Do Bigger Speakers Mean a Bigger Window?

I hardly think audio history is strictly littered with large speakers. Wilson W/P’s are certainly highly desired legends. Quads 57’s and 63’s aren’t large and very highly regarded. I don’t think JBL L100’s are particularly legendary beyond the fact they sold a lot of them. They’re bright, shouty, stereotypically "west coast" speakers that virtually defined the term.

There's good technical reasons to build a smaller speaker. Smaller drivers and baffles generally promote a better defined soundstage and contribute less coloration through diffraction. 

@timlub , Spendor SP1s are huge by modern day UK standards, but point taken. I think I’m kind of fixated with the idea that the 50s and 60s were ruled by loudspeakers often the size of wardrobes. Probably seen too many vintage ads where some attractive girl is dwarfed by the size of the loudspeakers.

I just remembered that the Linn Kan is another much loved (sometimes hated!?) miniature from the past. Whereas the Eclipse TD 712z is surely another small(ish) speaker destined for future legendary status.

I guess like so much in audio it boils down to personal taste. There are few certainties and the hardest one is often determining one’s own tastes.

I used to sometimes joke that relationships are the most complicated thing in the universe (everything in flux - nothing static), but I’m beginning to feel that understanding Hi-Fi cannot be too far behind!

Vintage items that become desired collectables usually still have some use. The most desirable loudspeakers of the past usually have no modern equivalents the desire to own has fueled a great amount of reproductions. What one considers collectable is relative but over all the big money and demand is for vintage horn based systems a few TT and tube gear. And that is mostly due to how good it sounds compared to modern equivalents and how well it responds to modification. I do have the opinion that modern loudspeaker design is hampered by profit margins shipping costs and the buyer themselfs. Humans do not like change and since loudspeakers share living space and have mostly had a box like shape it's hard to sell anything but that.

I still own a pair of KLH Nines. And a pair of Rogers LS3/5A's. The big and the small. Each can sound equally impressive! Would miss either if I had to sell!