Small is better

Yeah, I know, the joke opportunities abound. Humor aside, I remember the very first time Arnie Nudell demonstrated the massive Infinity IRS III to me. His choice of music was a surprise. Standing in front of these gargantuan 7.5' tall behemoths, the first thing you're thinking is the 1812 Overture, Pink Floyd, or Hans Zimmer's Gladiator. Instead, Arnie played for me a single acoustic guitar. Instead of serving fireworks, I got an aperitif. I was immediately stunned at just how real the instrument sounded: perfectly formed, the right size, just as if the artist was in the room. "The real test of a system is not its largess," said Arnie, "but its ability to render singular voices and instruments in proper perspective, as if the performer was in the room." Once we had established the credentials of the system on the small, we moved to the big and were not disappointed. Few systems can reproduce the power and majesty of a full orchestra. Even fewer can manage perfection of the small.