Speakers V's room size

[Stiffy]

I'm going through a change of system and have advertised my Tannoy Mercury V4 floor standers on here.

My question is, will a standmount speaker provide a big enough sound stage (if that's the correct terminology) to fill my room.
The room is approx 22' long by 16' wide.

The speakers I've looked at so fare are: Boston Acoustics A26, Tannoy Mercury V1i, Wharfedale Diamond 121 & Yamaha NSPB 300
These are the models that are within my budget.

[chelsea]

Don't know.
Sounds a perfect size room though.
Think it's one of those that you will need to try and see what happens.

[chelsea]

Sorry why are you changing to standmounts?

[Reffc]

Depends on the stand mounters. There are compromises to be made with small drivers (and small cabinets) due to the laws of physics but the sound stage can be similar, large or small speaker. Dynamic range and frequency response are another matter though. Your room is still fairly large in the scheme of things (compared with most modern rooms) and will happily (or should) provide a suitable home for appropriately designed floor standers. Finding your room's low frequency modes would help you with speaker choice, as for example if there were a peak at say 40Hz, then you may want something that is slightly rolled off by a similar amount to that peak at that frequency to avoid boominess. Rooms are all different, so beg or borrow as many as you can to try would be my strong advice and don't rush headlong into it.

My room is a similar size and I happily swap between the larger than life Reference Fidelios (to 28Hz almost flat and massive scale) or the stand mounted Reference Rhapsodys. Sound stage on the Rhapsodys is wider/deeper due to design. There is no substitute for trying some speakers as no one's opinion of a specific speaker choice will give you an accurate answer to your question. If you want some clout then you really need to look at a minimum of a 2 1/2 way long throw ported 6.5 inch driver design (if wanting smaller cabs), or 8 inch and above (larger cabs) for the main driver in 2 or 3 way designs. You'll soon tire of small two-way boxes thumping away with limited extension in a larger room. I think it's scale that you're really after (?) so "sound stage" may be the wrong terminology in this instance.

[Stiffy]

Sorry why are you changing to standmounts?

Fancied a change from the big boys but only if sound was as good.

[Stiffy]

Depends on the stand mounters. There are compromises to be made with small drivers (and small cabinets) due to the laws of physics but the sound stage can be similar, large or small speaker. Dynamic range and frequency response are another matter though. Your room is still fairly large in the scheme of things (compared with most modern rooms) and will happily (or should) provide a suitable home for appropriately designed floor standers. Finding your room's low frequency modes would help you with speaker choice, as for example if there were a peak at say 40Hz, then you may want something that is slightly rolled off by a similar amount to that peak at that frequency to avoid boominess. Rooms are all different, so beg or borrow as many as you can to try would be my strong advice and don't rush headlong into it.

My room is a similar size and I happily swap between the larger than life Reference Fidelios (to 28Hz almost flat and massive scale) or the stand mounted Reference Rhapsodys. Sound stage on the Rhapsodys is wider/deeper due to design. There is no substitute for trying some speakers as no one's opinion of a specific speaker choice will give you an accurate answer to your question. If you want some clout then you really need to look at a minimum of a 2 1/2 way long throw ported 6.5 inch driver design (if wanting smaller cabs), or 8 inch and above (larger cabs) for the main driver in 2 or 3 way designs. You'll soon tire of small two-way boxes thumping away with limited extension in a larger room. I think it's scale that you're really after (?) so "sound stage" may be the wrong terminology in this instance.


I agree that trying before buying is the way to go but it's a bit difficult as my local dealer won't lend kit out. They will however exchange it within a few days if you're not satisfied. I had a pair of Monitor Audio BX2's previously which I found too bright for my ear and my wife and I agreed they sounded like small speakers trying to fill a large room whereas the Tannoys are entirely different in this respect. I thought that it was perhaps just the MA's rather than that they were smaller speakers that caused this so I sold them.

Just a bit sick of looking at big ugly boxes in the room and thought a neater standmount might be a better bet as long as the sound was comparable.
Most of the models I've mentioned above have a 300 - 315mm LF driver but the Boston Acoustic A26 is larger. If memory serves me correctly it's 160mm

[John]

Its worth playing different speakers they can make a huge difference

[Naughty Nigel]

Depending on the design you might find that small, stand mounted speakers actually give a better sound stage than your old floor standers. Mid range may also be better, and that is often far more important than bass.

I am currently using a pair of Quad 11L's in a room of approx 16' 6" x 12' 6". They look tiny to me, and the bass driver is only 6", but they fill the room with sound much better than a larger pair of Celestions with 8" bass drivers.

Nigel.

[Stiffy]

Thanks everyone. Much food for thought.

[Mika K]

You also have to remember that acoustically the room size might be something completely different than the one seen by the eye. For older concrete apartments those are usually pretty much the same but in modern houses with lighter walls the situation is not so simple anymore.. :)

[Stiffy]

Oh well, it's off to my local dealer on Saturday afternoon to demo a few speakers.
Going to have a listen to Boston Acoustics A26 and Q Acoustics 2020i models then make my mind up on what to do.

They've offered to take my Tannoys in part exchange against whatever I decide on (if anything).

Any tips on what to look out for on a demo….obviously other than a pleasing sound?