Rim size & brackets

Greetings

Compared to banjos made today, the early minstrel banjos have larger rims and fewer brackets. Please would somebody explain what difference this makes to the sound? I ask because I am going to try out some modern fretless banjos next week which have 11" rims & 24 brackets. Sadly, there is nowhere near enough where I can try out a "proper" minstrel.

Apologies if this has been covered before but I couldn't find anything on here.