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Smaller speaker - bigger Woofer?

This is variation on the BIG STUPID WARM SPEAKERS thread. After moving up the ranks of B&W's (now owning the 804's), I still miss something about the sound of my old $300 a pair Infinitys with their 15" woofer I owned in the 80's.

Actually about everything was wrong with them, the Emit tweeter was awful, the woofers growled at you even when they were off, but they had that big warm sound that I'm missing with more expensive/refined speakers.

That big warm sound was great with rock but also worked well with jazz and classical.

In the BIG STUPID WARM thread I heard about some good big bass speakers like the Legacy's, Dynaudio's etc, but those are monster speakers and though the room is big, the wife doesn't want monster speakers.

I'm using the newest Cary gear for electronics - prepro, amp, cd player (about $10K in electronics) so I'm not looking for cheap Infinity - Klipsch - Cerwin Vega stuff.

I'm looking for a quality speaker with a big warm sound and larger drivers in a smaller package (and no small speakers and a sub isn't the same). Does any of this ring a bell?

larryb
larryb OP
101 posts
 
I'm not necessarily talking about a tiny box, but something not over 48" tall.
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
If you haven't heard Aerials or Vandersteens, I suggest giving them a listen. They are often described to sound along the lines of what you are asking for. Cary/Vandersteen are often demoed together at dealers.
They are both companies that have good reps for service, and are more likely to be around in ten years than many of their competitors. Cheers,
Spencer
nighthawk
259 posts
 
I think I understand what you're looking for, but I doubt you'll find many choices with large woofers. There are some warm sounding speakers with multiple small woofers that you might like. Try Soliloquy 6.3 or 6.5, Aerial 7B, or Vienna Acoustics Mahler. The Soliloquy 6.5, which I own, has three 6.5" woofers, which gives the same effective area as one 11" woofer. It has tons of slam, yet has the quickness small drivers provide. It has a very "big" sound. The Mahlers also have a big, warm, sound but their bass is a bit looser that the Soliloquys.
larryb OP
101 posts
 
I'm actually demoing some Vandersteen 3A's in my home but find their bass output disappointing.
walkelin
52 posts
 
Larry

I know exactly what you mean. Years ago I thought if you didn't have a 12 inch woofer you weren't going to get the sound. I actually had disco speakers with two 12" woofers they really kicked on low end but couldn't handle classical. Wife made me get rid of them so I went B&W N802's. Not bad with a lot of power pushing them, but no where near what I use to get out of my GLI's as far as slam. I've heard Vandersteens, I don't remember the top model # but it had a seperate built in amp for the woofer not bad. I recently audition the N800's with two 10" woofers it made a difference. Either of those two are in my future. I guess what I trying to say is that you can't V8 performance from a 4 cylinder speaker.
Ps: I have the B&W Nautlis ASW4000 sub with a built in 450 watts amp and a 15" woofer. Shakes the floor on movies but not the same when listening to music. Wish you the best in your search, but the N804's sounds like they are too light for your taste.
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