General Asylum

Posted by Duke (D) on March 22, 2007 at 10:36:08

In Reply to: I beg to differ slightly. I believe the way a speaker sounds outside a room... posted by clarkjohnsen on March 22, 2007 at 08:26:27:

Hi Clark,

Yup, dat's me. Duke LeJeune, the potato-transplant neo-Cajun.

Can you tell me what you mean by "how well it loads the room"?

I'll readily admit that the speakers I've heard sound most convincing from outside the room have tended to be medium to large speakers.

Now one of the problems with small speakers is this: It is very rare for a small speaker to have "excellent reverberant characteristics" because very few small speakers have a consistent radiation pattern through the midrange and treble region. I can think of a several approaches that work for a small speaker, but the typical 6.5" two-way format isn't one of them.

Another factor is this: Dynamic contrast. Small speakers tend to be relatively low in both efficiency and power handling, which means that power compression is going to be rearing its ugly head uglier and quicklier. Big speakers are much more likely to have a dynamic ease about them that's a key element of live music.

Duke