Who needs big speakers? 

For me, the most important feature in a speaker is that it should sound amazing when played at low volume.

After dabbling in home audio the better part of the last 60 years I think one thing has never changed...You can't break the laws of physics! Some manufacturers may give the impression they can bend them a little bit but all in all if you want more bass energy from your speakers in your system like Steve says: "Size matters"

I enjoyed small speakers for most of my audiophile life, then I got the Cornwalls. Size does matter. Completely agree.

I added a Rythmik 15” sealed sub to my system. What I love is what it does to all music and movies. Can’t live without it. It basically disappears sonically until the source demands it, and then wow!

I have very large “line-source” speakers - tall boys like Magna-pan. I was just listening to a remix of Santana Abraxis, when out of no where this disembodied tambourine starts playing, clearly positioned all by itself, right near the ceiling, about 2’ to the left of my right speaker.

A big THANK YOU goes to you ! I retired 3 weeks ago and found a set of used Klipschorns and a LaScala for my home theater. WOW they are amazing. I have always had to use my space for both audio and video. I can finally do both with the Klipschorns. Following your channel steered me in the right direction. Thank you

The year was 1973, and as a freshman in high school I would visit the audio shop across the street before the long walk home because it was worth missing the school bus just to hear some good songs in an actual sound room. It was the end of October with a chill in the air in my small Rhode Island town, as I hurried to get to the shop , my buddy stood in the doorway with the biggest grin on his face, as he said, '' Wanna hear something special?'' I asked him,'' What'' He replied, '' The new Who album and something special' I was so excited to hear this new Who album, I didn't hear the something part of our conversation .As I walked into the sound room I immediately noticed two huge pieces of furniture that looked like my grandmother's furniture but on a much larger scale. I asked him, ''What are those?'' He replied, ''I'll explain after we listen to the album'' He had it cued up to Love Reign O'er Me. As my jaw hit the floor and actual tears came to my eyes I had never heard nor felt music like this before. We listened to the whole album while we both sat there with ear to ear grins. He later told me ''My Grandmother's furniture'' was a pair of Bozak Concert Grand Speakers and ''YES THEY WERE''. I've been chasing that elusive sound and feeling for almost 50 years but have not experienced what I did that Autumn day but I'll be grateful till the day I die ''for that special day.''

I love that "big" sound as long as smoothness and refinement doesn't get lost in the process.

I am now standing up with hand raised high ! I LOVE big speakers and what they deliver !

I have a pair of Magnepan 3.7i with a pair of REL S5 subwoofers in my living room.

"When I was living with those speakers" ... clearly an audiophile 😅

Yes, I stacked my klipsch and I'm never un-stacking them. It's just sounds more lively and live. Love you show and your knowledge. Lots of fun, thanks again for sharing!

For some reason I still want the Altec Voice of The Theaters. The odd part is I don't watch movies anymore.

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. Didn't see that the first time Steve.

Thanks for uploading this video. The scale of dynamics, the headroom of well built large speakers is something that can't be unseen when we use simulation and modelling software.

Have always loved the “large speaker” sound. Love LOUD Rock n Roll and symphonic Classical.

Steve, I'm trying to buy a bigger house only to justify buying bigger speakers!

Big sound comes from big speakers. Period.

I've done the dance between floorstanders and bookshelf + subs and I settled on the latter. There is something to be said for having the flexibility to put your sub-bass in the right spot in the room rather than where the mains go (rarely are the two the same). As I get older I appreciate being able to move my bookshelf speakers around with ease. The floorstanders were more challenging and are also physically more imposing in my room. To each his own, but for me a 2.2 system is my sweet spot.

Great stuff here Steve. Very helpful and true. Thanks for posting.

Watching this video while in my music room with Klipsch Belles. YES to big speakers.

I need big speakers, and I have them. Tekton Double Impacts. Great.

You nailed it with the words, "scale and fullness". I put up a fabric wall to mount a screen. Speakers are hidden behind. Then is stumbled across a pair of 52"x36" Bozak Concert Grands with line array tweeters. 500lbs of speakers, 28 drivers! At the same time a friend gave me two HSU Research prototype subs 48"x24" tubes. Wow! I went from Monitor Audio Gold bookshelf to huge. (For about half the price) One characteristic of these larger speakers are their ability to sonically disappear. Impossible to localize where my speakers are placed behind the screen. The soundstage is life-sized and palpable. (I moved to Maine from NYC, and this fulfilled a dream of moving to the country--big speakers!)

