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Can a small speaker sound really really good?

Hi everyone,

So I spent a ton of my spare time making a really good sounding mini speaker because there were no great sounding small speakers I can buy. However, I got really into it because it was amazing to see just how good a small speaker can sound when serious efforts are put into achieving as many proper speaker design principles and good speaker performance criteria. Having no budget concerns also really helped.

My speaker is 5" x 13" x 5'' (WHD), and it is a 3 way design using very high quality drivers from Scan-Speak. It has a properly designed time aligned, linear phase tri-amped active crossover. The speaker is very small, but it has real bass extension to 45Hz, outdoors!  

I'm wondering, would anyone be interested in listening to my speakers and tell me a no sugarcoating answer of what they think about my speaker and how it compares to high end speakers you've experienced? My goal is to design a mini speaker that sounds just as good, if not better than normal sized speakers, and every criticism helps improve the next speaker I'm in Mid City Los Angeles, and I'd welcome anyone interested to have a listening session in my home, or bring this speaker to your home. I'm new to Los Angeles, and I'd love to meet some fellow audiophiles here.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
boostb
boostb OP
4 posts
 
I spent about $1500 building it
gnostalgick
88 posts
 
I feel that the speaker is only half of the equation; what are you using to drive it? Does it work well to more/less power?
mihorn
104 posts
 

OP
      I met with Alex at Wavetouch Audio. He was a very gracious host and we spent hours listening and comparing our speakers while talking about all sorts of audio.
     The Antero sounds incredible. Huge, spacious imaging with superb clarity and a beautifully smooth sound that sounds far far better than any $2400 speaker should sound. It was a real eye opener in more ways than one. 
    The Antero was very interesting that even though it wasn’t as accurate as my speaker, it sounded more pleasant to my ears. My speakers did not throw as big of a soundstage either, but had deeper and stronger bass. This isn’t a knock on the Antero, I’ve yet to hear a bookshelf speaker that can compare to my speaker’s bass.
    Thank you, Alex for hosting this comparison. I wish the best for his business and encourage more people to hear his excellent sounding speakers.
Thank you boostb for very kind words!
The comparison listening lasted about 7 hours and I enjoy every minutes.
You have done a great (no incredible) job to make such a small speaker sounds grand. The mid-range from your speaker was particularly blooming and punch without harshness. Beautifully extended high freq. without the irritation was impressive. The bass was incredibly powerful and tight without booming. I couldn't believe it is very a small cabinet. All freq are integrated well with the right balance. The sound was great and very musical. Moreover, this good performance are with lowest budget amps and cables. I am impressed. I think your speaker will do even much better with better cables and amps.
Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors and enjoy the journey!
Alex/Wavetouch Audio


kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 
Very intrigued. Would love to hear more details about size of the drivers, crossover design, etc. Its always a revelation to hear small speakers sound several times their size. Very few people can pull that of. For me, this occasion was when I heard a pair of (small)speakers at the NYC audio show from Sonner Audio. It simply challenged the laws of physics in my book. Talked to the designer, real guy. Unfortunately, just like everything else exceptional in their domain, I found the price way outside of my budget - $10K for the pair, apparently all spent on components since the cabinet was nothing special when compared to some of the Italian furniture masterpieces out there.
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