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Oppressively large speakers

I’m sure the 989s sound wonderful but boy do they look big!

Even bigger jacked up with monoblocks underneath and wider in rigid steel frames.

How they should be :):)

Went to hear some Apogee Scintilla's today, similar size.
Apogee-Scintillas.jpg


These very ones, - I need.

Size matters.
 
I'd consider a high quality monitor solution + independent subwoofers (up to four of them).

I think this - the only way to get small speakers to come close to the effortless feel of larger is to remove the requirement for them to cover low frequencies.

If the sound of small mains with subs does not work for you then stick to large speakers if you want that sound.
 
The good big ones simply sounds better than the good small ones. In the old days big ones where more expensive but today it seems small stand mounts can cost a fortune.
 
I think this - the only way to get small speakers to come close to the effortless feel of larger is to remove the requirement for them to cover low frequencies.

If the sound of small mains with subs does not work for you then stick to large speakers if you want that sound.

The big gains in SQ from a full range system are in the midbass where you want a 12" or ideally, 15" driver. Subs don't solve this failing of standmounts as they are operating at lower fq's. I am unsure what the OP is looking for in this thread as the standmount/Sub route is one well-travelled but there are better ways to achieve full-range sound without having 6ft boxes in your room.
 
What might one mean by 'oppressively-large' ..?

The november evening I lugged the Quad 989s upstairs into place, snapped just after a 15hr / 480mile round-trip to collect, a couple of years ago; the little boxes are Impulse H2s....hmm. Tycho Magnetic Anomalies 1-4 it seemed.

989Arrival_900px.jpg


(yes , I still have both pairs, favouring the Quads: and there is a few-days after pic ...)


PS ptooi, to you 'little boxers'.
How do you get in and out of the room? Maybe you could use the Quads as doors?
 
The big gains in SQ from a full range system are in the midbass where you want a 12" or ideally, 15" driver. Subs don't solve this failing of standmounts as they are operating at lower fq's. I am unsure what the OP is looking for in this thread as the standmount/Sub route is one well-travelled but there are better ways to achieve full-range sound without having 6ft boxes in your room.

Thanks for this. Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I really just wanted to know: could I get the sound quality of my AN Js into something smaller by spending more.
 
The good big ones simply sounds better than the good small ones. In the old days big ones where more expensive but today it seems small stand mounts can cost a fortune.

There is definitely a context thing here. Some of the very best and most believable systems I have ever heard have had mini-monitors in the extreme nearfield, i.e. a listening triangle of 1.5-2m tops. Get this close to a seriously good little speaker and you remove most of the adverse room effect, plus with drivers being so close together they tend to behave quite similarly to a point-source. I seem very sensitive to this in most of my favourite speakers are point-source or have the driver centres within a few inches, and most of my least favourite have them spaced widely apart, or worse an array of smaller bass-drivers. I’m sure it is a timing/phase/coherence thing. There is something remarkably good about a no-compromise mini-monitor system. As I’ve said many times before I love tiny speakers and I love huge speakers, its all the stuff in the middle I’m not so keen on!
 
The good big ones simply sounds better than the good small ones. .

Thats a fair bit of over-generalisation me thinks.

FWIW i have heard quite a lot of good small ones that I preferred to some good larger ones.

Room and amplication should certainly be considered into the mix.
 
If you have the cash, is it possible to achieve the sound qualities of larger cabinets with smaller ones?

Depends what you mean by "sound qualities of larger cabinets".
I visited the Munich HE Show last year and there were huge numbers of huge speakers sounding totally overblown. Small speakers won't do this... thankfully!.

I would take the Soundmith speakers over nearly all of the OTT ones, based on what I heard at the show.
 
