I didn't specify small or large. We bought JBL L100s because that's what the studios we had access to, or that were most popular at the time were using, at least with the music we liked. My uncle had a giant pair of Tannoy studio monitors when I was just a lad that he had gotten overseas and brought them back with him. Subsequently, they worked great in the near field. It's what I still style my listening preferences after. I am using 12" for near field monitors with 12" subs, and have used 15s. Smallest near field I would use now is 8". Although, the little JBL LSR305 deliver a decent full range experience in the near field as well.
Not a fan of the Yamaha NS-10 and its variants?
I know, I know- nobody actually likes them, but they can be found in so many studios that nobody needs to bring their own, they reveal problems very well and if they sound good through those, they'll sound good through just about anything.
First time I was in a working studio, they had big JBL speaker systems in the corners with large horns and IIRC, 15" bass drivers- don't know what was used for mids. A friend had a studio and when I went, it was to use the RTA from where I worked, because he said something was wrong with the sound. He played some music and I immediately told him there was a phase cancellation and asked if any diaphragms had been replaced recently. He looked surprised and said that one had been replaced, then asked how I knew- once I heard the sound from a speaker firing to my left & right as I held it, I became acutely aware of that sensation and honestly, I hate it, but it makes diagnosing audio problems much easier than If I wasn't able to hear it as easily. The next studio I went into was a place run by two guys whose dad had tons of money, so they sunk it into that and I don't remember how, but they were able to buy the Mitsubishi digital recorders that were used to record 'Delicate Sound Of Thunder', by Pink Floyd. They also had a Neve console and IIRC, Rupert Neve was there the first time I saw the place. Lots of big names recorded there while it was open, but they didn't last too long- don't remember their monitors, but the control room was fairly large.
