5 1/2" & 6 1/2" Generally Speaking (1 Viewer)

[Lee M T]

Generally speaking, would a ported 5 1/4" (or 5 1/2") bookshelf speaker bass approximately as hard as a sealed 6 1/2" bookshelf speaker?

I know the quality of the speaker, yada yada are key. But just as a rule of thumb.

Thanks,
Lee

 

[Jack Gilvey]

There's really no rule of thumb for that. Yada, yada. Have something specific in mind?

 

[Lee M T]

hehe, well, it seems sort of logical.

After I bought my new Yammie receiver, I hooked up my dad's old speakers. They are Infinity Sterling Series, two-way, sealed, 6 1/2" bookshelves. I was highly impressed, but don't really know anything about them. How high up the food chain they are, etc. So, now that I'm on the hunt for a complete HT setup, I've been researching and listening to a ton of speakers. My budget is limited, so one proposed setup is an Energy C series. But I would have to shoot for the C-1 bokshelves, because the C-3's are really pushing the budget. Just not sure how that 5 1/2" ported woofer would do for me. I have not yet heard the C-1 with my own material though, I'm currently putting together a CD to audition speakers with.

Basically, I'm not a critical listener, per se, but I know good sound when I hear it. I just don't want to take a step down from the Infinity's, but it's fairly hard to tell at my local shops. Thier sound rooms are all pretty huge and listening to tiny bookshelves presents a problem. My room is small though, 11' x 10' x 9'. However, I'm thinking of the future too, which I will probably have a larger room, but still nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

My speakers have a 6.5" woofer in a pretty big box, and are rated down to 55 Hz.

In all honesty, a 'decent' 8" subwoofer will make a WORLD of difference. By cheap, I am thinking Polk Audio or the likes cheapest 8" subwoofer. I used a 8" Jamo sub with my system a few years ago and it made a HUGE difference. The woofers in the speakers did very little.

I know $200 for a sub might be a push, but that might be something to think about. Getting some 30-80 Hz. slam is a LOT better than mild bass above 60 Hz. and nothing else.

In your room size, a nice little 8" subwoofer should actually make some 'real' bass at lower levels. Our 8" Jamo can actually do some damage during movies.