Why are standmount speakers...

... so deep these days? I know there are a few exceptions which bucks the trend, but certainly most of the bigger companies have this fixation with a policy of 'deeper is better'.

We all know that the rule of thumb is standmounts for smaller room and floorstander for larger... yet it seems if you have a small room and want, let's say, Kef R300s or a midrange Dynaudio then you are knackered.

IMO compact floorstanders are easier when it comes to placement (again generalising).

I always think back to the days when speakers were made wider and higher but relatively shallow.

Discuss...
 

drummerman

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A narrow front aspect certainly seems to be favored these days.

There is also a 'golden ratio'

Some of the best speakers I've heard have wide front baffles and shallow depth.

Some are bucking the trend, some never gave in (Audio Note).

Personally I prefer the narrow but deep look.
 
Like drummerman I think it's purely down to modern aesthetics, that and the ability to be able to employ smaller woofers whilst the depth gives the required speaker volume. This does indeed run somewhat counter to the idea that standmounts are for small rooms as their depth means they have to stick out into the room and the fact that many are ported designs means they usually have to be moved even further away from the rear wall. Daft really.

Audionote and others may have the right formula for certain small-room conditions as did Heybrook with larger woofer sealed-box designs.

It's your choice ultimately, but I would agree that a lot of today's standmounts seem more suited to American sized rooms rather than your average modern UK bedroom.
 
It's like when I visited SSAV before the festive period, they had MA Gold 50s. First time I've seen them up close. Crikey they wafer thin yet so deep. Almost looked as if they'd turned a small floorstander around and plonked the drivers in the top.

Surely if they made them 2-3" wider and taller and made them more shallow they'd achieve similar/same effect.

Totally bonkers IMO.
 

Andrewjvt

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Yes
I think its all down to pleasing the space conscious, modern trends. Interior space available - smaller modern new builds etc.

Also the smaller driver needs more box volume.
 

Frank Harvey

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Cabinet volume. The preference for buyers nowadays is a slimline looking speaker, so to achieve that, the cabinet needs to be deeper to retain cabinet volume for bass depth and a certain fullness to the sound. Slimmer format baffles also aid imaging.

If you don't like slimline cabinets, you have Mission to thank for that when they produced the 753 back in the early 90s.

I get where you're, coming from though PP. You'd think with smaller rooms people would be more interested in sealed, shallower cabinets. If more of this type of speaker was being produced, maybe they'd be more popular? The problem is, who is going to take a chance? Which speaker manufacturer is going to go against the grain and produce a range of Heybrook HB1 style speakers in the hope that they'll be popular based on how they sound in the listener's room? How many people nowadays are going to choose function over form?
 
I totally understand the aesthetic aspect. What I don't understand is the average modern UK house has a living space of around 12' x 15'. Now, given that nearly all ported speakers need at least 18" from the rear wall to work at their best, you can see why people have problems when it comes to sonics and room acoustics: These speakers are too far out into the room.

Personally, the TB2s are just about doable in my living room, although have, in the recent past, thought about getting some GB1i - they're shallower and are front vented.
 

Frank Harvey

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I agree. Maybe the UK is too small of a market to cater for when they're trying to produce global products. Then again, I'm sure the UK isn't alone...

I'm hoping to have a demo room built - nothing fancy, keeping it 'real world' - to replicate the size of the average living space, as you tend not to find that with most demo rooms.
 

drummerman

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davidf said:
I agree. Maybe the UK is too small of a market to cater for when they're trying to produce global products. Then again, I'm sure the UK isn't alone...

I'm hoping to have a demo room built - nothing fancy, keeping it 'real world' - to replicate the size of the average living space, as you tend not to find that with most demo rooms.
Where is your show room/business based?
 

paulkebab

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If it don't sell, repackage it. Plus the psychology aspect of a front profile, which is the first thing we see - if it looks smaller and does the same job 'er indoors will need no convincing. Speakers that is ;)
 

insider9

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I think it's a bit more complex than just the aesthetic which of course play a big role.

It's worth remembering that the when considering a standard box design you would be trying to get as far from a cube as possible. Not a problem when designing a floorstander. When designing a bookshelf, there are just 3 different sides you can chose for a baffle. Davidf already mentioned imaging as one of the reasons for choosing the smaller side. But there usually are 2 smaller sides. So what would determine which to use?

