There is only one kind of speakers worth mentioning in this forum, it is full range speakers. How big they are is irrelevant, usually big.
What an interesting post! Full range meaning what to you? Please do elaborate.
Big speakers, are they really the best way to get great sound?
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to some very large speakers that are considered to be at, or close to, the pinnacle in speaker design and ability. Needless to say, the speakers retail in the mid to high $300k range. These speakers, and I will not be naming them, were sourced by about $800k of upstream gear. Room size was about thirty by twenty, maybe a little larger.
To say the the overall sound was BIG would be accurate, but also I noticed something else, that I typically hear with big speaker systems. Generally, the speakers were right on edge of overloading the room, depending on music, the dreaded bass boom could be heard. But, the whole presentation was greater in impact than most any smaller speaker system, yet it was almost unlistenable for the long term.
The question I asked myself, is do we really want this type of presentation in our home audio systems? The speakers threw a pretty large soundstage, but also made things sound somewhat larger than life. I also thought that this type of speaker is akin to the large box dynamic speakers of yesteryear. For example, a set of large horns from Altec Lansing or similar was reminiscent of this sound. Makes me believe that if one has a big room, a similar sound can be obtained from most any large speaker system and at a fraction of the price.
I listen in a very small room, and by necessity in the near field, yet I think the overall intimacy of this type of listening experience is better for me, your thoughts?
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There seems to be many saying large speakers will overdrive a room which I disagree with. A room properly sorted with regards to acoustic treatment will allow any speaker to perform at its best. If a large bass driver will 'overdrive' a room then consider a string quartet pitching up at the venue but are told that the cellist must sit this one out because the room is not big enough for it. Really? Now, everyone likes bass, not met anyone who doesn't, so the big manufacturers will pander to this and produce speakers that they claim are full range: "Yes Sir these speakers are truly full range" but they are not told about the problems that can/will arise. As I'm sure, most here will know that the best placement for a realistic sound stage from these FRS will not be ideal for bass and so what is one to do? Well two things are possible and optimal results will be realised if both are employed. @daveyf, Before getting to that though is to find out from you what if any room treatment you have in place. Looking through your photos I see some grey coloured panels behind the speakers which will help with mids and tops but the bass issues will need something more. Without any bass specific treatment your room will produce peaks and nulls, all rooms do, they just do regardless of size. To keep this short, the bass frequencies are bouncing around uncontrolled and are combining sometimes in phase (peaks) and sometimes out of phase (nulls) and here lies the problem. Those peaks are the reason for one-note bass and the reason for boominess and the reason for 'slow' bass and need to be tamed. What is happening is that the extra bass energy is taking very much longer to decay than the rest of the frequency range and the result is the 3 nuisance phenomena mentioned in the above paragraph. If you move your speakers around you will find a position where the bass is smoother and will notice more detail and no boom in the room, but, one speaker may be in a corner and the other behind you. Not great for realistic listening. Bass traps will absorb some bass and smooth out the sound and make a significant change. Understand that in addition to having the peaks reduced is a corresponding filling in of the nulls, nulls that work like a black hole for music. It's cancellation remember so that is music info that heretofore was missing. Next: I did say there we two things 😎 Add at least 2 subs minimum, better 3. Now before you guys start shouting "He already has too much bass" The multi-sub approach has been well documented with much on the net on how and why it works and also me lecturing you on using it as a solution. The subs will further smooth out the bass and increase the benefits of bass traps. I strongly encourage both methods. I find it difficult to express what it brings but will finish with stating that nothing you do to your system regardless of $$$ spent will have this much effect. You are essentially removing the damage that acoustics in a small room causes and so what are you left with??? The ideal, transportation to the acoustics of the venue. Another suggestion is temporarily drag some mattresses into the room corners and borrow from dealer or mates 2 or more subs, even small easy to hide 8" units will do. If you go this route get sealed boxes not ported and make sure they have variable phase. |
@lemonhaze Uh..the photos of my room show grey colored panels, which are bass traps! Also, I utilize two small subwoofers, so I know what you are talking about there. |
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