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

Larger drivers should have a greater SPL (sound pressure level).  dB SPL measurement.  Putting out a greater sound volume.  It should sound louder to you. Which you would perceive as a greater or bigger soundstage with well designed and setup speakers.  

Having a small mid driver will improve dispersion and possibly widen the soundstage, but there is a trade off.  A small mid will sound slightly thin in the lower mid range especially on a male vocal vs. a larger mid driver.

It's 3in. mid vs. 6in mid.  There are pros and cons.  All speaker designs are compromises.

No replacement for displacement in cars used to be true - turbos, superchargers and electric motors have demonstrated that’s not true anymore. And in the hey day of muscle cars a 7 or 8 second zero to sixty was fast. Many economy cars can beat that today. 
 

The improvement in crossover design and materials has dramatically improved speaker design. 
 

Enjoy your journey! My current speakers are so much better than my Cerwin Vegas and Advents I had so many moons ago.