Thanks for this. Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I really just wanted to know: could I get the sound quality of my AN Js into something smaller by spending more.
Possibly but you might have to clarify the sound quality part. Audio Note speakers tend to be both expensive for what is an old fashioned speaker configuration which driver evolution has largely made obsolete and they have a non-neutral characteristic sound which partly stems from the configuration. They are not high technical performance speakers in the studio monitor sense which are relatively straightforward to theorise about by preserving the physics responsible for the technical performance. I suspect you would first need to get a handle on what you value about your Audio Notes before looking for smaller speakers which preserve it.

One possibly good thing though, the more you spend with most modern hardware the more you are likely to be moving away from what Audio Note provide in terms of sound quality and towards more neutral higher technical performance. You might find what you after with vintage kit like Dynaco A-25 type speakers with large resonating midwoofers crossed at high frequencies by modern standards. Perhaps Harbeth, Spendor and similar which still tend to do this to some extent with their more "classic" ranges. Don't really know just a thought.
 
I’m sure the 989s sound wonderful but boy do they look big!

Depends entirely on what one's view is of 'big'. I have 2905s, the successors to the 989 (but same size, more or less) and don't consider them big at all. I wish they made bigger ESLs. However, I've been a big speaker man for over 50 years, with the Heathkit 12" being my first foray. 15" Goodmans with horn mid and tweeter (in 1.15" thick cab's) came next, with 12" Goodmans as well. Through Leak 2075s, Isobariks and two other ProAc Responses, I ended up with R4s, which majored more on weight (133 kg each) than size, before going ESL.

Had some decent small speakers (LS3/5A,) and medium ones, but I'm a BIG fan of BIG speakers; they're effortless. Woof (er) !
 
I’m sure the 989s sound wonderful but boy do they look big!

It's a matter of perspective really; system pic in this years thread. (the H2 live neatly paired side by side to my left as pic taken -from another doorway:

Nero said:
How do you get in and out of the room? Maybe you could use the Quads as doors?
They are portals of a sort...

(doors behind ESLs are to the storage dimensions; books, mostly...)
 
Thanks for this. Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I really just wanted to know: could I get the sound quality of my AN Js into something smaller by spending more.

Try some Ks?

I’ve had both and would take the Ks every time.

Full-range they ain’t but the bass that is there is much better IMO. And they do get surprisingly low with boundary reinforcement and the right amp.
 
Try some Ks?

I’ve had both and would take the Ks every time.

Full-range they ain’t but the bass that is there is much better IMO. And they do get surprisingly low with boundary reinforcement and the right amp.

Yes, Bourney suggested the same, and had I the cash and the time I would certainly look at this. Not easily found. It took weeks to get my Js. Thanks for adding substance to the view.
 
I've heard that room, very nice.
The coffee was excellent as well :)

Even bigger jacked up with monoblocks underneath and wider in rigid steel frames.

How they should be :):)

Went to hear some Apogee Scintilla's today, similar size.
Apogee-Scintillas.jpg


These very ones, - I need.

Size matters.
 
Yes, Bourney suggested the same, and had I the cash and the time I would certainly look at this. Not easily found. It took weeks to get my Js. Thanks for adding substance to the view.

Worth having a search for Snell Ks, same design and can usually be had for less than £300.
 
Even bigger jacked up with monoblocks underneath and wider in rigid steel frames.

How they should be :):)

Went to hear some Apogee Scintilla's today, similar size.
Apogee-Scintillas.jpg


These very ones, - I need.

Size matters.
My grail speaker! I'm in love all over again..... ❤️
 
My grail speaker! I'm in love all over again..... ❤️

Listening to my 989's now there is little difference between ESL's with properly integrated Sub and supertweeter. I think my mid range may be more nuanced and textured though, the apogees were more dynamic.
The biggest difference I noted was that the Apogees had a pronounced vertical sweetspot where the Quads have a pronounced horizontal one.

I could happily live with either.

Both - LLLarge.:)
 
BTW Apogees are a lesson in acceptability of grotesque levels of 2nd & higher even-order HD%, inevitable result of the asymmetric (single-ended, if you like) mag field ... also, criminal inefficiency...
 


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