Can loudspeakers get too big for a room?

[Vladimir]

I immediately want to say yes, but then I see people with HTs cram 12 speakers in an average room. Japanese audiophiles are notorious for stuffing massive vintage JBLs in tiniest spaces. Meanwhile I scold myself for using 1m 2x8" towers in a 215 sq. ft room.

Also I read confusing theories about bass wave length in rooms.

So how big is too big?

 

[shadders]

I immediately want to say yes, but then I see people with HTs cram 12 speakers in an average room. Japanese audiophiles are notorious for stuffing massive vintage JBLs in tiniest spaces. Meanwhile I scold myself for using 1m 2x8" towers in a 215 sq. ft room.

Also I read confusing theories about bass wave length in rooms.

So how big is too big?

Hi,

If they are taller than you, then too big.

Regards,

Shadders.

 

[Vladimir]

What defines big?
Cabinet size? Driver size? Max achievable SPL? Low frequency extension? ...

 

[Vladimir]

How far away one should sit for proper multidriver integration relevant to size?

 

[lindsayt]

Hi,

If they are taller than you, then too big.

Regards,

Shadders.

Bad news for Peter Dinklage - if he's seriously into hi-fi.

 

[lindsayt]

How far away one should sit for proper multidriver integration relevant to size?

For Bozak Concert Grands and Symphonies with their vertical line arrays of 8 tweeters, the recommendation was to sit 15 feet away. If you sat closer you could either accept the comb effects - a few frequency anomalies are not that big a deal - or you could disconnect 6 of the tweeters.

 

[Vladimir]

How far away one should sit for proper multidriver integration relevant to size?

For Bozak Concert Grands and Symphonies with their vertical line arrays of 8 tweeters, the recommendation was to sit 15 feet away. If you sat closer you could either accept the comb effects - a few frequency anomalies are not that big a deal - or you could disconnect 6 of the tweeters.

Is comb filtering audible? I've read both yes and no proponents. Can't say I've detected it myself during speaker placements.

Anyway. Passed midnight now. Maybe a topic for tomorrow.

 

[lindsayt]

Yep, certain parts of certain instruments will be pushed to the fore of the mix whilst others will be pushed to the back.

With tweeters in a line array it's cymbals and hi-hats that are most affected in pop and rock music. So that one cymbal might get pushed to the fore whilst another in the drumkit is pushed back.

Noticeable, but no big deal compared to the overall clarity and dynamics of the speakers.

If you have speakers that are relatively neutral in a well furnished, acoustically damped room that have extended, clear, dynamic bass, they can sound bad in an echoey room, due to the bass dominating the midrange. Large rooms can be echoey as well as small rooms. In other words, you can have speakers with the best bass in the world in one room, whilst in another room they'd sound worse than a speaker with limited bass / bass extension.

 

[Frank Harvey]

How far away one should sit for proper multidriver integration relevant to size?

Depends on the speaker, and how good the driver integration is.

 

[muljao]

I dunno, if you like sitting down listening to music but can't fit a chair in the room cos of the speakers, then i suppose they are to big

 

[ellisdj]

You could always take this approach - Hugemungous

 

[Andrewjvt]

Ita more about how the room reacts than the size of speaker driver.
We had lindays massive ev sentry with no problem at all in my medium size room

Best ive ever heard in a small room was wilmslow audio k100 also small room

Best ive ever heard was the active atc range but that was large room

But i still stand by its the room reaction rather than the size of driver - room dimensions

Do you agree lindsay?

 

[seemorebtts]

Shouldn't really matter.if some one was asking for advice then i would recommend a larger Speaker for larger room but if you know what you like then sky's the limit and depending on what you are running and the sound you are looking for

 

[Vladimir]

You could always take this approach - Hugemungous

They probably make everything sound huge on the soundstage, which isn't a good thing, especially in a small room.

So number of drivers matters. Simple 4 way would probably be on the edge of typical rooms potential.

 

[ellisdj]

I thought line arrays was to A - focus the sound away from the boundaries and B keep the volume level over larger distances.

Must be a reason they picked those speakers in that room.

 

[Vladimir]

I thought line arrays was to A - focus the sound away from the boundaries and B keep the volume level over larger distances.

Must be a reason they picked those speakers in that room.

But will Miles Davis feel like Yao Ming blowing the trumpet on top of that Jesus statue in Rio?