good and extensive discussion here on this thread, with the usual range of perspectives being shared
i would add a few points, in general (noting that specifics always dictate, and can go against the generalities on occasion)
- smaller monitor type speakers with integrated subs usually do not produce the same soundscape as good larger speakers or floorstanders, reason being that properly integrated subs typically do not reach up into the middle bass frequencies, and it is those frequencies (and how they emanate from the speaker and interact with the room) that significantly help portray how ’full’ and ’large’ and ’effortlessly enveloping’ the music sounds
- as a corollary to the above point, floor standing speakers also provide an opportunity to couple the speakers’ upper and middle bass region output with the floor, something stand mounts do not do... this coupling is often important, again, in fleshing out the sound in room - this is related to, but imo, distinct from how true deep bass output from subs load’the listening room, giving one a sense of feeling as much as hearing the music
- while it is true that larger and floor standing speakers sometimes are just the same drivers from a smaller speaker mounted into a bigger cabinet, the larger volume of the enclosure can be transformative in how the speaker sounds in room, for all the reasons above -- while in other cases, the drivers are indeed different, and thus take advantage both of the larger cabinet volume, and the ability for different, larger drivers to move more air when needed
- given the above, i would personally agree, based on my own experience, that good larger speakers usually have a bigger sound, and more importantly, a more full, more dimensional, more fleshed out sound than ’equivalently good’ smaller speakers with subs -- with both playing at comfortable, unstressed volumes in each case -- (of course, it is too often seen that in sub/sat setups, the sats are overdriven, which leads to an extruded, artificial, stressed overall presentation)
- as an example of the above, i recently tried my beloved spendor sp1 speakers with a pair of rel subs, compared directly against the equally beloved sp100r2 speakers w/o subs (both are superb speakers with excellent driver and cabinet integration) - the sp1 is the iconic 2 cu ft bbc monitor with an 8 in bass driver, compared against the 12 in woofer (and dedicated midrange driver) of its sp100 big brother -- the 12 in woofer has 2.4x the surface area of its 8 in counterpart, and the sp100 has almost 2x the total cabinet volume of the sp1 -- the sound was indeed very very different in presentation... the sp1/rel setup was leaner through the midband and midbass, but with excellent, rock solid deep bass due to the subs... while the sp100’s sans subs was a little weaker in true deep bass, but much more full scale and utterly effortless and warm-bodied in its presentation -- now, bear in mind the sp1’s are actually pretty large ’standmount’ speakers, and i would venture to say that if you went to typically smaller ’satellite speakers’ (say totem 1’s, proac tablettes, buchardt s400, kef ls50s, etc etc) this vast difference in presentation would become even more stark...
all this said, smaller rooms are more suited for sat/sub setups, large/floorstanding speakers can often overload such rooms