Hi Steve, longtime viewer and first time leaving a comment. I just entered into the wonderful world of audiophile land last year during lockdown and I have really enjoyed your channel. I have learned allot from you and your recommendations. I have a pair of Harbeth Super HL5’s and dual REL S5 SHO subs connected to a pair of PrimnaLuna ProLogue Seven mono blocks and a NAD M10 that I use as my pre-amp/DAC and music streamer (Also a HEED CD transport, HEED Quasar MM/MC Phono stage and a Marantz TT 15S1 turntable). Loving the “big” sound that I get from my system but I “hear” what you are saying about the “big boys” and I hope one day to add a pair of Klipsch Cornwall IV’s. Cheers!

Am I the only girl who loves a great stereo system? Here's the problem, my husband absolutely hates it. I am leaving him! Gotta have my tunes.

Yep I agree with the comments... Big speakers that can play at low volumes, and still have a warmth, and high detail... However, this comes at a price!

I upgraded to Avantgarde Duo XDs a couple of years ago, my first (and last?) large speakers. Horn speakers with large integrated subwoofers, a little over 200 lb each. I have a large enough room to accommodate without any problems. Wonderful full-range, dynamic sound. “Effortless” is a word I often use to describe it.

Living in the UK and being of only average means, my listening room is 3.8m square (that's about 12ft square). I've built a system (about $40k) to be the best 'small room' system it can be, which means the speakers, though large for standmount, are still only 10" bass driver/horn loaded standmounts. A good friend of mine has a room that measures more like the large rooms you're describing (so about 20 feet wide and 30 feet long), and since he is of substantially more means, he has built the best 'big room' system he can afford at around $400k. His system includes a pair of Wilson Benesch Resolution speakers, which easily count as 'big'! This provides a really useful comparison, both to the difference that your budget makes and the size of the room. I’m conscious that you can make a small room system sound exceptional but it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at the equipment, you’re always going to be listening to the size of the room. The big room system however, has scale, energy and dynamics in spades. However, what it doesn’t do quite so well, is ‘intimacy’. Of course, ‘intimacy’ could be the only upside of a small room system or it could be just a more positive word for ‘small’ and therefore a way to feel better about having a smaller house and lesser means!

I have 13 Klipsch speekers in 100m2 room and four amplifiées drived n’y a Maranz préamplificateur …and i like it!!!

I have also heard the phrase there is no replacement for displacement.

Hi Steve I started my current setup after not having any system for years. The first thing I purchased were 2 BOZAK Urban floor standing speakers; very large and very heavy. My son carried them with very little help from up three flights of stairs to my apartment. Back in September I moved and he and I used a hand truck to carry them back down the stairs. They are fantastic sounding speakers I play them with my MFA MAGUS A2 PRE to MIetner MTR101 monoblocks oh and my source is Amazon Music HD to a Monarchy DAP to a Bel Canto DAC2 to the Magus. The BOZAK speakers not only sound good but they are fantastic mid century style furniture pieces as well. Love your channel!

Another great video steve, keep them coming👍

I got big speakers (Tekton Encores) because I do ~70% of my listening to music standing up, not sitting down. I live in an apartment, so many of the drivers sit above all the clutter and furniture. Speakers are 96 dB sensitive, so they do sound good at low volume. Another desired feature in apartment living!

Love a solid pair of book shelfs with a sub. The Elac Unifi UB52's played so big and I didn't even use a sub with them. Filled up a room way bigger than they should. Wharfedale Diamonds play way bigger than they should too. With that said, I've never gotten the chance to hear something really big like the Cornwalls or the Fortes

I used to listen small speakers and stuff that i could afford all my life until my friend gave me a pair of philips AD1255/M7 speakers mounted to a big home made housing. They are full range drivers, when i first played music through them, i was like "WOW", even though they weren't sounding sharp as things i heard, they did sounded amazing. You are absolutely right about big speakers.

I inherited my father's old Klipsch Chorus speakers when they failed at WAF. They're glorious. Dynamics for days. I supplemented them with a Rythmik F18 subwoofer and they got even better. Now I have that setup in my home theater and La Scalas in my listening room.

Affordability is a non-issue if the bookshelf speakers you’re eyeing include a made-to-fit stand. Once the cost and the footprint space are considered, today’s towers are often within 15% of the cost. Over a system’s lifetime, that differential isn’t worth sacrificing the bass. And if you’re like me, in terms of not needing foundation -rattling bass, towers allow foregoing a bulky subwoofer, so you may end up saving money for a completely satisfying system that requires less space.

