You pay for it and you get it...


When it comes to large speakers, IME what you get far more than any other attribute, is the sense of scale...which is what seems to delineate the best large speakers from the best small speakers. As an example, yesterday I had the pleasure of listening to the new Wilson Sabrina X’s and the new Wilson Alexx V’s. While both speakers are from the same manufacturer, and both employ what looks like some of the same drivers, this is basically where the similarity ends. The big Wilson is about seven times the price of the small model! So, besides a much larger cabinet and a few extra drivers what do you get for your money...the answer is SCALE!! This is something that unless heard, is a little hard to fathom. The small Sabrina X’s do most things well..and I was very impressed by them, far superior across the board to the original model Sabrina. The Alexx V’s in a very large room ( which is also a MAJOR requirement for them to work their magic, and if one does not have this I believe then this is the wrong speaker for you) are able to throw a sense of scale that has to be heard to be believed. This is what you pay for with these large speakers, and in the Alexx V’s case, what you get. The frequency response of the larger model is not that different in the highs..and in some extent I think the midrange resolution was similar, but the bass is where it’s at...and this is where I think the sense of scale and enormity comes from. On paper, the smaller model can drop down to within probably ten Hz’s of the larger model, yet in a room of commensurate size, the little Sabrina X’s will never be able to portray the scale of the Alexx V’s. This aspect seems to apply to all large speakers in large room vs small/middle size speakers in large rooms.
Question is is it even possible to get scale with a smaller speaker in any size room, so far I have not heard this...anyone else?
daveyf

Showing 3 responses by james633

Fair enough. Do you high pass your subs or run them low pass them under your mains? Big difference in how it setups the room. 
I think there is something right around 50-60hz that big speakers just do better but subs high passed work about the same for me. Better real y
I agree. 
Defining scale and what causes it? Dispersion?, frequency range? Sound power?  
I would argue that the Sabrina X with high passed subs would get you right there or maybe even more tuned into the room. 
Yes I should clarify I guess. My thought is the Yvette or older Sophia 3 with a pair of subs high passed (JL CR-1 etc) at 60hz would play in the same league as Wilson's much bigger models. I don’t like monitors with subs at all. Just to different of a dynamic impact for me. The advantage is you can work around room nodes much better unless you can get this big speakers 7’ off the wall. 
But what is scale? Image size? Which is defined by dispersion and room interaction (time alignment, reflections etc)? Or it is the impact of moving more air? So much of the sound comes from the mids and tweeters so how much more air is being moved by a very large speaker vs large speaker with subs. Honest question, I really don’t know.  
My guess is that it comes into room and time delay of the sound combined with dynamic impact. Big drivers just move more air for less displacement. I know my headphones don’t do it and the driver to room size could not get any bigger than headphones so maybe it is more phase, room/ time delay.