That's where size of the driver and aesthetics come in. The earlier mentioned MA Gold use ribbons hence are restricted to a small driver. Ribbons won't go as low as dome tweeters so need to crossover higher. Integration with a bigger driver would be difficult as the driver wouldn't go as high. For aesthetic reason the baffle would go on a smallest size. Of course, it could go on a second smaller size and the design would reflect that of quirky Neat Iota.

When considering budget speakers choosing cheaper/smaller drivers almost dictates them being deep.

If considering desigs with larger drivers I think the proportions are rather normal. I haven't seen very deep speakers with 7" drivers.
 

chebby

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plastic penguin said:
... so deep these days? I know there are a few exceptions which bucks the trend, but certainly most of the bigger companies have this fixation with a policy of 'deeper is better'.

Did this six and as half years ago ...

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/question-richard-alleneb-ricky-aejim-ketan-or-any-other-loudspeaker

The trend for flatfish coffins has got worse since then. (Witness recent PMC designs.)

However, my Audio Note AX-Twos are (H) 380mm x (D) 230mm x (W) 230 (including grilles).

So, actually, the cabinets are 1cm wider than they are deep (when the grillea are not counted) and are therefore one of those 'few exceptions' you mentioned (along with being hand made in Denmark, with paper cones, and being designed to work optimally against walls and in corners.)
 

bubobubo

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deeper is better

*mail1*

all is about brain wash in all the parts and everywhere in the music industri, in producers mixing, in all these formats every were people today like in all the fields of this world people are like stupits, brain washed just a single thing for example is the old days the simplest the better and songs and music had meaning nowdays with all that modern stuff, vices etc it seems that there is not medicine to cure BUT AT LEAST NOT ME NOT ME there are still people with comond sense, lets jsut hope at least 1 person always going to have comond simple sence in the rest of the history of the human kind *beee*
 
The main problem I see with shallow (traditional) cabinets is, as with most hi-fi placements, the speakers must protrude beyond the depth of the rack (most standard set-ups). Otherwise this will result in losing the image and the overall sound will be flat..
 

chebby

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plastic penguin said:
The main problem I see with shallow (traditional) cabinets is, as with most hi-fi placements, the speakers must protrude beyond the depth of the rack (most standard set-ups). Otherwise this will result in losing the image and the overall sound will be flat..

Better by far not to have equipment racks and other big (deep) furniture between your speakers. We have book cabinets but they are nowhere near as deep as a typical 'rack'. (I hate that word. So 1970s!)
 

drummerman

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The problem I have with wider than deep cabinets is that it is far more obvious if the finish/design is so so.

Harbeth got it imho, very nice. Audio Note ... maybe not so but that's just me. ART look nice too and there are some others.

What do these all have in common? They're expensive.
 

tino

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I like the aesthetic of the wider / shallower speakers from, for example, Divine Acoustics, much more than the narrow/ deeper breeze block designs of many modern speakers.

758-large_default.jpg
 

DocG

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tino said:
I like the aesthetic of the wider / shallower speakers from, for example, Divine Acoustics, much more than the narrow/ deeper breeze block designs of many modern speakers.

These look really nice indeed! And suitable for wall mounting. Any idea of a price range for these Alyas? Iota territory? Or rather Wafer league?
 

tino

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DocG said:
tino said:
I like the aesthetic of the wider / shallower speakers from, for example, Divine Acoustics, much more than the narrow/ deeper breeze block designs of many modern speakers.

These look really nice indeed! And suitable for wall mounting. Any idea of a price range for these Alyas? Iota territory? Or rather Wafer league?

The only price I can find for the Alya (the smallest in the range) is 800 Euro @ Eden Audio in Spain but it is out of stock. I've also seen ex-demo ones being sold from Kronos AV in Ireland from time to time. They actually have a centre speaker (the Maia) in white ... not the best colour IMHO.

The website is http://www.divineacoustics.com/index_en.php
 

Infiniteloop

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tino said:
I like the aesthetic of the wider / shallower speakers from, for example, Divine Acoustics, much more than the narrow/ deeper breeze block designs of many modern speakers.

Sonus Faber made some speakers like this, - The Ellipsa. Standmounters and Floorstanders:

iu
iu
 

mond

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I have previously owned Audio-note speakers and currently own MAD 1920 speakers and bought both simply because they work well close to walls and in the case of the Audionotes in corners*. I have been put off by many a "bookshelf" speaker that is too deep AND then needs breathing space between it and the rear wall. Function over form for me on this one...... although I did quite like the look of the Audionotes in a funny kind of way :)

* When I could only place speakers in corners in my static caravan there really wasn't much choice
 

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