Saga conclusion: 800D3 vs 802D3

[4music]

Hey Joey, thanks a lot for responding. Actually the room is almost 35 square meters. I have 275 cm between the center of the drivers. Max distance for listening I can afford is around 385 cm from the middle between the drivers. Behind the drivers I have 170cm to the wall and minimum 100 cm to the side walls. Do you think is too small?
Cheers

[Blueoak]

My dealer taught me the same lesson with my Focal Sopra 2 speakers. It all dependent on room size. My 16x25' room wasn't large enough for the Focal Sopra 3 speakers. The dealer recommended the Focal Sopra 2 speakers instead. My dealer was more interested in making my system sound great vs. trying to upsell me.

Glad to see the 802D3s worked out for you.

[joey_v]

Originally Posted by 4music

Hey Joey, thanks a lot for responding. Actually the room is almost 35 square meters. I have 275 cm between the center of the drivers. Max distance for listening I can afford is around 385 cm from the middle between the drivers. Behind the drivers I have 170cm to the wall and minimum 100 cm to the side walls. Do you think is too small?
Cheers

Let me figure out the non metric measurements and get back to you

[mulveling]

Originally Posted by Blueoak

My dealer taught me the same lesson with my Focal Sopra 2 speakers. It all dependent on room size. My 16x25' room wasn't large enough for the Focal Sopra 3 speakers. The dealer recommended the Focal Sopra 2 speakers instead. My dealer was more interested in making my system sound great vs. trying to upsell me.

Glad to see the 802D3s worked out for you.

Wow really? 16'x25' seems like a great room for that size of speaker. In fact I hear Sopra 3's in a room that I think was similar, if not a bit smaller, and they sounded great (very nice speaker)! They were positioned well out from the walls; room had hardwood over slab floor, and 10' ceilings. But certainly, this calibre of speaker would not go well in a repurposed bedroom.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by mulveling

Wow really? 16'x25' seems like a great room for that size of speaker. In fact I hear Sopra 3's in a room that I think was similar, if not a bit smaller, and they sounded great (very nice speaker)! They were positioned well out from the walls; room had hardwood over slab floor, and 10' ceilings. But certainly, this calibre of speaker would not go well in a repurposed bedroom.

Agreed. Look at the Michael fremer video that was recently posted. He's got Wilson alexx in a tiny space. Well, the listening area, anyway. And your space is much bigger! You can go with bigger speakers in the future if you want.

[joey_v]

I think if the depth of the room is 24 feet you are gold.

[Blueoak]

Originally Posted by mulveling

Wow really? 16'x25' seems like a great room for that size of speaker. In fact I hear Sopra 3's in a room that I think was similar, if not a bit smaller, and they sounded great (very nice speaker)! They were positioned well out from the walls; room had hardwood over slab floor, and 10' ceilings. But certainly, this calibre of speaker would not go well in a repurposed bedroom.

Yup. Had my local dealer and Focal confirm the Sopra 2s are more than enough for my room size. They agreed the Focal Sopra 2s would sound much better than the Focal Sopra 3s in my particular room.

I seen the huge Wilson's in Michael's room and just shook my head.

[RebelMan]

Sorry to poo-poo the party people but the size of the room matters little. Room architecture (construction, shape and materials) and speaker placement (boundaries and listening position) are the big players in achieving good sound. Success is VERY doable using small speakers in a large room or large speakers in a small room.

The problem with larger speakers in a smaller room is (obviously) their imposing size, their physical and room consuming size. Although the 800 is not that much larger than the 802 it is bigger and that may be just enough to stand in the way of the peoples comfort zone, but from a performance perspective there is little consequence.

A 10" driver at 40Hz and 80dB will sound like a 8" driver at 40Hz and 80dB, all things being equal. Compared to the 802D3, the 800D3 can reach lower frequencies with better response and has the capacity to play louder but if it's not sounding better then one needs to look closer at the big players, not the size of the room.

[joey_v]

Originally Posted by RebelMan

Sorry to poo-poo the party people but the size of the room matters little. Room architecture (construction, shape and materials) and speaker placement (boundaries and listening position) are the big players in achieving good sound. Success is VERY doable using small speakers in a large room or large speakers in a small room.

The problem with larger speakers in a smaller room is (obviously) their imposing size, their physical and room consuming size. Although the 800 is not that much larger than the 802 it is bigger and that may be just enough to stand in the way of the peoples comfort zone, but from a performance perspective there is little consequence.

A 10" driver at 40Hz and 80dB will sound like a 8" driver at 40Hz and 80dB, all things being equal. Compared to the 802D3, the 800D3 can reach lower frequencies with better response and has the capacity to play louder but if it's not sounding better then one needs to look closer at the big players, not the size of the room.

Will have to disagree.

If the room size matters little, then I would like to see proper integration of the D3 at an 8ft listening distance.

In addition, room modes are a function of room dimensions, rather than speaker positioning. You cannot escape that.

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by joey_v

If the room size matters little, then I would like to see proper integration of the D3 at an 8ft listening distance.

In addition, room modes are a function of room dimensions, rather than speaker positioning. You cannot escape that.

All true but, imho, not the issue to which you are responding.

The room size does make a big acoustical difference but speaker size does not as long as it fits in without occupying all the space. The speaker is a source of mechanical air-borne energy and releasing that energy from a 6" driver or a 10" driver is of little consequence. Really big boxes, of course, take up significant volume and, in a really small room, make it even smaller but that would be in extreme cases.