Bookshelf or Towers, for 2 channel

thesurfer

I prefer bookies, as they have tighter, more acurate mids, also much better imageing, Trade off is deeper bass, bigger soundstage, what say you.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Completely depends on the application, but I generally prefer bookshelf speakers

Joe08867

I prefer 2-way towers or 2-way with a passive like SDA2b's myself. But that is for a bigger room.

Bookies are nice for nearfield but usually lack the bottom end I want and I hate subs in 2ch.

Phil Dawson

The bigger the better and with gobs of power too. Cheers, Phil

SRS-SDA Front
2 cs400i Center
SRS-SDA Rear
Shure 12in sub
B&K ref 10 pre-pro upgr to ref 50
Techniques 1200 TT
Mac MR71 Tuna
Lexicon rt-20 uni player
PSE Studio pre for TT
2 PSE Studio Mono Blocks
4 PSE Studio Stereo Amps
1 Mac 2100 Amp (bridged to mono) for sub

BlueFox

Let me think. Wimpy girly-man speakers, or big, bad-a$$ speakers. Hmmmmm. No contest. Towers.

Even in my 11x12 HT I have 4 LSi15s. Since you have to have a stand with bookshelves you are not saving any space versus towers.

Lietuvis91

To me this decision is room size dependent. In my opinion big towers, in my case m70s, don't image well in a small room. But given a bigger room, I would agree going with towers.

ohskigod

I've done both, but now my 2 channel is in a smaller area so I prefer bookshelves. My AR9's were littl overpowering for this space

audiocr381ve

bluefox wrote: »

let me think. Wimpy girly-man speakers, or big, bad-a$$ speakers. Hmmmmm. No contest. Towers.

Even in my 11x12 ht i have 4 lsi15s. Since you have to have a stand with bookshelves you are not saving any space versus towers.

+100

thesurfer

audiocr381ve wrote: »

+100

Thanks for comments, but i believe the man who makes them also uses girly man, speakers, Because i heard Mr Polk, uses LSI9,s, and there his favorites, @Bluefox

intangible

Bigger speakers bigger sound.

thesurfer

intangible wrote: »

Bigger speakers bigger sound.

Lesser detail, Big Coffins, Big bloated sounds

[Deleted User]

Before now I would have voted for the towers. Recently I purchased a pair of LSi 9's which definitely sway my vote. Try to listen to a pair of these before you decide, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Cheers. :cool:

Systems

I say Monitors Towers..look at it this way..every speakers has a response curve.Flat response Monitors are speakers that reproduce sound levels evenly across the entire sound spectrum..take My M70's..with the way they are built..two low drivers for the low end and two for the mid to upper mids..Matthew Polk built them i am sure with that in mine..keeping them (Accurate)..sound stage..can a book speaker do that sure..its just in what you want in a speaker..bigger sound stage are a sound stage ..not as big..good luck in you picking of a speaker

intangible

thesurfer wrote: »

Lesser detail, Big Coffins, Big bloated sounds

Why do you think floor standing speakers are less detailed?

leadfoot1

I only have room for bookshelves in my 2ch rig (bedroom) so that's what I use. But if I had room it would be towers for sure.

steveinaz

For years I was a tower fanatic----not anymore. My Fritz Carbon 7's reproduce bass frequencies with far more accuracy, albeit at the expense of quantity. Add to that the excellent soundstaging/imaging; it's not even close. I have a large listening room (36 x 18) and I've yet to hear the SPL limit of my monitors.

With hindsight, a lot of the "deep" bass I thought I had with towers, was simply cabinet resonace--or cabinet reinforced bass; an illusion of the real thing. I didn't realize this until I heard bass done right with my monitors.

Keep in mind though, not all bookshelves are created equal. I tried my Energy C-3's for awhile, while waiting for my Carbons to be built---they sounded like a "typical" small bookshelf. There was no wow factor.

audiocr381ve

steveinaz wrote: »

For years I was a tower fanatic----not anymore. My Fritz Carbon 7's reproduce bass frequencies with far more accuracy, albeit at the expense of quantity. Add to that the excellent soundstaging/imaging; it's not even close. I have a large listening room (36 x 18) and I've yet to hear the SPL limit of my monitors.

With hindsight, a lot of the "deep" bass I thought I had with towers, was simply cabinet resonace--or cabinet reinforced bass; an illusion of the real thing. I didn't realize this until I heard bass done right with my monitors.