Love my JBL Studio 590’s. I know folks poopoo them, but I love them. Full, rich sound. I love them. Extremely cost effective.

I have a pair of PSB Image 4T floorstanders. They are only 3 feet tall and very slim, but they give a huge sound with tons of bass and they can go stupid loud with ease. I really love them. They gave me 21 years of real music enjoyment so far and I played everything from opera to heavy metal through them. They are very versatile.

I just purchased Totem Kin Monitors, wow, in my small home office. Pushing them with Marantz 2245 , Circa 1971, Pro-Ject turntable. Very pleased.

Yup there is no replacement for displacement! There's just something about the ambiance and house and body filling sound that gigantic speakers provide, that smaller speakers can never accomplish, no matter how good they are.

You shirt makes me feel so smart.

I’ve the same T-shirt. My scientist friends deciphered mine the moment they laid eyes on it. Fun!

I'm with you Steve! I'm a sucker for dynamics. I try always to play my instrument dynamically, my favorite musicians are all people who put dynamics at the forefront of their writing and playing. My spatial audio open baffles deliver dynamics better than any speaker I've ever heard, from the moment I heard them I knew they were for me!

I've had Cornwall IV's for over a year now and have had ZERO desire to add a sub. I love them.

Steve, first, I love the T-Shirt! Next, I have two systems. One has Magnepan 1.7i speakers. The other has a pair of Magico A3. I agree with you for the most part about big speakers and bass. However, I was in denial for a long time about the the quality of the bass from the Maggies. But I have to say that they are lacking in slam and sub bass. These are quasi ribbon speakers. They are very detailed. The mid range and treble is fantastic. But they do not move air. So I broke down and bought a pair of REL T/9i subs. Well, that just revolutionized the Maggie 1.7i system! The 1.7i plus RELs move lots of air, have great sub bass and slam. Plus the super detailed mids and highs of the Maggies. I was hesitant for a long time. But once you or anyone as a Magnepan owner add a pair of RELs to the Magnepans it will be game over. You will be delighted and will never want the RELs to leave. The Magico A3s need less help in the bass department. But the RELs help them too. Just not to the amazing degree as for the Maggies.

I LOVE BIG SPEAKERS!! For All the reasons you outlined. Love the shirt Steve.

Hi Steve. I'm in agreement with you. Big speakers seem to just satisfy. I have Kef Raymond Cook 104/2, not exactly huge speakers, but not small either. The presence and body that they produce is so satisfying, you feel the sound pumping through your torso.

Big speakers if designed right simply mean that at any listening level, the diaphragm movement is less so quicker response and less IM and Harmonic distortion. Plus when you need dynamics they can deliver. But like Steve states, your room needs to be incorporate them, as with any speaker. The room is the one component many don't deal with.

When it comes to speakers, bigger is better. I use 5 pairs of of full-size speakers in my smallish main listening room, and the sound is great at all volume levels.

I love any video which mentions Magnepan with how truthful your description is. As I’ve wanted to have a smaller footprint as I grow old(er), it would take a lot of experience and bread to select a few. Any suggestions would be helpful but I know you don’t have time for that. I’m a big fan but if I can ask, “Is that a suggestive passwords tee shirt”? Lol, your great, F

I built the B.J. Webb 4-way TL tower, Audio Amateur project, 42 inches tall, etc. LOVED them no end! But today I love my pair of KEF LS50. Each design is pertinent to its intended use. Large rooms need large speakers. Small rooms work best with small speakers.

I'm still listening to my vintage Martin Logan Summits with the scale and sound stage I can never go back to small or even medium size speakers even with subs

Mcintosh MC2500 with my Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater speakers, any other questions?.....lol, have a great day!

Having a good dynamic response and bass is a must, and I do have a dedicated listening space to enjoy. When I first heard the Revel Salons I was amazed at the dynamics of the speaker, and have owned them ever since. I just don't find smaller speaker systems quite as engaging even though they can when done right sound excellent. I have kept my Genesis 2 subwoofer towers- each tower has 4 12 inch drivers and even though the Salon2s are no slouch in the bass department, adding the Genesis gives a visceral bass experience with aplomb!

