2. misc-audio
  3. 194095-11297

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

Showing 1 response by mashif

mashif
314 posts
 

I just experienced exactly that. My speakers are 12" 3 way. I've been looking for a smaller speaker that can best them, and have come up empty. 

Most recently, I auditioned a pair of ATC SCM20P. Having heard the 50s and being told that all ATC speakers share the same sound, I had great expectations. And they are great sounding speakers but just don't have the scale of sound I'm used to.

Since my existing speakers are JBL, I also auditioned a pair of 4309s, the 6.5 inch version of the 4349 which is a great speaker. And they too, are great sounding speakers overall but just sound small. 

The ATC SCM50s only have 9 inch woofers but sound as large as mine so maybe there's just a threshold of size for that big sound. The wavefront a larger woofer puts out is recognized by our hearing as representing a bigger scale of sound. 

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