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Have you moved away from full range to standmount speakers + subs?

I want to know if you have been on a journey moving from a large full range speaker to a smaller one paired wit subs, maybe even four subs.


Maybe you moved away from the big speakers because you had too much bass or you got a better soundstage from the smaller speakers. Let me know what motivated you and if you think it’s better now.


My motivation for wanting to try smaller speakers.


I have the Tekton DI and until a month ago I was using a LM845P SET amp to drive them.

It only sounded good on simple jazz and vocals but on complex music everything was falling apart.

I am not playing loud but I think it was the low 2 ohm load in the midrange that made the LM break down.


I bought a used PS Audio BHK250 and pre and it was like getting new speakers. Never ever had it occurred to me that speaker and amp matching could have such a profound effect.


So I am enjoying my speakers now and listen to music I have avoided like the plague and enjoying it (:


But all of this got me thinking, what if I paired my LM845P with an easy to drive speaker and paired it with some subs?


Then the LM845 could do what it's best at, playing glorious midrange and the subs could play the bass.

So that's my motivation for trying smaller speakers.


I am also hoping that maybe I could get better and more even bass with 2 or 4 subs. Maybe a better soundstage because the small speakers have a very small baffle.

martin-andersen
audition__audio
1,500 posts
 
I dont disagree. But you dont want additional coloration added by the cabinet. Tones change from the original instruments/recording by adding cabinet colorations. The sound of all speakers should come from the drivers, ribbons, panels or horns/comp. drivers only. Any additional interaction is not desirable and I question all designs that rely upon tuning cabinets by type of wood, lossy thin walled cabinets, etc. I have never heard anyone argue that the larger the cabinet surfaces the harder it is to control these colorations. 

You completely misunderstood my meaning of "perfect world". Admittedly not the best term in this instance. 

I mean if you like cabinet colorations then this is the best sound for you, but I object to a statement that smaller speakers are constrained by their cabinets provided that the basic/ideal needs of each driver is met. If you put the exact drivers, crossover network and the same volume of air for each driver (per manufacturers rec.) in a larger and smaller cabinet and the larger cabinet sound bigger or less constrained then it must be the influence of the cabinet and the intrinsic coloration that every cabinet imparts on the sound.

Explain to me how I am wrong. 





phusis's avatar
phusis
1,211 posts
 
@audition__audio --

Will get back with a reply tomorrow. 
audition__audio
1,500 posts
 
phusis,

Very well said. Certainly efficiency and also impedance are very important, but these are issues worthy of separate threads. I am trying to limit myself to addressing the notion of why larger cabinets sound larger and if this is a good thing. Even more importantly if this larger sense of scale, assuming it is the influence of the cabinet exclusively, can possibly be a good thing. Put ports, wide front baffles, lossy cabinets and parallel surfaces inside cabinets in the same boat. Have I heard good sounding speakers with some of these design particulars yes just as I have heard lousy speakers whose designers share my opinions. 
audition__audio
1,500 posts
 
phusis,

I look forward to it. 
realworldaudio
174 posts
 
I always had, and I still have full range speakers around.A smaller pair (mini tower) is the main speakers in my second system. It's about 91dB efficient, and does a fine job down to the 30s - wonderful for all genres, and bass quality and extension is much better than multi-way bookshelves. No need for sub for the material and volume I listen to with them. I have a Nakamichi tape deck and a turntable with that system, (no digital there), amplified by a flea power Darling Loftin-White amplifier (sporting 600+VDC power supply) and use it for quiet listening. It is just absolutely wonderful for quiet volumes: the emotional connection, atmosphere is very very deep.
(Regular bookshelves fizzle out at low volumes.)

For main system (main audio and movies) I moved to 10 cuft size ultra efficient cabinets.... they seemed humongous when I built them, but now they seem to have positively shrunk as I got used to seeing the size. In hindsight I think I could have made them 15cuft each... LOL. Curiously though these giant speakers have exceedingly high WAF. Who would have thought. Also, no need for subs, as they are practically monster size subs. Bass is transformatively different when you have the lung size to produce it.
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