Speaker size and room size

[johnnm]

Does room size dictate speaker size? For example, in a small room, is it a bad idea to put floorstanding speakers in there? Similarly, for quite a large room, will bookshelf+sub perform subpar to floorstand speakers?

I realize there's a lot of complexity since even speakers designed by the same company have different sounds between bookshelf and floorstanding varieties.

I'm worried that my room may be too small for floorstanders.

Correct me if I'm wrong; this is me thinking out loud. Floorstanding speakers generally have larger and or more drivers than bookshelf speakers. Thus they move more air. I can imagine this causing trouble in a small space. Kind of like the opposite effect of having small bookshelf speakers in an auditorium.

 

[chadnliz]

Yes some speakers of larger size can overload the room with bass, what size room are you talking and model speaker you may be entertaining?

The speaker size also could boil down to spl you like to listen to, a large speaker in a small room isnt going to be as big of an issue for a guy who likes a 60db level vs a guy who like 100db levels.

 

[RayW]

There are different issues with different large speakers. One, as Chadnliz said, you can bass load. When the wavelength of the bass frequency gets twice as big as the longest dimension of the room you change from a longitudinal wave to pressurizing the room. When that happens you start gaining efficiency. Room gain (or cabin gain for the car audio folks). That's one reason that a smaller speaker can sound better in a smaller room as it will be rolled off on the low end and the room picks it up. You can fix this with a big speaker by using tone controls (depending on your amplification), or an EQ, or inserting a high pass filter between amp and speaker that matches the speakers to the room.

Another issue is that some large speakers have multiple drivers that need a fair distance to integrate into a single seamless sound. In general, it's about 10x the center-to-center distance between drivers for them to appear as a point source. If you have a c-to-c distance of 12" then it'll be around 10'. So if your room is only 10'x10' that's going to be tough to accomplish.

The other, obvious, problem with big speakers in a small room is that they're big. They take up a big chunk of the room itself. I figure you already had your head around that one.

Ray

 

[Zilch]

I'm worried that my room may be too small for floorstanders.

The term "floorstander" does not define a size, rather, more generally, a height, as opposed to a "bookshelf," for example.

Implicity, however, floorstanders include a larger internal volume, and with that, the potential to generate lower, and perhaps better, bass response than a bookshelf speaker having the same "footprint" and incorporating the same components.

There are plenty of diminutive floorstanders which occupy no more space than a bookshelf on a stand. :yes:

[Yeah, there's some bigger ones, too.... ]

 

[mashaffer]

Well, yes, room size dictates speaker size to a certain extent. Altec VOTs won't fit in my bedroom. :O

mike

 

[hifi_nut]

Altec VOTT A-7´s just don´t cut it in 9 sqm rooms, just like Rogers LS3-5a´s won´t fill a movie theatre.

A bit of an exageration, but I guess you see my point.

 

[fwardell]

I recall back in the 60's and maybe early 70's Consumer Reports had in their speaker evaluations a chart or graph showing amount of amp power vs. speaker efficiency vs. room size to produce a satisfyingly loud sound. Or something like that. Tried to find one to attach but no luck. They also had a picture advising about optimum speaker placement in the room. Those were the days when their staff did a decent job of rating speakers as AR (especially), KLH, ADS, Klipsch, etc. topped the evaluations. Today I'm not so sure.

 

[spkrdtr]

Attached is a chart I put together some years ago. Consider it a BALLPARK rough suggestion.
The room size vs box vol. relationship came from a magazine article I cannot recall now. The diver size vs box vol curve came from Weem's RS building speakers book. It's for closed box types.

Again these are very rough suggestions. YMMV :yes:

 

[GordonW]

.

Another issue is that some large speakers have multiple drivers that need a fair distance to integrate into a single seamless sound. In general, it's about 10x the center-to-center distance between drivers for them to appear as a point source. If you have a c-to-c distance of 12" then it'll be around 10'. So if your room is only 10'x10' that's going to be tough to accomplish.

Yep. This is one big reason why I like dual-concentric or coax speakers. When the center-to-center distance is 0" (ZERO), it makes for quite a bit of flexibility in placement...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[anden]

Also...what materials that are in the room and how they absorb sound are important - carpeting, drapes, over stuffed couches, etc.

The September, 1969 issue of High Fidelity Magazine has Edward MacIntyre's 5,000 word article on loudspeaker size and placement in rooms. He's the engineer Henry Kloss said knew more about sound reproduction then anyone else.

 

[Face]

Yep. This is one big reason why I like dual-concentric or coax speakers. When the center-to-center distance is 0" (ZERO), it makes for quite a bit of flexibility in placement...

Regards,
Gordon.

Yep! This is how I get away with a pair of 15" drivers in a 1300 cu/ft room.