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Small drivers vs big drivers

Hi,
I have a question that is always in my mind recently. I see some speakers with small  drivers (5-9 inches) that is reviewed to be able to throw out big sound stage and go down to 18hz-20hz. Some other speakers with big drivers (10-15 inches) though are commented to have 'big sound stage' but can only go as low as 30-35hz. 

To make the situation more complicated, some speakers have small drivers but there are many of them. Can many small drivers be compensate for the size limitation?

I don't know which specs determine a wide sound stage and the ability to reach low frequencies.  What is the pros and cons of each design?

Thank you!

Huy.
Ag insider logo xs@2xquanghuy147

Showing 1 response by mzkmxcv

mzkmxcv
558 posts
 
There is not a 9” on the planet that can go down to 18Hz, so don’t know where you got that.

Besides just driver and cabinet size, driver xmax is important, that’s literally how much movement the driver can do, the more it can move back and forth, the deeper it can go.  
  
Soundstage is the off-axis of the speaker. If Speaker A has more output than Speaker B at 90° (perpendicular), than the soundstage will be wider. In terms of the quality of the soundstage (aka imaging), that’s how the off-axis performs, it should be very close to the on-axis.  
 
This speaker will have a wider soundstage and better imaging than this speaker.
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