Silly question about skinny towers

[django1]

I must have missed this when it actually happened, but when and why did speakers stop being short and squat with big woofers to tall and skinny with no woofer to speak of? When I was younger, we would get some pretty impressive thumping out of our 12 in woofers...

[Sandbagger]

The same reason everyone likes skinny chicks these days?

look at what were considered beautiful women of the 50's and 60's, they would be considered large by todays standards

[Stereodude]

It typically has to do with minimizing the baffle width for acoustic reasons.

[Sandbagger]

It typically has to do with minimizing the baffle width for acoustic reasons.

yea that too:thumbsup::yes:

[Cujobob]

Skinny speakers have less diffraction (soundwaves bouncing off of the cabinet smearing the signal), they generally have better WAF (less noticeable), and are also lighter for shipping purposes. Many manufacturers like to use smaller woofers for various reasons...generally, liking a specific type of driver (Seas, Scanspeak, etc.) though large woofers can sound incredible and IMO offer much better dynamics that trump anything they give up to a smaller driver in detail.

They're taller because the internal volume of the speaker is still required to be the same, since they're skinnier, it has to be much greater depth or height.

[mlbrand]

All the above, as well as because powered sub-woofers emerged with 12"+ drivers that could be positioned optimally for the best low end frequency response.

[dvenardos]

The same reason everyone likes skinny chicks these days?

Emphasizing the cleavage from the fake boobs? :snaggletooth:

[Monkeypimp]

It probably also doesn't hurt in getting the tweeter up to ear level instead of sitting on the ground.....

I wish I had pics from college with my speakers sitting on milk crates....ugly ugly ugly.

[woofersus]

The abilities of those small drivers have also come a long way in the last 30 years. My RS450's go down to 37hz with two 5.25" drivers! Given the ability to make speakers smaller, lighter, and more attractive for a given level of performance, why not do it? The emergence of affordable powered subwoofers has also played a role, but in the world of high end 2-channel, subs are still largely persona non grata. (even though I tend to disagree)

Even in the pro audio world, you don't really see refrigerator sized cabinets anymore. Some of the best stuff I've heard involved skinny line arrays with flown 15's next to them and subs on the ground below.

[django1]

The same reason everyone likes skinny chicks these days?

look at what were considered beautiful women of the 50's and 60's, they would be considered large by todays standards

Kevin, are you sure selling audio gear is the right line of work for you?:poke:... :)

To the rest of you serious guys: thanks for the info...

[busen19]

All the above, as well as because powered sub-woofers emerged with 12"+ drivers that could be positioned optimally for the best low end frequency response.

good point

[diamonddelts]

i still run nothing but big towers in my system. But then again I've never been one to subscribe to what the mainstream is doing in any facet of my life.