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?

128x128daveyf

@daveyf, if you had mentioned in your OP the room treatment in place I would not have been inspired to type a long email trying to be of help.

It seems you to like to jump to conclusions about other people's systems

I did not jump to anything! The fact that I mentioned 2 grey panels should tell you that I obviously had a look at your system, not so?  I did not see this as a challenge to 'spot the hidden treatment'

As to why no photos of my system, well I do not feel the need, simple.

I post the photos below, not because of your brash comment but for the benefit of anyone interested in the start of my DIY super-chunk bass traps. They measure 900mm across the width and except for frequency specific helmholtz resonators this is what it takes to deal with the long wavelengths.

 

 

@lemonhaze 

I have a corner bass trap exactly like yours,  big and floor to ceiling and filled with Rockwool. I think these kind are the most effective. 

@ronbocoif you had mentioned in your OP the room treatment in place I would not have been inspired to type a long email trying to be of help.

I did not mention room treatments in my OP, as the place I heard the speakers in question was not in my room...or with my system. Not sure why you assumed that to be the case? The demo was at a local dealers and the room was large and fairly well treated. The room was certainly not the main problem here, although it did contribute...as they all do.

Nonetheless, don't get me wrong, I am a BIG believer in room acoustic treatments and in making sure that the room is optimized for the system; so no TV's between speakers, an attention to where the speakers are placed ( I use a laser to assist here) and careful attention to how cables are run etc.,

I also posted a new photo on my system page, which shows the vault ceiling in my room. This is a very important aspect of the sound field and in contributing to the SQ that i manage to get in this small room. Mainly due to the fact that while the size is small, the actual volume is acceptable.

@ronboco, Hey I think you can safely call that a dedicated room 😁 Congratulations. I agree with your philosophy of getting the room properly sorted early in the quest. So many ignore or avoid even considering acoustics and end up constantly swapping out components trying to banish brightness, congestion, boom etc.

I have 2 such traps in place but measurement shows I need one more, just need to finish up some house repairs first.

Post removed