Speaker size and soundstage


Question: for floor standing speakers, how does speaker size affect sound stage, bass response, and the depth of music?

I’m searching for a new speaker, and just tested Dynaudio Contour 30 against Tekton Electrons (16x18 room with cathedral ceiling). Tekton’s are bigger (48 vs 45 high, and 10 vs 8.5 wide, about the same depth) and had a much larger sound stage and greater dynamics and depth. Tekton’s as a rule are much bigger than most other brands, which can be imposing in a room, but the size must equate to a greater sound stage. 
But can a smaller tower be designed to achieve the same sound stage and bass depth of a bigger speaker? If so, what what speakers pull this off?
w123ale

Showing 3 responses by w123ale

Thanks for the input all! Such an interesting journey to find the perfect speaker match with my room (can’t change), my gear, and listening preferences.

I just moved the Dyns further away from the wall, reduced toe in, and moved closer to the listening position. Definitely improved the sound stage. 
I guess for me, I look for a wide sound stage that fills the room and makes the speakers disappear. When the Dyns were further back the sound stage was definitely narrower and felt cut off at vertically—like the music just stopped at a certain height. I felt the need to keep increasing the volume to fill the room. The Tektons on the other hand fill the room and disappear at moderate volume.

Makes me think the Dyns are just not matched with the room and the listening configuration and electronics because they sounded brilliant in the store.
Such fantastic input; greatly appreciated! 
I changed the setup yesterday by swapping out entry level cables with higher end cables. The dynamics in both speaker changed dramatically with both opening way up. 
The Tektons now have much greater extension, but are a little sibilant (may mellow as the wire burns in). The Dyns  soundstage is expanded substantially and they now fill the room and feel, perhaps, more balanced than the Tektons—more listening needed!

So to confirm other comments, the system and electronics do of course make a difference here, and in my case the speaker wire seemed to be an earlier limiting factor.
Well, I’m no expert, but can only report what I recently heard. I listened to three levels of Focals: Aria, Kanta, and Sopra at a dealer with all the same electronics.

While there are other differences of course in design, they all are from the same manufacturer, and all step up incrementally in size.

All very good speakers, but without question the sound stage increased by big steps. For me at least, there is a threshold for speakers where they disappear and I am just immersed in the music. So far in my limited experience, the bigger the speakers, the more they “disappear”. Interesting, on my second visit to the listing room, the Sopras were so much smaller than I had remembered because they through such a massive enveloping sound that in mind they had to be huge, but weren’t. 
When I returned home, I listened to my Electons. They completely fill the room like the Kanta, are less detailed and smoother, and a bit darker. Mind you I have a hybrid amp and my vintage tubes are definitely smoothing the sound. 
As an aside I recently added a x10 Paradigm sub to my Electrons and it really improved the overall depth of the music and my engagement.