the bass.


erik_squires
arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,572 posts
 
My speakers do have good low end, but compared to my cerwin vega D9’s, it’s not even close.

currently use Energy rc-70s’, bass is descent and right, fills my room nicely.

it is a huge front room, with vaulted 16” ceilings, sound is great!

 Drug up my old 1986 cerwin vega D-9’s 
not even close, not in the same town!

vega 15”’res are so tight, precise, deep, and loud, sure with specific music the Energy’s shine, then hook up the Vegas w Travers, derringer, king diamond, foghta, it’s not even close.

 But I love my Energy’s,  they are my grail towers!
shamus2211's avatar
shamus2211
47 posts
 
It's the flat earth perspective Erik, no-one thinking properly could possibly be as obnoxious or noisome so consistently.
mambacfa
76 posts
 
I have found that the reason to use an active sub is not primarily to extend the bass frequencies, but because it adds greater transparency to the overall sound. I also find that it enhances the quality of the bass, and so it also helps with floor standing speakers that reach down adequately on their own. Why is this? I have no idea, but I heard confirmation of this from more experienced audiophiles. Perhaps it's because the active sub provides a sort of "bi-amping" for the lowest frequencies. 
stevencason
95 posts
 
The bass response is impacted by a bunch of factors, driver design, cabinet design, listening environment volume, and a whole slew of other things.
My preference is a smaller driver since there typically isn't as much mass.  I typically get good results in my environment with 10 inch drivers.
But a 6 1/2 woofer is capable of playing 30hz in a small environment like a car.

russbutton's avatar
russbutton
439 posts
 
There's no replacement for displacement.

You can get some very good low end with small drivers in a transmission line enclosure.  But you can't get level and transient response.   Can't do it.  

Which is why you want sub-woofers.  And not just one or two.  Each sub creates standing waves in a room.  So the frequency response is uneven throughout the room.  So what you want to do is to have multiple subs, so that their respective standing waves even things out in the room.   I have three subs for that reason.

If you want more level, you need bigger drivers.  If you don't need higher levels, you can get away with smaller drivers.  My subs have 10" drivers for instance, but with three of them, it meets my needs.
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