Keep in mind though, not all bookshelves are created equal. I tried my Energy C-3's for awhile, while waiting for my Carbons to be built---they sounded like a "typical" small bookshelf. There was no wow factor.

Those Fritz speakers look interesting. I'd like to be swayed to conserve some space. I wish I could audition some!

cnh

I must say that I love my LSI-7s even without the Micro Pro 1000 that I still need labels for (Demo unit).

I have to agree with Steve, above. Recently, I've been on a 'vintage' bookshelf binge:

Dynaco A25s, EPI 100Vs, ADS L520, KLH 17s, etc. Though none produces 'prodigious' base. Most of them reach low enough for most of the music that I actually listen to. And I just 'love' the old sound. I'm a sucker for it, maybe I'm too old, or I'm tired of letting the LEFT side of my brain analyze 'every' little instrument, echo, and effect (staging, imaging, detail, decay, damping...and on and on and on) at the expense of the RIGHT side.

Really, when I read about 'critical' listening I sometimes wonder if people are actually 'experiencing music' or just sitting around with a white lab coat and an ipad and writing down their esoteric reflections of everything they hear without ever once actually 'hearing' anything at all?

People have been enjoying the musical experience since the first person struck up a song and a few others backed him/her up with some sticks and stones! Hardly a 100K system there. lol

cnh

Systems

Lietuvis91 wrote: »

To me this decision is room size dependent. In my opinion big towers, in my case m70s, don't image well in a small room. But given a bigger room, I would agree going with towers.

..Good point about Towers but a true too the point to..+1

Systems

thesurfer wrote: »

I prefer bookies, as they have tighter, more acurate mids, also much better imageing, Trade off is deeper bass, bigger soundstage, what say you.

..as for tigher more accurate speaker..then a Accustic design would be a more of (acurate)..way of looking at what you are getting at..But i really don,t see your piont on Towers not being (AS)..accurate..or tighter..and if someone has not set or placed them properly from say the back wall or just standing in a open room ..well yeah just about any speaker you buy..with out figuring room accustic....what you are asking is an openend question...just me saying...anyways again good luck in your speaker quest..

audiocr381ve

cnh wrote: »

I must say that I love my LSI-7s even without the Micro Pro 1000 that I still need labels for (Demo unit).

I have to agree with Steve, above. Recently, I've been on a 'vintage' bookshelf binge:

Dynaco A25s, EPI 100Vs, ADS L520, KLH 17s, etc. Though none produces 'prodigious' base. Most of them reach low enough for most of the music that I actually listen to. And I just 'love' the old sound. I'm a sucker for it, maybe I'm too old, or I'm tired of letting the LEFT side of my brain analyze 'every' little instrument, echo, and effect (staging, imaging, detail, decay, damping...and on and on and on) at the expense of the RIGHT side.

Really, when I read about 'critical' listening I sometimes wonder if people are actually 'experiencing music' or just sitting around with a white lab coat and an ipad and writing down their esoteric reflections of everything they hear without ever once actually 'hearing' anything at all?

People have been enjoying the musical experience since the first person struck up a song and a few others backed him/her up with some sticks and stones! Hardly a 100K system there. lol

cnh

I think about this a lot when I hear all of the heated debates about this or that. Truth is, a lot of people enjoy putting on the lab coat more than they do listening to music they actually enjoy. And that's okay. I used to think these guys were douches but who am I to say you have to do things a certain way to get some joy out of it?

Their are surf board builders, surf videographers, and surfers. All of em' enjoy surfing, but differently. I think we all go through seasons of enjoying the music and then enjoying the hobby. At one point I thought it was ridiculous to make music purchases based on how well the music was recorded. Now I catch myself doing that very thing, because it's just fun and enjoyable to test the systems limits. Some prefer a car to ride smooth, others like low-profile tires for better handling. Etc, etc, etc...

Systems

audiocr381ve wrote: »

I think about this a lot when I hear all of the heated debates about this or that. Truth is, a lot of people enjoy putting on the lab coat more than they do listening to music they actually enjoy. And that's okay. I used to think these guys were douches but who am I to say you have to do things a certain way to get some joy out of it?

Their are surf board builders, surf videographers, and surfers. All of em' enjoy surfing, but differently. I think we all go through seasons of enjoying the music and then enjoying the hobby. At one point I thought it was ridiculous to make music purchases based on how well the music was recorded. Now I catch myself doing that very thing, because it's just fun and enjoyable to test the systems limits. Some prefer a car to ride smooth, others like low-profile tires for better handling. Etc, etc, etc...