I used to have floorstanders with 12 inch woofers. When I got married my late wife, (the Aesthetics Commission), said they had to go. Love conquers all. I replaced them with Rogers LS7s. A large stand mount speaker. Some years later my wife agreed they could be replaced by Castle Howard S2 s. They are transmission line speakers with 2 x 6inch woofers, one of which fires upwards, and a tweeter. With the right music and Krell amplification you can physicall feel the base. My room is 23 feet long and 15 wide. I no longer feel the need for a very large woofer. If I were to go stand mount again it would be the Gershman Studio 2 s that I would buy. Keep up the good work. Daniel

I'd love to see one of the larger Tektons like the Encore

Do you have neighbors in your apartment building? And if so how do you test subwoofers and speakers do they ever complain?

Hi from Calgary ! Have Paradigm Prestige 75F floor standers, fairly small for a floor stander, but have 2 - 13.5 in 1200w subs. I sometimes just listen to the floor standers, 1 sub, or blow the dishes out of the kitchen with the 2 subs! I'm 59, but still really like being in a concert like the old days....Genisis, YES, AC DC.... or chilling out with some cool blues. Always watch your channel, cheers!

The best thing about a small speaker collection is the room they take up. I love big speakers, and the only downside is squeezing them all in. Love the scale and weight that they bring, and all sound so incredibly different.. from my B&W 800 D2's, to the Apogee Duette Signature, to the Snell Model A and the Naim DBL which have a more 'house sound'. Tannoy 15'' golds move surprising air, considering they have a more gentile reputation among audiophiles.

Guide to getting glorious floor standing speakers. Step 1 . You need to not be married step 2. If you are married see step 1

I have the klipschorns and love them. I recently got a set of Tekton Encores, and they are very similar to the sound of klipschorns, but with much better bass and midrange. If you have a chance you should give them a listen.

Loving your T-shirt

I was using some small speakers with a sub woofer and then went over to large Sonus Faber - It was no contest, the change filled the room musically much better and more importantly gave a extended richness to the music which made you feel more connected. I personally will never go back to small speakers...

Gosh Steve I live in an apartment and I have Klipsch KG4'S in my Apartment and I believe they are as large as I can go for right now: I also have Klipsch , RP600,s , RB 61 11's and Klipsch R 15M's

I had a set of magnapans. Their sound stage and transparency is phenomenal. They sound equally nice at low power but the bass is just ok, easily overpowered. They really come to life with a nice sub.

I was completely satisfied with a set of Energy Take 5.1 until a friend of mine bought floor standers and I realized the fullness I was missing. I still think the take sets are awesome especially in small rooms.

I want/need big speakers. I have them and love them. 1. ) big room 20x25 2. ) play loud - nope, but want the sense of mass in sound. A piano and a stand up bass can work really well at 85dB on big speakers. 3. ) Dynamics - Yup 4. ) bass - Yup I hear the more stylish speakers at shows, but they don't have that sense of mass / you are there kind of sounds. I built my OB speakers based on Fikus P17 (aka Lampizator) design with 18" pro drivers and 10" alnico full range. They don't play really low and I plan to buy subs to fill out the lower octaves. But the sound is very real and effortless. And massive. But they need to be out in the room so you need space. Love the shirt BTW

Yes ... but I think I still liked stacked large Advents (2 pair) over the sound of the Klipsch corner loaded loudspeakers. That's the beauty in variety. We get to listen and appreciate what we want.

The law of diminishing returns is valid even though I get what Steve is saying here. If you look at the whole audio system and setup then, yeah...sure it makes a good case but when you look at the how the vast majority of audiophiles improve their systems, then it doesn't. On my current setup, to replace the cartridge I have now for one costing 200 X the amount will not bring me close to 200X the audio improvement. I know this.

Just got a pristine pair of Technics SB7000A speakers for my basement room, my first set of decent "big" speakers. WOW. Amazing sound.

I agree 100% with you. On big speakers. I’ve always wanted a pair of K horns but never had a room that good clean corners for them. I finally bought a pair of Altec A7 voice of the theater speakers loved them. Now I have a pair I’v Polk SDA 1 that I’ve had since new. Still want the K horns.

Small room so small speakers, listening close range with a sub. The little speakers have slam bass till 60hz, it's enough for me. But if I move I'll definitely try big speakers.

I have really big speaker..steve but limitation of room nevertheless like them very much they sound tremendous... larger than life...

I was a senior at college in the 70's and one day while walking across the commons, during summer school, there was music flooding the area. Perfectly clear, and clean. I'd been to the Dead/Allman Bros concert at RFK and knew loud. But this was so much better. After a while, I realized it was coming from one of the top floors of a 13 story dorm. Long story short, it was a graduating resident advisor with a set of La Scala's celebrating. I've never lived in a place where they were feasible, but the sound was amazing.

