smaller speakers for critical listening?

The new Sonus Faber Electa Amator 3's should be on your short list.

@ verdant audio, fantastic post and you have the great ability to take the reader to a place of understanding. 

@northman --

I know that may be a ridiculous question; of course one can sit down with Radio Shack speakers and engage in serious listening, and of course the experience is subjective for all of us. I’m actually asking for subjective responses here. If your goal is a system for critical listening, do you think smaller speakers can do the trick or do you need the bigger soundstage and depth that can come with floor-standing, planar, or electrostatic speakers?

Interesting question. In some vital respects I’d go so far to say that a smaller, typically stand-mounted 2-way speaker (a single full-range driver per channel as a singular point source with no cross-over would, in principle, be a better example) is a reference that I hold my current set-up against. As a friend of mine pointed out to me not long ago after listening to a pair of (the original) Snell J speakers driven by a Sugden A48 integrated amp and a streaming source, he’d found that listening experience to be telling of what had originally formed the basis of his endeavor into audio reproduction, and to which I agree; the simple, coherent and inherently musical presentation afforded by these components was spellbinding, and an instant reminder what it was and still is, at its core, all about. Any smaller 2-way speaker wouldn’t do as in this case the old Snell’s had a beguiling ability to capture the listener with said qualities, but it goes to show that added complexity - a common and often necessary "component" with bigger speakers - has its price and that, by and large, working with more cross-over points, point sources and different drivers is in a sense an act of damage control. Maybe that’s why my friend’s current main speakers are still a 2-way design, albeit scaled up in size as a different design and augmented with a pair of subs - as is the case with my own set-up. Scaling up a smaller 2-way design in keeping it 2-way isn’t without its challenges, but once we go there size in itself as well as the different design choices dictated here comes in handy as a primary physical factor that’s indispensable for anything approaching authenticity in reproduction. One could, as has been recommended by poster @atmasphere augment smaller, again, typically 2-way speakers with subs (less than 4 of them would also do, and if not they needn’t be Swarm per se - just to dodge the business affiliation at play here), and it would be a viable way to maintain the qualities of simplicity of smaller speakers while seeing an uptick in scale and possibly other areas. Myself though I like to keep the smaller and simpler design untarnished to act as a reference in that regard, and instead take the leap into scaling up the whole of the package. Where I would venture into more than 2 cross-over points in the main speakers is with the Synergy horn speaker design invented and patented by Tom Danley of Danley Sound Labs, which effectively (and successfully) emulates a single point source per channel in merging the response of several drivers mounted at the backsides and center of a shared horn flare. A brilliant design, really.

One more thing Northman, you can put almost any speaker in any room if you want to.
Sound Labs 545's are actually a smaller room loudspeaker. If you can get them 8 feet apart you are in business. They are only 24" wide. 

I'm of two minds about answering the question.
Can a stand mounted monitor be satisfying to listen to?
Hell yes!
Can it be satisfying in the long run as the only speaker to own?
Not so sure, for me.


I usually own multiple speakers, though I've cut down a bit.  Right now I own two floor standing speakers:   Thiel 2.7 and Joseph Audio Perspectives.   And three stand mounted:   Spendor S3/5s,  Waveform Mach MC, Thiel 02.


In some ways the stand mounted monitors are my reference sound for musical enjoyment.  The tone and coherence of the Thiel and the Spendors just make me swoon.    And I find I can really enjoy a wide range of music, from classical to prog rock to funk to electronic, you name it.  Even the teeny little Spendor S3/5s provide just enough bass to not make me miss the big speakers too much when listening.   If I truly want to "just enjoy the music" it seems I throw up the stand mounted speakers.




But then, being an audiophile :-) I can start to crave a bit more.   Image size, especially on the Spendors are much smaller,  on many tracks.Often that doesn't bother me because the tone is so engaging - swelling string sections make me swoon at how beautiful they sound.   But, knowing there is "more" to be had gets my itch going.   Also, sometimes I just like to crank the sound, especially to listen from outside the room when I'm on my computer down the hall, or in the kitchen.   A small speaker just runs out of steam and doesn't have a convincing punch in the bass.  



The floor standing speakers can just "slam" in that regard in a very satisfying way.


The little Spendors can do an amazing magic show in terms of spacious imaging.   But the Thiel and Joseph floor standing speakers go even further, making almost full sized flesh and blood musicians appear in a massive soundstage.   It's hard to give up those kind of sonic goodies.And when tracks play in which instruments plumb the lower frequencies, the bigger speakers can be so satisfying.   I was listening to a soundtrack on the Joseph Perspectives and there were these deep low brass section parts, and synth bursts down low that just felt so dynamicand impactful in a way the stand mounted speakers would never do.



So really I kind of go back and forth.  When I'm listening to my stand mounted speakers I often start thinking "isn't this all I need?   Wouldn't life be simpler if I just used stand mounted speakers?"  (I move speakers around).   And it lasts for quite a while.   But then I get the bigger sound itch that only the floor standers can scratch.   Hence, it's hard for me to part with all my speakers and stick with only one.