how do those surround sound systems with those small satellite speakers and the sub compare to the large, floor or bookshelf speakers with a sub? i mostly like to listen to LOUD music. i wouldnt use them much for movie cinema surround and that sort of thing. im wondering can those satellite speakers provide all the power that floor or bookshelf speakers can? lookin at their small size makes me wonder if they can handle all the sound and power?

Sboarder,

The bookshelf speakers are larger than they look in the pictures.

If you want to play loud AND have a relatively small package, look no further than the M22. I have a pair of these and they can easily blow my eardrums out without distorting. I have a smallish room at roughly 13'x12', but I'm positive they could do the same thing in a larger room, too. My receiver is only rated at 70W/ch, too.

some of the satellite speaker companies can get quite loud. But remember one thing. They are very small. This prevents them from being able to produce accurate(and even good sounding) music. If the tweeter is 1/4 inch and the driver is 2 inches, simple physics tells us that for producing loud music, bigger is better. I have heard systems though that get loud. USsually the sub on these systems is louder then the speakers, but in general they dont sound too good.

Too true. The smaller the satellite drivers, the higher (Hertz-wise) the sub will have to play to ensure there isn't a gap in the sound.

Bose is the most famous example of this phenomenon.

If you really want to go for a compact sub-sat system, Hsu has the best one I've heard to date. Here's a link:

Hsu Ventriloquist System

As I've mentioned before, I heard this system in its prototype stage paired with a pre-release STF-2 last January and it sounded amazing with both movies and music. It's an ingenious solution to "closing the gap."

Speaker size does not limit accuracy.
It limits the sound range.

Some people do not mind having a subwoofer play frequencies right up into the 200Hz and beyond range. In such case, small satellites work perfectly fine in this situation.

I think the Bose cubes only play down to about 250hz. I don't think I would want my sub to pick up the slack between 80&250hz.

Klipsch 5.1 Ultras sound pretty good and they are plenty loud enough. The sub actually seems quite good, but I wouldn't trust my opinion as I don't have much experience in this sort of thing.

Sorry to all the Hsu fans out there, but I just have a hard time believing that the 2 1/2" "mid/high" drivers can produce high frequency that accurately. But hey, I haven't heard them.

Speaking of the Hsu system and STF-2, do you suppose that one reason music lovers seem to like the STF-2 is that it was designed to close the gap for the Hsu sub-sat system? This would suggest that Hsu made an effort to produce a more musically inclined sub that could handle the higher gap frequencies. I haven't heard one (just read the many posts here) so this is pure speculation on my part.

The Hsu sub/sat system's center channel is designed to close the gap - not their subwoofer.

The reason people love Hsu subs so much is because they're tight, fast, pack a heck of a good punch, and do all this for less than the competition.