Recently updated my system from bookshelves to towers. I bought a pair of 3-way Wharfedale Atlantic AT-500-HG towers (3 x 8" bass drivers), coupled with a dual 15" sealed PSA subwoofer. Has a much richer sound and bass that can hit pretty hard, yet the wharfedales can image well.

Thought of the day: If you really are a bass freak, then you should go and buy two subs and set them up as perfectly as you can, and only then if you still think you need main speakers, you should go and buy them.

Need BIG... tweeters. Learned last Century; more 'relaxed' top end. 1st Linaeum's 1 1/2" h dipole & then Magnepan's 1.7i. Even have 1" ribbon in the vehicle [eXcelon Reference].

Good thoughts Steve... I have Amish towers with a DCM small & it defiantly helped overall... hope to get larger mains in the future..

I just ordered Tektron Double Impacts. Large room, high ceiling (17 feet). Replacing, sadly, my 1985 Polk Audios which I continue to love.

I'm glad Steve agrees with me: adding a sub with bookshelf isn't the same as a full range big speaker. I always go tower.

Size matters. At least that's what she told me. So I went out and bought the biggest ass speakers I could find. Then she tells me, "that's not what I meant."

I love my baby Altecs! 515C woofer in a 10,6cuft cabinet (300L) with the 288 compression driver, so it's basically an Altec A5 in an altogether different cabinet (my design ; ). They totally redefine music reproduction. The most amazing thing about them is that they can play whisper quiet but still keep the scale and dynamic scale. It's almost as if volume control does not exist anymore. The only thing you notice with volume control is that very deep base is coming up when played very loud. (LOL they are tuned to play down to 13Hz.) I just call them Reality Transformers, they take you to another reality. Live Mike Oldfield concert blowing up the house with a super beefy less than 1W SET amplifier. Yet, normal listening levels require microwatt level of power, peaking at 60milliwatt for VERY loud passages. Playing them for 10+ hours every day.

Small speakers have been the engineering compromise to compete with full size cabinets since day 1. I love BIG speakers. Thanks Steve for shooting the straight dope. Small is small big is BIG!

I want to have 2 rooms. 1 room for magnepans one for Cornwall 4. 😂

Friends don’t let friends drive small speakers.

Nice show. Always a pleasure. By the way: "intelligence is the ability to adapt to change"!

My Klipsch Quartets which are not large but not huge are my favorites for years. They sound great from soft to very loud so I know why Steve loves his Cornwalls.

Must admit it took me a couple of minutes to read and understand the text on your shirt 😄

Hardest thing about having large speakers is the unboxing

5th order band pass with a JL 13W7...placed in the middle of the room. Bass perfection!

I love large speakers that deliver a big sound stage, power and big clean bass. My main zone is Dynaudio X44 floor standing speakers and SVS PB4000 (ported subwoofer) powered by separates and I always really enjoy listening to it.

Sounds like I qualify on all points, except for being able to afford them!

I have a pair of 35 year old Bose 301 II’s that still sound great in my 14’ by 13’ room.

I have currently in my main listening room Kplisch Cornwall 3, tekton Moab, montana eps-2 ...yes they are fun .

Steve, I've never owned a truly large set of speakers but I did take a pair of Advent 6003 and modified them. I left the bass speaker in the original cabinet, took the other two speakers out and the xover. Sealed the cabinet up air tight. Took the one inch dome and bought another and wired them for 16 ohm and put one over and above the midrange and made a new cabinet for them and hung them on the wall over the bass cabinet. The sound stage grew noticeably and the highs sweetened out nicely by increasing the total resistance. Sure wish I had them still. They could handle the canons on the 1812 by Telarc well and with some punch. I was using two mono bloc Carver cubes. The lights would dim when those canons went off.

My big speakers need me..

Size matters? No wonder she didn’t call me back.🙄

Hi Steve, THANK YOU for doing what you do. You asked what we're listening to....I have a Klipsch H/T setup consisting of a pair of RF-7IIIs, a RC-64III, 4 RP-600M, 4 CDT-5800 Atmos and a JTR (2/18s 6K watts) sub, fed from a Marantz SR-8015. Again, thank you for your service to us.

Thank god! Thanks Steve for admitting you like big speakers!!! With so many bookshelf and skinny tower reviews... I was thinking nobody liked big speakers. In my bedroom I have 5 feet plus Magnepan’s with dual 12” Sunfire subs. My main living room system has a 15” sub and large Zu Audio floor standers.