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Extinction of larger woofer speakers ?

Do you like smaller today’s speakers or old large vintage style ?

  • Small bookshelves

    Votes: 6 3.1%

  • Large Vintage

    Votes: 135 69.9%

  • In between towers

    Votes: 23 11.9%

  • Don’t care !!!

    Votes: 29 15.0%
  • Total voters
    193
K

KingAzazel

New Member
I’m sure some are still made that cost a fortune, but for the average consumer level speakers they are gone .
many models are 4-6.5 today
did brands like Bose kill them off ? And satellites model brands

I know vintage models were mostly larger sized 8” +
Possibly reasons for smaller Ones ?
Some old large woofers were loud and impressive others of low quality were terrible .
My dads friend had some pro models or something with 15”-18” woofer and 8”-10” mids but they must had gotten ruined rip. Might had been home speakers I don’t know , but they were super loud ..

Today’s models are very impressive!!
Tower speakers look like a extremely tall bookshelf speaker these days .

But few models today are 8” or 10”

just due to being ugly or are they impractical for sound dispersion?
I know for a fact my mom Hates them old big woofers ..
subs are a different story but I don’t see why speaker manufacturers don’t offer large woofers anymore without extreeem prices .

cerwin Vega are big still but sound quality is questionable...
 
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My favorite speakers have ten or twelve inch woofers. Some have two woofers per speaker. They would count as vintage, being 25-40 years old. They are also all 45 or more inches tall, so I guess they'd qualify as towers.

I have a few pairs of newer speakers, but the only ones I like a lot are towers with dual eight inch woofers.
 
KingAzazel said:
I’m sure some are still made that cost a fortune, but for the average consumer level speakers they are gone .
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The economics aren't going to favor (multiple?) large drivers in a correspondingly larger box, with higher shipping costs, that take up more display space, and are more difficult for consumers to integrate in their decor. Of course they'll be more expensive!

I get the feeling in these threads, that those lamenting "the good old days" of large speakers think that fairly large speakers were at one time very popular. I bet that then, as now, they were the exception and not the rule. We just tend to notice and remember larger speakers. And I'm pretty sure that all things being equal, larger speakers have always been more expensive.

Plenty of reasonably priced large driver speakers available for pro audio and home theater use. And DIY speakers have never been easier than now to achieve good sound with. Several folks cloning the JBL 4722N or the QSC 2150. There's DIYSoundGroup, their Titan 615 is popular, I'm running their Intrusive 1899 as L&R with Aggressive 1299 as horizontal centers.
 
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mjw21a said:
My not quite 2 year old speakers... tweeters, 10" fullrange and 15" woofers. Sound quality is all that matters. For realistic sound you need large speakers.
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Diy made ? Well if you need larger speakers then all of today’s manufacturers have failed , except pro audio . Crossovers are too complex and building speakers is too hard for me ...
my big sub is never used anymore because it’s upstairs been watching tv downstairs.
Too expensive to move out of parents house , yeah old larger models definitely had more authority...I’m mad I got smaller 6.5 Klipch towers instead of duel 8s.. dumb idea

The duel 10” model is like 2 grand a speaker my god !!! $&&
Tekton Pendragon look cool but I’ll probably never have the space or money to afford them .
My pic of rtr 8” woofer collection dust in garage .. sure mom would say no there too boxy and ugly if I brought them inside for fronts downstairs .
 
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KingAzazel said:
View attachment 2107840
Diy made ? Well if you need larger speakers then all of today’s manufacturers have failed , except pro audio . Crossovers are too complex and building speakers is too hard for me ...
my big sub is never used anymore because it’s upstairs been watching tv downstairs.
Too expensive to move out of parents house , yeah old larger models definitely had more authority...I’m mad I got smaller 6.5 Klipch towers instead of duel 8s.. dumb idea

The duel 10” model is like 2 grand a speaker my god !!! $&&
Tekton Pendragon look cool but I’ll probably never have the space or money to afford them .
My pic of rtr 8” woofer collection dust in garage .. sure mom would say no there too boxy and ugly if I brought them inside for fronts downstairs .
Click to expand...
Well small speakers can be damn good too! And if you are still crashing out at your parents, having big speakers might shouldn't be a high priority at this particular time. Just saying.
 
Alobar said:
Well small speakers can be damn good too! And if you are still crashing out at your parents, having big speakers might shouldn't be a high priority at this particular time. Just saying.
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I’m more curious about why they are gone of coarse some smaller speakers are amazing.
Sadly many brands are extinct these days that thrived 10-30 years ago .
I’m not concerned with buying large speakers just shocked they are so rare today . After being the most popular models in the past !!!
Most my speakers are on the small side ... except towers with duel 6.5 and rtr 8” in garage not being used .
 
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After hearing my 2 brother's moder towers with the 2x 6" drivers, tweeter and self powered subs inside, I daydream about hearing old fashioned 12's in a monkey coffin.
Rather than the older, heavy Wharfedale or JBL cabs I internally braced and repurposed 1985 Technics 3 ways with an RSM poly woofer, 5" Overture 3 mid, Kappa EMIT and a Kappa 7 XO. The Velodyne sub I once used with lesser speakers is now not needed.
My poor man's vintage Infinities or L-100's with far better highs, weight 1/2 as much and sing well enough to get the entire house into a "harmonic vibration" singing (windows included) after a few songs on an album... No modern tower I ever heard could do that..:biggrin:
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They have a sound that's more fulfilling to me than the slims, even if it's a bit "slower",
Which is why I love Poly drivers: They're heavier and slower, Not Bexdrene driver slowed down and perfect with the right amps.
These money coffin's aren't concert level loud like the big JBL or Klipsch horns, or even old CV's, but they're clean, clear and effortless listening for hours at a time while filling the room with metal if you feel like it next.
 
KingAzazel said:
I’m more curious about why they are gone of coarse some smaller speakers are amazing.
Sadly many brands are extinct these days that thrived 10-30 years ago .
I’m not concerned with buying large speakers just shocked they are so rare today . After being the most popular models in the past !!!
Most my speakers are on the small side ... except towers with duel 6.5 and rtr 8” in garage not being used .
Click to expand...
One thing should be mentioned as well what changed: WAF ;)
 
KingAzazel said:
I’m more curious about why they are gone of coarse some smaller speakers are amazing.
Sadly many brands are extinct these days that thrived 10-30 years ago .
I’m not concerned with buying large speakers just shocked they are so rare today . After being the most popular models in the past !!!
Most my speakers are on the small side ... except towers with duel 6.5 and rtr 8” in garage not being used .
Click to expand...
OK, got it. It's just the laws of physics to build (from raw materials to shiping) , meets the modern day home with the modern day wife, and the fact big cabinets simply are not going to be as easily integrated into just any listening space. Big speakers really need a bigger room IMHO, that alone means just not going to be as common as more compact solutions.

But good on you for your observations and curiosity. It sounds like you really owe it to yourself to experience a good sounding larger speaker (if you haven't already). If you lived closer I'd invite you over for an audition of mine :beerchug:.
 
Why do folks think that speaker technology has stayed stagnant and not progressed since the 1970’s? Not to say that older larger speakers are not enjoyable and loved. But having heard what’s available today, I would be hard pressed not to admit that there are fine choices in newer designs that can compete with and even surpass yesterday’s speakers.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Displacement is bore times stroke and many smaller woofers have longer strokes than many larger ones do.
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How true for engines from which I borrowed the expression. I guess a pair of bose 901s have more combined bore&stroke than my 15's do, but it was speaker cab area dims, which is what I was referring to.
 
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