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Why are big speakers in small rooms bad?

I'm moving shortly to a new house and a new dedicated room that is 11x15. I was hoping to use an old pair of PSB Goldi's that are, no doubt, a bit large for that size of a room.

My question is, what are the reasons behind big speakers being a no no in smaller rooms? I've heard that the bass will overpower the room. If so, then why are people recommending monitors with a sub for a small room? Is it simply because of more flexable placement?

So, if you're able to place your speakers anywhere in the room and apply suitable acoustic treatment to the room, what are the physics behind the universal disdain for large speakers in smaller rooms? Not tiny rooms mind you, but say a 150^2 ft. room vs. a 300^2 ft. room. All rooms have nodes and other problems, is it just easier to treat a large room?

Thanks.
superfund
hpims
129 posts
 
Try the speakers first. I had a pair of Paradigm Studio 100s Version II in a 10 by 16 room. Sounded GREAT. The back of the speakers were about 8 inches from the wall. Seating position (back of chair)was about 2 feet from the opposite wall. Carpet over floor made of wood. Walls were typical plasterboard over 2x4s. Various stuff hanging on the walls.
Try them first.... At normal level, no problems. Cranked up, the treble would drive you out!! I had no problem with driver integration.
blkadr
739 posts
 
I have heard my PMC FB1s in a very small room and they sounded wonderful. These speakers are only 6" 2-ways but they are transmission loaded and rated to go well below 30hz. You will never know til you try them.
bob_alders
7 posts
 
My room is 11 1/2 x 22. I used to have the Goldi's on the 11 ft wall and the bass was never enough for me.
Now I have a pair of PBN Montana XP's with seven drivers per speaker including 2 10 inch bass drivers per unit and I still find the sound to be very good and almost never too much bass.
You can't always listen to what many people say about these things. What doesn't work for some works well with others. The only way to find out for sure is to try it out yourself.
warnerwh
539 posts
 
Try the speakers. All rooms should have bass traps anyway but a smaller room could easily need more of them. I've used very large speakers in my 12x17 room and have no problem. I sit 9 feet from my speakers and even with first order crossovers am having no issues. I like a big soundstage and large images. Also excellent bass is mandatory for me but use bass traps and will be using a digital parametric equalizer that just came out from AV123 to help tame the peaks that we ALL have until treated.
distortion
571 posts
 
Cruz, I sure will. The speakers (Sol6.2) need a ton of break-in. As it is they have about 40 hours at the most. There is certainly a bass hump no matter where I place them. Patience is a virtue, so I'll dont plan on jumping the gun on bass control devices yet.

Super, I dont dont have any experience with Planars in small rooms. I see in the systems area that members Pcking and Ace427 both have Planars in small rooms. Maybe a direct email wouldnt be in order. I do recall a memeber building an all A'gon system on the cheap and commenting several times about the small room and how well it sounded. I am pretty sure he was using MMGs. So apparently some folks liked that arrangment.
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