speakers in a bad room

As Sogood51 said

"Large speakers with truly deep bass response will not sound good as is unless you like...BOOOOOM".

I thought that one important aspect of High End audio was unrestricted low end. If you are in the process of building or remodeling the cost of a bigger room is probably less than the cost of all the room treatments you will otherwise need.

18 X 24 is a bit small. However ages ago I had a system, (mono because stereo was not yet invented) in the concrete cellar of a New York City house. When I played dixieland jazz it was great, because the jazz dives that I visited at the time were all in cellars.

I agree that the reflections will be wicked, wicked good perhaps! To get the full effect get a speaker with a honky horn midrange.

Today my system is much more refined, and I listen to a lot of classical chamber music. But when I play jazz, I'm not sure it has quite the impact of that first system long ago.

Herman...I guess that 18 X 24 is a good sized room, for anything except audio. A very popular feature of newly built houses is the "great room" often 30 X 40 or more, and with a high ceiling and irregular shape. This really makes for good audio. Old Colonial houses like mine often had small rooms, but walls get knocked down and several rooms made into one. That's how mine got to be about 26 X 34 which I still consider to be too small.

People who live in apartments or condos or developments where houses are close together are at a serious disadvantage. My closest neighbor is about 600 feet away with woods in between us. No problem when I crank it up!

The cellar that I mentioned as a good venue for jazz was about 25 X 50.

Sogood51...I understand your point about reverberation in a concrete room. My point is that for certain kinds of music, jazz in a cellar dive or organ in a stone cathedral, that "cascading mix" of reverberant sound is exactly what is needed for realism.

Of course, my room is not concrete. I am just making an observation about something (unexpected) that I have observed.