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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
theaudiotweak
2,801 posts
 
Right out of the box and into the cabinet these Purfi drivers are clearly better than my very nice Seas..sound as if I installed 
a highly articulate 10..As I type it opens up.. fun to hear and watch.. Dave G installed his today in his Merlins and has several hours on those. Maybe we will hear from him..These maybe the new king. Tom

erik_squires OP
16,244 posts
 
Just wanted to mention, I've taken a quick peek at the SS Ellipticor measurements on the same sight and the IM distortion is almost as good as the Purifi. :) 

A shootout of these high end mid-woofers would be fascinating.
theaudiotweak
2,801 posts
 
The Purifi drivers with their unique surround will reduce a polarity of shear so it does  not return back down the cone and become a part of the next impulse. Tom
dgarretson
2,599 posts
 
I don't usually draw conclusions before 100 hrs. of break-in, but at 3 hrs. there is not a single area in which the Purifi 6.5" mid/woofer doesn't surpass the stock doped Scanspeak 8545 in a Merlin VSM. 
dprincipato
53 posts
 
Some some very interesting comments here. I’ve always been a fan of multiple smaller drivers For producing bass. As a speaker builder hobbyist when I started out with lower cost drivers, one of my goals was to get quality bass from smaller drivers in a smaller cabinet.  One of the most frequent comments people made when hearing them was surprise at the amount of bass volume from the smaller drivers.  Yes, to get bass you need to move air, but you can do that with multiple smaller surface areas, each with their own motors. It just makes sense that the effect will be greater accuracy and definition, at least in what the drivers are producing. Once that’s in the room, a lot more comes into play, to Erik’s point.  But flabby bass from the get go only gets worse in a less than friendly environment.  What my experience has shown me is that my preference is sealed cabinets, with multiple smaller drivers.  For me, it’s well worth the trade offs. I find that longer slope of the sealed cabinet oh so satisfying!  
Thanks for the original post, it seems like a topic that doesn’t get visited enough. 
Dave
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