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The magic of small speakers

I've owned/own some fantastic small speakers. My favourites being Audio Note AX2, Royd Minstrel, Harbeth P3ESR and my current Shahinian Larcs. The Larcs are so good that if they gave a little bit more bass I wouldn't look for another speaker.
 
Anyone else remember these superb small speakers?

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I'm using a pair in my desk setup and the openness from the EMIT tweeters is wonderful. Had a problem recently with them as they were cutting out, but a bit of a clean up of the treble pots and all is working well again...

Paired up with a small B&K subwoofer under my desk and they are superb nearfield monitors..

Infinity Modulas.
 
Tony L said:
. two speakers in a room is worth an extra 3db, .
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A common misconception, see post #8 here:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/liv...-stacking-2-speakers-create-3db-loudness.html

Funnily enough me and a pal were at the Wigwam show a couple of years ago and somebody in one of the rooms mentioned the 3dB thing. My pal offered the correct figure of 6dB but was shouted down by a rather over confident character. I knew who was right (my mate has a PhD in acoustics), but it was obvious that the truth was not going to prevail. We left when Mr Coverconfident started ridiculing my pal for his lack of knowledge of "everyone knows it's 3dB". :rolleyes:
 
windhoek said:
You can add Kralk Audio BC-30s to that magical mini speaker list. They're not a million miles away from Kans (no direct comparison done but I've owned and heard several pairs of Kans) and get my toes tapping every time :)
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I also have these and they are indeed very close to Kan sound. They are at least as fast and are equally good with complex and compressed rock/heavy music. Timing is really good, as it is with Kans. They do not quite have the big, powerful sound that best Kans manage but do sound much more neutral. Very good small speakers and maybe the best new Kan alternatives out there.
 
S-Man said:
A common misconception, see post #8 here:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/liv...-stacking-2-speakers-create-3db-loudness.html

Funnily enough me and a pal were at the Wigwam show a couple of years ago and somebody in one of the rooms mentioned the 3dB thing. My pal offered the correct figure of 6dB but was shouted down by a rather over confident character. I knew who was right (my mate has a PhD in acoustics), but it was obvious that the truth was not going to prevail. We left when Mr Coverconfident started ridiculing my pal for his lack of knowledge of "everyone knows it's 3dB". :rolleyes:
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Interesting, I didn't know that, but can easily believe it - listening to a mono recording through one speaker as opposed to two certainly feels like more than 3db has been removed. I just always accepted the figure of 3db as it is so widely used. Many online efficiency calculators etc use it too. Good for me as I've now got three db more amp headroom than I thought I had!
 
I must admit that I didn't know the correct figure during the Scalford "discussion" (but I knew how much my pal knows).

it's funny to think that Mr OC might even be reading this :eek:
 
My theory about the magic of small speakers - most mixing performed by engineers is in the nearfield on small monitors.

Occasionally the mix gets heard on the main monitors, but it would be too noisy to do this all the time (not in the sense of annoying anyone, but in the sense of damaging your hearing, and generally being tiring).

So, music is generally mixed on smaller speakers, at lower levels, ergo it tends to sound best on this equipment, as that's how the mix was made.
 
Cesare said:
My theory about the magic of small speakers - most mixing performed by engineers is in the nearfield on small monitors.

Occasionally the mix gets heard on the main monitors, but it would be too noisy to do this all the time (not in the sense of annoying anyone, but in the sense of damaging your hearing, and generally being tiring).

So, music is generally mixed on smaller speakers, at lower levels, ergo it tends to sound best on this equipment, as that's how the mix was made.
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That could explain why some pop/ rock records sound so bad! :p
 
Cesare said:
My theory about the magic of small speakers - most mixing performed by engineers is in the nearfield on small monitors.

Occasionally the mix gets heard on the main monitors, but it would be too noisy to do this all the time (not in the sense of annoying anyone, but in the sense of damaging your hearing, and generally being tiring).

So, music is generally mixed on smaller speakers, at lower levels, ergo it tends to sound best on this equipment, as that's how the mix was made.
Click to expand...

And maybe why some of the 70's albums sound soo good... I can visualise PF sat in the studio with legs on mixing desks or sprawled on sofas with huge joints listening to it on the main monitors at 120db being critical stoneheads.. :D
 
I bought a pair of NEAT's little Iota's recently. They came in a box that is much smaller than that of an integrated amplifer (in my case NAIT 5si). The sound is MUCH bigger than you would think judging from their size. Superb little speakers indeed.

Cheers, Willem
 
Klyde said:
I bought a pair of NEAT's little Iota's recently. They came in a box that is much smaller than that of an integrated amplifer (in my case NAIT 5si). The sound is MUCH bigger than you would think judging from their size. Superb little speakers indeed.

Cheers, Willem
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My last speakers were a pair of Totem Arros that had 4" woofers. A few people told me that they could not possibly do bass. "OK - come & listen for yourself." I'd say. "No need to, it's down to the law of physics!" Yea, right.
 
busb said:
My last speakers were a pair of Totem Arros that had 4" woofers. A few people told me that they could not possibly do bass. "OK - come & listen for yourself." I'd say. "No need to, it's down to the law of physics!" Yea, right.
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Depends totally on what "do bass" means.
 
I want to hear some small magic speakers at home to see how I get on with them. My room is very small so would be a good match, though I do enjoy bass so I'm not sure they would continue to satisfy me.

If anyone is selling anything or even kind enough to loan me some I'd be very grateful. I'd need to get some stands too as my current speakers are floorstanders.

Feel free to PM me if you have anything or spot anything for sale.
Thanks
 
Nick1881 said:
I want to hear some small magic speakers at home to see how I get on with them. My room is very small so would be a good match, though I do enjoy bass so I'm not sure they would continue to satisfy me.

If anyone is selling anything or even kind enough to loan me some I'd be very grateful. I'd need to get some stands too as my current speakers are floorstanders.

Feel free to PM me if you have anything or spot anything for sale.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Nick
I found it difficult to retain decent bas performance in a very small room
In fact when I openend the door the deepest bas got better, no matter it was floorstanders or bookshelfs
Sure theres an technical explanation for that
 
PerF said:
Sure theres an technical explanation for that
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Sure is, the length of lower frequency waveforms is a good bit longer than most UK rooms, opening the door does to some extent increase the amount of space available to generate the note. 20Hz is 17m long! The simple fact is no matter what size driver or how much DSP bollocks you apply you will never get something like a church organ recording to shift air at LF the way it does in its natural habitat. It can't, there just isn't enough room!
 
Tony L said:
Sure is, the length of lower frequency waveforms is a good bit longer than most UK rooms, opening the door does to some extent increase the amount of space available to generate the note. 20Hz is 17m long! The simple fact is no matter what size driver or how much DSP bollocks you apply you will never get something like a church organ recording to shift air at LF the way it does in its natural habitat. It can't, there just isn't enough room!
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Wow how on earth do headphones manage to produce bass then?
Keith
 
Most music has a physicality to it entirely missing from mini monitors.

Give me physicality over image specivity any day but big speakers cost big money. flat earthers have system priorities the wrong way around in the digital era imho.
 
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