+2.FOR TWO GOOD POINTS ON LISTENING TO MUSIC..Now back to some FOREIGNER..

polkfarmboy

I loved my polk rti 6 for music compaired to my rti 8 for low level listening but when the rti8 got hooked up to the tube amp and cranked the volume my rti8's outshined them so my preferance was bookshelf .I got into martin logans and found that the sourse se gave me the same low volume resolution as my rti6 and great power like the rti8's with the volume cranked so its a speaker dependent choice

I would loved to grab a pair of lsi9 as the reviews on them are fantastic and replace my rti8's

cnh

audiocr381ve wrote: »

I think about this a lot when I hear all of the heated debates about this or that. Truth is, a lot of people enjoy putting on the lab coat more than they do listening to music they actually enjoy. And that's okay. I used to think these guys were douches but who am I to say you have to do things a certain way to get some joy out of it?

Their are surf board builders, surf videographers, and surfers. All of em' enjoy surfing, but differently. I think we all go through seasons of enjoying the music and then enjoying the hobby. At one point I thought it was ridiculous to make music purchases based on how well the music was recorded. Now I catch myself doing that very thing, because it's just fun and enjoyable to test the systems limits. Some prefer a car to ride smooth, others like low-profile tires for better handling. Etc, etc, etc...

Can't disagree with anything here. People 'are' different after all. For example, I can't appreciate lyrics and music 'at the same time'. If I concentrate on the meaning of the words I can't hear the music. If I listen to the music, I usually can't 'remember' any of the lyrics. Truth be told, I can't remember the complete lyrics to any one song. But, within a few notes of hearing a song I can identify it. I have a good ear for music.

My daughter has my ear for music but she also has almost a photographic memory for lyrics? So there you go!

Another example would be those who watch a football game and could actually 'coach' it, call plays, tell you what play 'should have been called instead' and those of us who just 'enjoy' the competition and athleticism and excitement of the game!

In the end, it's 'personal' I suppose. But somehow that's also a bit of a cop out because it 'relativizes' everything and allows 'everything' and 'anything' to be true. But of course, that's the 'modern' world we live in now, isn't it?

cnh

cubdog

I love large speakers but could be persuaded to switch to some nice small Harbeths.

cubdog

mantis

Bookshelf speakers are very nice , like the B&W N805's or the Dynaudio Contour 1.3se's. These kind of speakers give you big sound and huge soundstage , mid range detail but if you go with the B&W N803's and Dynaudio Contour 5.4's there is no contest.

Tower speakers of the same quality always in my opinion sound better then the bookshelf. I never felt the bookshelf version of anything out classed the tower design.
Even with polk Rtia3's do not outclass the mighty RTia7's or does the older LSI7 or 9's outclass the LSI15 or LSi25.

What I also find is most speakers require a sub to finish the audio spectrum. Not many speakers are full range and most bookshelf speakers are thin without bottom end. Yes they can be pleasing to listen to with sup rising amount of bass like Totem Rainmakers but take that every same speakers and mate it with a musical sub and a much better experience you will have.

reeltrouble1

Exactly why does it have to be one or another???

RT1

cnh

Ted's got a point!

Dan, do you 'honestly' think that the Totems can put out as much bass as, let's say LSI-9s? Because I recently heard the Rainmakers and they were good. But I was NOT overwhelmed by them. In fact, I thought that a good set of LSI-9s with the crossover mods could easily hold their own against them? And I'd 'really' be interested in how the new LSI-M bookshelves would do. I bet they'd have no problem matching the Totems and exceeding their bottom end!

Don't get me wrong. The Rainmaker is a wonderfully balanced speaker. But I think they may have received too much press and hype at this point? They're a 5 1/2" two way bookshelf that weighs 12lbs. You can do only so much within those restrictions. Time to bring back the 'Polks'!!

cnh

rebuy

Strictly 2 channel, towers get my vote.

Theater set up I can go either way, but given enough space, I'd pick towers any time over bookies.

The only reason I use bookies now is room restrictions.

steveinaz

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Those Fritz speakers look interesting. I'd like to be swayed to conserve some space. I wish I could audition some!

Contact Fritz, he usually has some loaner/audition pairs sitting around. Be prepared for a long conversation--he loves to talk hi-fi. Tell him I sent you.

txcoastal1

Dan is correct on the dynaudio Contour bookies...stopped at a local Hi-fi shop couple months ago and listened some CD's on the S-1.4 w/ a little Prima Luna Integrated tube...an absolute banging lil' combo w/unbelievable soundstage and range of depth