Rats in the maze.
coltrane1, they can't "Go big".
Big speakers, are they really the best way to get great sound?
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to some very large speakers that are considered to be at, or close to, the pinnacle in speaker design and ability. Needless to say, the speakers retail in the mid to high $300k range. These speakers, and I will not be naming them, were sourced by about $800k of upstream gear. Room size was about thirty by twenty, maybe a little larger.
To say the the overall sound was BIG would be accurate, but also I noticed something else, that I typically hear with big speaker systems. Generally, the speakers were right on edge of overloading the room, depending on music, the dreaded bass boom could be heard. But, the whole presentation was greater in impact than most any smaller speaker system, yet it was almost unlistenable for the long term.
The question I asked myself, is do we really want this type of presentation in our home audio systems? The speakers threw a pretty large soundstage, but also made things sound somewhat larger than life. I also thought that this type of speaker is akin to the large box dynamic speakers of yesteryear. For example, a set of large horns from Altec Lansing or similar was reminiscent of this sound. Makes me believe that if one has a big room, a similar sound can be obtained from most any large speaker system and at a fraction of the price.
I listen in a very small room, and by necessity in the near field, yet I think the overall intimacy of this type of listening experience is better for me, your thoughts?
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@daveyf -- Indeed, we listen for different things in our setups. That’s as it should be, or certainly that’s how it is. As I mentioned previously I’ve listened to the Guarneri’s at a couple occasions, and they’re very good speakers, I find - relaxed sounding, balanced, tonally "mature" and very resolved and easy on the ears. @mijostyn wrote:
Thank you. Actively configured, as in digital crossover/DSP prior to amplification on signal level, and 3 stereo amps looking directly into their respective driver sections with no intervening passive crossovers whatsoever.
The horns control directivity all the way down to 500Hz. For pro cinema installations they are/were crossed at 500Hz/12dB octave passively, or 24dB/octave actively, so they can to take the juice with fairly shallow slopes and the lowest recommendable XO. I cross them higher because I find they sound better here, and I use 36dB/octave L-R slopes. Using the 15" woofers this high is no issue. Meyer Sound’s EXP cinema series are crossed at 580Hz (with 15" woofers as well), and they sound excellent. JBL’s DD67000 Everest’s and M2’s are crossed at +700Hz, and they are very good sounding.
Never really cared for the sound of omni’s, and also for the reasons you outline. Yes, horns and their dispersive nature are very much helpful here and makes the room characteristics less of an issue.
Indeed, it would be interesting to compare with our similarities in approach, and yet vital differences here and there. Floor to ceiling ESL’s, not least high-passed and properly subs augmented, are beastly performers. @rolox wrote:
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- 203 posts total