Hi all,
I've been following this thread with interest. JohnK's comments are excellent and well-taken. It becomes very complex and the issue of smaller speakers coupled with a sub in a larger room has not had a lot of study. Moreover, whether or not you listen in stereo or use one of the 5.1 processing modes (DPLII(x), dts Neo:6 or H/K/Lexicon's Logic7) as I do, for playback of stereo discs will further complicate the equation.
Much of the work that Dr. Toole did at Canada's National Research Council, and which I participated in both as a member of the listening panel and as a magazine editor commissioning NRC tests of various speakers involved only mono and stereo listening. Those of us on the panel were quite familiar during blind tests of certain symptoms of smaller speakers "working hard" at loud playback levels--increased bass distortion, some compression and a kind of muddiness or smearing of dynamic peaks.
However, given the wide dynamic range and excellent power handling of Axiom's compact speakers (M2, M22 and M3), I've found that with multi-channel playback in "average" rooms (2,000 cu ft or so), these effects are not evident, at least not with my playback levels, which average fairly loud (80 to 85 dB SPL at my listening area). I suspect they might become so if I listened at louder levels. The dynamic peaks I'm speaking of are between 95 dB SPL and 98 db SPL at my listening seat. I'm able to instantaneously switch between the M80s and M22s (or M2s), both operating with an EP500, and my listening distance varies from about 8 feet to 15 feet. Sometimes I think there may be an "ease" to the M80s at higher levels over the M22s, but it's very hard to pinpoint and isolate. More study is needed.
In much larger rooms, and at much louder levels and greater listening distances, there are clearly audible differences between compact speakers and the M80s. In recommending speakers to customers, I usually err on the side of caution, recommending a larger speaker rather than a smaller one to allow for the wide differences in playback levels and musical taste.
Regards,
