I think of "small" and "large" as "on" and "off" for bass management. If it's a small speaker, bass management is on and the crossover redirects information below the crossover point from the speaker to the sub. If it's a large speaker, bass management is off and the signal goes to the speaker without tinkering -- nothing is redirected to the sub or taken away from the speaker. (In some cases, mains set to "large" will actually receive additional low frequency information -- redirected LF from small speakers and the .1 LFE channel -- if there is no subwoofer.)

------------------
gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review