Big speakers, are they really the best way to get great sound?

I think size alone has little to do with a speaker's capability. Implementation and design are the key here. I would much rather have a small speaker that is designed to work well in typical listening space than a large speaker that is thrown together haphazardly. This applies to the room as well. IME, the best sounding rooms are the one that have speakers in them that are appropriate for not only the size of the space, but also the acoustics of the space. 

In my OP, the speakers were large, the room was quite large and unfortunately the sound field was over ripe! Why, because these speakers were being played in a space that worked ok for them, but not great! A smaller model of the same line would have been more appropriate for this space, and would have probably sounded better; albeit not as impressive looking! 

IMO, large speakers many times equates to large problems, but I guess if all else is equal, the large can out do small....BUT it better be in a room that has been designed for what the larger speaker brings, warts and all. 

@mihorn wrote:

I see your system and I understand why you believe that. Then I want to hear the truth. Do you have a live recording of your system online? Alex/Wavetouch

I don't, and if you want the "truth" it would hardly be the proper approach.  

@mahgister --

Much of this, it appears, comes down to semantics and which meaning to ascribe to terms. It seems to you "immersion" is linked to acoustics predominantly, while to me it isn't (predominantly). When you spoke, or rather wrote about "an immersive inclusive soundstage engulfing the listener with swmall speakers," I found it "stole" into the realm of mainly horn-loaded and to some degree panel speakers of considerable physical size, speakers that to my ears have been the only real way to experience a large radiation bubble of said "wash" of immersive, and indeed visceral quality. Having posted my previous reply and after re-reading it a bit later (while then being unable to make further edits) I saw what could be interpreted into what your reply then pointed to (and apologies for any perceived insinuations here, which weren't my intention), but thought "Oh, well - I'll deal with that when the opportunity presents itself," and here we are. 

I'm aware of immersiveness as it relates to headphones, but while a much more controllable means of listening to music I've never bought into their presentation, in some respects at least, as anything particularly natural and convincing to my ears. An asymmetrically placed and mono-coupled DBA sub setup kinda gives me the same-ish "bass in the head"-experience that, while it may be relatively flat in FR, just doesn't sound natural to me. Though I'd no doubt take such a bass presentation compared to any headphone ditto for sure.

@daveyf wrote:

IMO, large speakers many times equates to large problems, but I guess if all else is equal, the large can out do small....BUT it better be in a room that has been designed for what the larger speaker brings, warts and all. 

Speaking for myself and my context of large speakers with large format horns, overall prodigious air radiation area, separate subs and active configuration that translates into limited (i.e.: fairly narrow), controlled dispersion and elaborate means of tweaking on the filter/DSP side of things (incl. delay), acoustics and room size isn't as much of a factor here. Conversely I could easily imagine a pair of large, direct radiating, full-range, multi-way, lower efficiency and load-heavy passively configured speakers to be a potential nightmare setting up, not only acoustically but as well with regard to amp pairing. And that's just the problem with this segment of passively configured, large speakers, as you point to yourself; as a fixed, all-in-one package you're much more dependent on the listening room being designed around them than actually being able to integrate them into an existing, variable environment. As such size isn't the real factor here as it is dispersion characteristics and the means of integration at one's disposal. 

If you don’t have a live recording of your own, please let me know you think/believe/heard the best sounding large speaker in the world. Or may be the closest sounding system to your system. I’ll count it as your system. It is OK to include > $million speakers. Please list few if you can. Then we can talk about the proper approach. Alex/Wavetouch

mihorn I see your system and I understand why you believe that. Then I want to hear the truth. Do you have a live recording of your system online? Alex/Wavetouch

phusis I don’t, and if you want the "truth" it would hardly be the proper approach.

Immersiveness is a precise acoustic property not only in headphone but in speakers soundfield...

It is related to the ratio ASW/LV control in a room ...

And the fact that you attributed it to the speakers design is not false, because each type of speakers MAY  contribute in his own way to an immersive experience ,  but this quality is first and last an ACOUSTIC concept and the result of an acoustic set of controls of the relation speakers/room/listener location , immersiveness is then not  a speakers design concept even it is for sure related to speakers design concept ... Then as such we can use any speakers and make his experience "immersive" ... it could be easier in some specific room with specific appropriated design but ANY speakers can be associated with a relatively good immersive experience if we understand how to use the many acoustic factors related to this concept in a room acoustically controlled for them ... i learned it with big as with small two way speakers by the way ......But i could do it with ANY speakers type , it is only necessary to put them in the right room and right acoustic conditions ...

It ask for way more than few acoustic panels though in my experience ...

@mahgister --

Much of this, it appears, comes down to semantics and which meaning to ascribe to terms. It seems to you "immersion" is linked to acoustics predominantly, while to me it isn’t (predominantly). When you spoke, or rather wrote about "an immersive inclusive soundstage engulfing the listener with swmall speakers," I found it "stole" into the realm of mainly horn-loaded and to some degree panel speakers of considerable physical size, speakers that to my ears have been the only real way to experience a large radiation bubble of said "wash" of immersive, and indeed visceral quality.

@mihorn wrote:

If you don’t have a live recording of your own, please let me know you think/believe/heard the best sounding large speaker in the world. Or may be the closest sounding system to your system. I’ll count it as your system. It is OK to include > $million speakers. Please list few if you can. Then we can talk about the proper approach. Alex/Wavetouch

Let’s take a previous reply of yours once again:

“Every speaker above 50 Hertz is a small speaker” in below video. It doesn’t have to be large speakers for a big room. My system consists 5.24” woofer 2way speakers with 8” powered sub. I am very happy. Alex/Wavetouch

If you truly believe the above then I can only assume you haven’t heard the difference a large, preferably high efficiency speaker setup can do. There’s no easy domestic equivalent to the system I have in my home, but some setups I’ve heard that resemble it in core areas is the actively driven Vitavox Thunderbolt system with 10-cell Vitavox mids horns (w/S3 drivers) and Mundorf AMT’s (augmented with 15" ATC subs), or JBL’s 5672 cinema system.

Are they among the best I’ve heard? In some areas, yes. The Thunderbolt bass horns, non-truncated (but of course 1/4-wave), are hitting ~40Hz, so close to your 50Hz number mentioned, and yet they’re anything but small to say the least - that’s what 105dB’s sensitivity is about per Hofmann’s Iron Law. In that light a ~5" woofer/midrange + dome tweeter(?) and 8" subs augmented, indeed any such variant, sounds small and utterly malnourished by comparison.

So, is sounding "big" a quality in itself? No, not necessarily; depending on the context you can overdo it for sure. The main takeaway here to my ears is what sounds more natural, uninhibited and live-/life like in core areas, and not least effortless, and the high eff. systems mentioned (well-implemented) - including my own - can do just that.

I’d like to stress that what I’m after/advocating is not about effect or being easily impressed here - though some of the members around here would like to believe it is - but simply what presents itself less reproduced and, again, more natural. That being said you can only do so much trying to convince others who believe the higher price tag with low eff. stuff from known hifi brands is the sole quality marker, and who finds anything big (and off-segment) in speakers to be an inconvenience or offence even (and I’m not pointing my fingers at you here). Indeed: what’s "natural" sounding to some obviously isn’t to others - if only it came down to that.