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There is no substitute for cubic inch or in this case surface area

After listening to quite a few speakers, my conclusion is that if you want large enveloping soundstage, you need a lot of drivers.  

I once had a speaker with two 12in. drivers and the soundstage is just floating in the air.  None of my other speakers could do that.

Currently I have a pair of Thiel CS2.4.  It is a very good speaker but with small drivers there is really limitation to what it can do in term of soundstage size.  I really miss that.

andy2
andy2 OP
1,584 posts
 

Just curious, what were the speakers with the two 12in. drivers?

It's a DIY speakers that I made.  It has two 12in. driver on the back of the cabinet and the tweeter is horn loaded with a 8in mid range drivers.

It does not have the speed of the smaller drivers, but it does "big" really well.

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,574 posts
 

I have had infinity woofer towers with 6 - 10 inch drivers. Not for home theater but they play all music as good as it gets.

andy2 OP
1,584 posts
 

Most newer speakers have multiple smaller drivers so you could have speed and low bass.  But which one would you rather have: two 8in drivers moving violently or one 12in driver moving gently?

inna
7,923 posts
 

Speaking of soundstage, one 8" woofer can do it very well. It very much depends on electronics, including tubes. I had some vintage GE 12AX7 tubes in the preamp of VAC integrated when I bought it. Then I replaced them with vintage Mullard long plates. The difference was big in every element, and it wasn't really bad even with those GE. Tubes matter, a lot.

As for scale, dynamics and impact, well, that's different subject.

bassbuyer
471 posts
 

Good question.  At face value 12 inch drivers will put out a bigger soundstage than 3 inch drivers.  I find it depends on the listening room.  Large tower speakers with multiple 8+ inch drivers will put out a large soundstage if properly designed and built but can over power a smaller room.  By the same token a pair of bookshelves with 6 inch drivers that are a great match for a smaller room can be limited in a larger room.  I have both types of speakers in two different rooms and matched well they each sound excellent with a soundstage that fits the room.  

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