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Which component has the biggest effect on the sound?

Robert said:
Larger multi-way loudspeaker systems need space for best driver integration. Sit too close and the contribution of individual drivers becomes obvious and coherence can suffer. Not something you can fix with EQ or room treatment. Even concentric drivers don't get away from this effect completely.
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I've been thinking about this a bit of late and I'm far from sure I agree. If you think about it most 3-ways have the treble and mid driver no further apart than in a typical 2 way, e.g. compare something like a NS1000, Ditton 44 or AR3a to say a LS3/5A, small ProAc, Sonus Faber or whatever and there is little difference between the centres of the mid and tweeter of the 3-way and the bass-mid and tweeter of the 2-way. The distance between the bass and mid of the 3 way is a lot less critical as the wavelength is obviously a lot longer down there, and it just has to be better than anything you'd ever achieve crossing a small 2-way to a external sub. Another area the 3-way wins outright is the crossover between the mid and tweeter can be higher and therefore further from the most critical human voice zone than the 2 way as the dedicated mid driver does not need to flap about handling bass.

FWIW I actually think the NS1000 / Ditton 44 / AR3a style sealed 12" bass three-way is the least compromised format of moving-coil loudspeaker developed so far. It is certainly the area I'd be working on were I a speaker designer. I also think it's one of the nicest looking too as that form-factor just looks 'right'. Whilst I've heard / owned speakers that are far larger and far smaller I suspect this is the hot-spot both logically and practically.
 
The problem is the crossover designs employed in most domestic passives which ensure that reponse varies considerably with axis, and the jumps in response are more acute when you sit close. Take something like the ESL63 which aims to be point source. It needs a minimum listening distance of 2m for get close to this goal - go in closer and it sounds wrong with the sound changing quite dramatically as you move position. Given it needs minimum 1.5m from the rear wall, minimum 2m listener distance and ideally some space between listener and rear wall and you soon run out of space in a small room.

Ditto a large boxed design requiring free space placement, with the exception being the type of design Mike describes (ATC) which is active with tight slopes and driver control.

Or the old H2 I used for many years. It ran gentle crossover slopes and was very tall with considerable distance between drivers. Get closer than a couple of meters and it sounded pretty disjointed.

I think if you want a good near-field monitor, it needs certain attributes within the design and many domestic loudspeakers fall short.
I'm certainly not saying such designs don't exist, simply that dispersion/driver integration should be a consideration when looking at room size and likely seating, and that you can't fix this with EQ or room treatment.

I agree on the 3 way format being potentially the least compromised, though I think 8/10" bass drivers are sufficient for most uses.
Having said that we have some nice drivers able to cover mid and treble out there today and interesting things happening in the world of BMR.
Cambridge have just launched a chunky box with a little BMR coupled to a bass driver with the former going down to a few hundred Hz. That's very interesting IMO, just a shame they used a 7" bass driver and porting.
 
A good preamp will make your entire system sound better. Speakers will give you your choice of coloration. However, if I could source all the music I wanted to hear on vinyl, I'd be tempted to say source and speakers. But I agree with Yomanze - nothing makes sense unless there's positive synergy.
 
merlin said:
I think ATC's are measured at just 1 m and are phase coherent at less than that.

at less than a meter from the baffle you are moving into the individual sound fields of the individual drivers.

quoting phase coherence at these distances is a nonsense.
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To answer the question "Which component has the biggest effect on the sound? "

Has to be ....

.... the mains switch.

ba-bom tshh.
 
This question is really hard to answer, as people have different perceptions about the scale of which each component affects. It would be completely viable to claim that interconnects make the most difference, or that speakers don't make a difference at all.

Anyhow, after one has found a nice pair of speakers to one's room, there is really no need to swap or seek to find differences. I tend to view speaker differences as "worse" or "better" - of course there are speakers with different compromises (strengths if you will), but IMO its really hard to do real upgrades in this regard, once suitable speakers for the room has been selected. Then, the amp only needs to be transparent and adequate to "drive" those said speakers. Sources, however..
 
The speaker/room interaction can be a funny thing, with some rooms being highly sensitive to the speaker used and precise positioning and others seemingly largely indifferent; my own smallish, roughly cuboid living-room being a good example of the former and some of the large, completely asymmetrical with very few parallel surfaces rooms at my parents' house* being a good example of the latter.

*Designed by my father, a mathematician by background with little appreciation for aesthetics or architectural conventions, he made almost no considerations other than maximising floorspace within budget!
 
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