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

@mihorn wrote:

Below videos are my audio system consists 5.25" 2 way speakers. Do you hear such a strained and less natural? My room is 22’ x 14’ x 8’. Alex/Wavetouch

Compared to what? It doesn’t really take much of a SPL to begin feeling the effort of reproduction via low efficiency, smaller speakers (and subs) when what you’re used to is something different altogether and physically much more capable. Experience, and perspective.

@daveyf wrote:

... all speakers with a 5.25" bass driver cannot really push huge amounts of air. As such, when a bass wave that would drop down into the 20Hz range is needed to be played back, well it is MIA. The listener will not feel anything like the punch or air that a much larger driver in a much larger speaker can deliver.

+1

IME, in a small room, the subwoofer is just as crucial. In fact more than one subwoofer is crucial. Now, that subwoofer has to be tailored to the room size and type of main speaker, so again phusis’ point about not caring about tailoring your speaker size to your room, is IMO totally incorrect.

What is incorrect here is your assumption of my not caring about the speaker-room interaction. I’m saying parameters like limited/narrow, controlled and even dispersion characteristics, means of integration from active config. + DSP and separate subs makes the room and acoustics potentially less of a factor, or certainly one that can more easily be worked around. Summation of the driver segments at the LP is paramount, and depending on the design this can be achieved with large displacement speakers as well - even without requiring long-ish listening distances.

Bass capacity, practically speaking, can hardly be overdone; it’s the integration and overall balance of the presentation that matters - and, as they say, headroom is your friend. Few seem to realize that more cone/effective air radiation area in the bass and subs region doesn’t come with the requirement of it to be dialed more hot (although it can be, without tipping the balance, being it’s typically a cleaner bass at a given SPL). Instead, more capacity equates into more headroom and thereby provides for a cleaner, less distorted bass, although deeper bass with proper volume and energy is more likely to excite room modes and therefore requires more with regard to integration - be that with subs placement, more sources of theirs or and/or digital room correction and acoustical means.

@phusis I thought you did not care about speaker-room interaction because upstream you posted this:"brought on as the BS rationale of "fitting your speakers to the listening room size-wise."

IMO, if you want to run too large a speaker into too small a room, there really is nothing you can do to compensate for this error. Sure, you can make the speaker work, but it will NOT work anywhere near what its full capability is. Therefore, the highlighted point is incorrect, as it is of major importance to fit your speaker to your room, size-wise, IMO. As I stated before, there are numerous examples of this mistake, many foisted on the a’phile by the fact that he wants the biggest speaker possible (and re-enforced by his/her dealer, as large speakers are typically more $$) but not having the room to accommodate the speaker.

@daveyf wrote/quoted:

I thought you did not care about speaker-room interaction because upstream you posted this:"brought on as the BS rationale of "fitting your speakers to the listening room size-wise."

You're missing an important piece of information, because as I stressed at the end of above quote: "size-wise." Your (and many others') presumption of fitting speakers to a given listening space is based on a size matching criteria (that is: small speakers to small rooms, (not least) large speakers to large rooms, and everything in between), a strict adherence I don't buy into, whereas I care about fitting bulky speakers of high efficiency into a given listening space that isn't necessarily a large one (fitting smaller speakers into larger listening spaces is usually problematic, unless sitting relatively nearfield and having the mains subs augmented and preferable high-passed). So, I DO care about speaker-room interaction, just not the way you'd like for it to pan out.

While my position, at not least my context of it isn't representative with regard to speaker segment and configuration, I will state categorically that a large speaker system CAN work extremely well in a moderately sized listening room, and that a larger ditto isn't mandatory for the same to come true. In fact larger listening rooms can bring about new challenges with added room interaction, as you've no doubt experienced re: your OP, that - unless taken very well care of - can make matters worse. 

@phusis 

Small speakers only sound small because of no low bass and visual considerations.

I have set up, lord knows, maybe 10 LS3 5A systems with two subwoofers crossed at 100 Hz. I always put the speakers up on stands in positions people would normally use for towers. Close your eyes and they sound as big as any Wilson or Magico. 

Our vision and eyes are intimately connected. Our eyes and ears have to agree on our position in space or you get vertigo and sea sick. Our brains are also very suggestible. You tend to hear what you see which is why I always close my eyes when evaluating a system. 

@mijostyn wrote:

Small speakers only sound small because of no low bass and visual considerations.

I have set up, lord knows, maybe 10 LS3 5A systems with two subwoofers crossed at 100 Hz. I always put the speakers up on stands in positions people would normally use for towers. Close your eyes and they sound as big as any Wilson or Magico. 

Our vision and eyes are intimately connected. Our eyes and ears have to agree on our position in space or you get vertigo and sea sick. Our brains are also very suggestible. You tend to hear what you see which is why I always close my eyes when evaluating a system. 

The LS3 5A's are lovely speakers in their own right, but they're also hideously inefficient and will have to be used within their confinements. High-passing them of course will help adding more headroom. 

With regard to perceived sonic size, yes, a pair of subs will also help. As such (not least high-passed @100Hz) they could really be regarded as 3-way speakers with a 4 1/2" midrange/upper bass driver.

I'll still maintain though that as a standalone speaker the LS3 5A's aren't big sounding in my book (eyes closed and all), even disregarding my own speaker context at the opposite end of the size scale.