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Big box Vs floor standers

G

G.smith310

pfm Member
Has anyone ever compared old big box speakers (eg Ditton 15) to newer slim floor standers?

Do the newer floor standers have the same impact as the old big box speakers in general ?

Thanks
 
Hmmm -a narrow speaker vs a wider baffle speaker are two different philosophies on speaker design. Both can be designed and engineered to sound great - as can many other varieties that exist.

Some narrow speakers maintain the impact by putting the woofers on the side - just to make even more variation.
 
When well designed, a slim floor stander with let’s say a single 6 1/2 woofer will give you everything you need but don’t expect them to play 115 dB though.
 
The smaller the driver the more likely a load of port shenanigans has been deployed in a slim floor-stander to give the impression of bass IME. If there is one thing I dislike it is ‘stunt bass’!

To be honest pretty much everything I like falls into one of three categories; a) nearfield mini-monitors, b) classic BBC boxes (the BC1 size thin-wall stuff), and c) the really big no-compromise stuff (15” Tannoys, ESLs, huge horns etc).
 
G.smith310 said:
Has anyone ever compared old big box speakers (eg Ditton 15) to newer slim floor standers?

Do the newer floor standers have the same impact as the old big box speakers in general ?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm pushing the rules a bit here, but Kii3 + BXTs absolutely blows a pair of Ditton 15s out of the water in every way, but particularly in terms of bass impact.
Kudos Titans are also massively superior, but not sure if thay can be classed as narrow floorstanders.
 
S-Man said:
Maybe I'm pushing the rules a bit here, but Kii3 + BXTs absolutely blows a pair of Ditton 15s out of the water in every way, but particularly in terms of bass impact.
Kudos Titans are also massively superior, but not sure if thay can be classed as narrow floorstanders.
Click to expand...
Is this some sort of wind up, comparing a high-end, multi-thousand pound modern-tech speaker to a low-end vintage one that probably retailed for less than £50 back in the day? The Ditton 15 was Celestion's second smallest and arguably bottom of the line speaker, aimed at those starting out on their hifi journey. TBH I'm puzzled why the OP has cited it as an example of a "big old box speaker". An 8-inch driver mounted in a 9.25-inch wide cabinet is hardly the definition of wide baffle, in fact it's positively anorexic by historic standards.
 
According to many, the Golden Ratio rule is the ideal box dimensions to reduce internal resonances, irrespective of internal volume. Slim boxes are living room decorations.
 
Gervais Cote said:
When well designed, a slim floor stander with let’s say a single 6 1/2 woofer will give you everything you need but don’t expect them to play 115 dB though.
Click to expand...

But listening at standard levels at 3-4m in a room you need 115 dB for clean transients in a non-booming room.

To address the OP's question: a narrow tower speaker with a stack of small woofers radiates sound into the room differently compared to a wide speaker with a single woofer of equivalent volume displacement. In the horizontal plane the frequency at which the baffle starts to direct the sound forward is significantly higher with a narrow one compared to a wide one but in the vertical plane the stack of small woofers functions much like a very large cone achieving the opposite. In rooms with good acoustics both tend to be beneficial in increasing the reflections from the sides to enhance a sense of space when listening to stereo recordings of orchestral music and decreasing the strength of floor and ceiling reflections although the latter has the potential to create spectrally uneven reflections negating the benefit. In rooms with poor acoustics wide dispersion is less beneficial particularly for studio rather than orchestral music and a monitor shape might have an edge but the poor acoustics will very likely dominate an assessment of sound quality.
 
Moved from IMF 40 II ALS speakers to PMC FB1i’s. (after a year gap with PMC DB1i’s)

I was concerned about missing bass, but the PMC speakers are fine & dandy.
(cabinets about 8” wide and 3’ 6” tall. 12” deep)

They don’t appear that slim to look at, and mine are raised 3” on granite blocks.

Demo a few speakers (when allowed) at home (ideally)

The “impact” you want can only be judged by you.

(If I had space and many monies then I would have something with bigger woofers, not because I feel I am missing bass, it is just the way it is delivered...)
 
Tony L said:
The smaller the driver the more likely a load of port shenanigans has been deployed in a slim floor-stander to give the impression of bass IME. If there is one thing I dislike it is ‘stunt bass’!

To be honest pretty much everything I like falls into one of three categories; a) nearfield mini-monitors, b) classic BBC boxes (the BC1 size thin-wall stuff), and c) the really big no-compromise stuff (15” Tannoys, ESLs, huge horns etc).
Click to expand...

I am very much of the same opinion, but would include most Kef Reference speakers from 80-95 in there as well.

The only domestic speakers I've heard that reproduce the sheer force of a Vox AC30 at full wick are big Kefs with coupled cavity bass loading (although I suspect similarly sized offerings from Spendor and Harbeth would come close). I have had Proac studio 125s, mission 753s, and other slim ported floorstanders and have heard some recent very large range topping offerings from Monitor Audio - they are punchy at the very bottom, but they tend to be less convincing with the sheer trouser flapping corporeal energy of mid bass at any volume, which is where so much musical energy is. Surprisingly, an ESL63 is also superb at this within it's specified SPLs.
 
@foxwelljsly my Mordaunt short pageant 2 do this , but unfortunately are feeling a bit poorly. One has bad tweeter, other has a bad woofer.

Otherwise they really sounded great on 70s guitar music
 
I heard the Ditton 15 and 15xr back in the day and was never that impressed. Felt like abr was an afterthought and never gelled like it did in the larger models in the range, but the other models were pretty good right up to the 25 and 66. Wish I’d kept the 25s as they are worth a bit of money these days!
I was impressed with M/S back in the day, the Festival, Carnival and Pageant were pretty good value. The Signifer was a rather large beast of a speaker!
 
well no expert for sure but had slim floor standers Tannoy DC6T they were good but bass boom with my room, old pair of semi big box Naim Nam 402 8inch drivers in bigish cabinet much more natural less boom
 
There is an effortless, natural quality to the bass from big drivers that small drivers just can't match, in my opinion.

Narrow floorstanders are popular because they look pretty, not because it's the best way to do the job. Which is why you don't see narrow floorstanders in a studio or PA rig.
 
ToTo Man said:
Is this some sort of wind up, comparing a high-end, multi-thousand pound modern-tech speaker to a low-end vintage one that probably retailed for less than £50 back in the day? The Ditton 15 was Celestion's second smallest and arguably bottom of the line speaker, aimed at those starting out on their hifi journey. TBH I'm puzzled why the OP has cited it as an example of a "big old box speaker". An 8-inch driver mounted in a 9.25-inch wide cabinet is hardly the definition of wide baffle, in fact it's positively anorexic by historic standards.
Click to expand...

I was also confused by his choice of speaker, so much so, that I dreamt up Ditton 66 instead of 15 :oops:
 
Mr Pig said:
There is an effortless, natural quality to the bass from big drivers that small drivers just can't match, in my opinion.

Narrow floorstanders are popular because they look pretty, not because it's the best way to do the job. Which is why you don't see narrow floorstanders in a studio or PA rig.
Click to expand...

I don’t think any speakers look pretty. I do think some look ugly.

Your comment ignores how much space people have for their stereo. (and cash)

I certainly didn’t buy my speakers on looks. Demoed them, and they sounded good.
 
Big Tabs said:
Your comment ignores how much space people have for their stereo. (and cash).
Click to expand...

This comment ignores common sense and facts.

There is little difference between the space needed for a floorstanding speaker and a stand-mount. Certainly not enough to cause domestic trauma. And floorstanders cost more to make as the box is the most expensive part of most speakers
 
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