Floor Standers or Bookshelf?

mantis

Hello all,
For years I've been thinking about Bookshelf speakers over floor standing models due to how much the room involves the quality of bass. Thinking about sealed subwoofers like the JL Audio E112 which is on my list as well as maybe a sweet pair of Monitor Audio Silver 100's in gloss black.
I'm thinking about maybe going Monitor Audio all around and rethinking the floor standing approach. The Room really dictates bass performance and with trying to create bass where your main channels go, I feel that it's much more difficult to achieve a good flat response due to position of the tweeter relationship to your main seating.
For decades I have always thought from the top down meaning speakers first then filling in the lower octive. REL subwoofers are known for this but I'm feeling that might be old news and with more leaning towards the room, I think starting with 1 or 2 subwoofers correctly placed in the room, bookshelf speakers would fill in the mid range up.

Thoughts?

EndersShadow

I think you’d end up missing your def tech....

tonyb

Just a matter of preference really, and of course the room we all have to work with. Either way can be very satisfying.

My own preference is towards floorstanders for the bigger scale of music. However, it's easier to find bookies that perform well, and cheaper, in their related frequencies than a good floorstander. Just my opinion there.

Lots of good subs too these days on the market to fill in that lower end.

Dabutcher

If you have little kids or a wife that throws things, or a dog with a strong tail? Book shelf speakers are easily tipped over on some stands depending on the speaker. I would recommend towers. Good bookies give you more bang for the buck if nobody is going to tip them over ?
Good luck. D

rooftop59

Dabutcher wrote: »

If you have little kids or a wife that throws things, or a dog with a strong tail? Book shelf speakers are easily tipped over on some stands depending on the speaker. I would recommend towers. Good bookies give you more bang for the buck if nobody is going to tip them over ?
Good luck. D

I’ve always had bookies. I have four kids a boxer and a stubborn spouse. The only time the speakers have ever been tipped over is when I was stumbling to the bathroom in the middle of the night 😂

EndersShadow

rooftop59 wrote: »

.......when I was stumbling to the bathroom in the middle of the night 😂

“BlueFox” night eh ....

I’m shocked we don’t have a badge for that....

@Hermitism @msg ......

Hermitism

The H&M Creative Mischief Design Studio is currently working on a different project. A major undertaking. Please be patient. Announcement coming soon.

EndersShadow

Hermitism wrote: »

The H&M Creative Mischief Design Studio is currently working on a different project. A major undertaking. Please be patient. Announcement coming soon.

sponger

If the fs for a particular series has a "lively" cabinet, then I guess the mids and highs would be better off with quality stands as a platform. Of course, that doesn't alleviate issues that may exist with the bookshelf cabinet. So I guess it would be redundant in that sense.

SCompRacer

My suggestions for two channel systems have been refined to asking what type of music do you listen to. Consult a musical instrument chart and see how low the instruments go and do a room sweep to see if you are covered. Be ready for experimenting with placement and applying acoustic treatments.

IMO room dimensions would be the deciding factor between floor standers with or without subs and bookies with subs. I supplement floor standers measured at 25Hz - 40kHz +- 3dB without sacrificing SQ. My speakers sit in an open main level. There was some effort to find the absolute best positioning of both the speakers and subs.

In a room not designed for audio, ruler flat may not be possible. However, the closer you get it, the more you enjoy it.

mantis

EndersShadow wrote: »

I think you’d end up missing your def tech....

I have a pair of Monitor Audio Bookies and Floor standers Silver series to rock out with. I think you're right.

mantis

tonyb wrote: »

Just a matter of preference really, and of course the room we all have to work with. Either way can be very satisfying.

My own preference is towards floorstanders for the bigger scale of music. However, it's easier to find bookies that perform well, and cheaper, in their related frequencies than a good floorstander. Just my opinion there.

Lots of good subs too these days on the market to fill in that lower end.

It's kinda nice. Subwoofers are where it's at for the start of any foundation I believe. Even if you have floor standing speakers, how many can honestly fill in the bottom octaves like a subwoofer can properly placed in a room? I think the real issue is us old dogs overlook the importance of bass response in the room and key placement. You can't place floor standing speakers in the ideal position in your room for flat even smooth covering bass response. You have to place them where the mid range and high frequencies are going to perform their best. That is usually somewhere in the equal Triangle world. And with my experience I have noticed this is not the ideal place where I would place a subwoofer.
With my Definitive Technology Mythos ST towers, I don't get the freedom of placing them in the ideal placement in my room for bass. They are placed ideally for Mid to high frequency perfection. When I add a subwoofer, cross them over at 80hz and allow the sub to carry the weight, I get better smoother bass. Not faster as the subs in the ST's are killer. They are a freaky design but man can they play well. I lose out on some frequencies due to placement and the configuration of my room.
This is going to be a long project of testing and playing around with placement. I want to get 2 JL subs here and really dig into finding perfection.

mantis

SCompRacer wrote: »

My suggestions for two channel systems have been refined to asking what type of music do you listen to. Consult a musical instrument chart and see how low the instruments go and do a room sweep to see if you are covered. Be ready for experimenting with placement and applying acoustic treatments.

IMO room dimensions would be the deciding factor between floor standers with or without subs and bookies with subs. I supplement floor standers measured at 25Hz - 40kHz +- 3dB without sacrificing SQ. My speakers sit in an open main level. There was some effort to find the absolute best positioning of both the speakers and subs.

In a room not designed for audio, ruler flat may not be possible. However, the closer you get it, the more you enjoy it.

I don't think many rooms in our homes are built correctly for music or sound reproduction. They are designed around comfort living and family gathering. But with some time thought treatments and the right gear for the room I think a sonic level of perfection can be achieved in any room. Even terrible high ceiling hard surface hard wood floor rooms can create a good experience.
I'm an old dog in this hobby and have a lot of hangups on how I grew not only as a professional but as a hobbyist. I stuck to some old habits and I think I need to empty my cup a bit and make room for some thinking I didn't entertain. Never would I ever consider having bookshelf speakers as my main channel speakers as I in some childish way feel like I'm turning in my MAN card if you will. I know that sounds silly but I get a rush out of badass floor standing speakers. I never ever think that a book shelf speaker with a sub is the way to go. I always felt like that is a compromise and your causing yourself some area of loss.
I think I have been very wrong in my thinking as much as I learned about room acoustics and bass response my ego got in the way. I have owned some really nice bookshelf speakers over the years. I own a pair now in the KLH Albany which are probably not for me but I also didn't put much time into really finding out how well I could blend them with a sub. I also have a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 100'sin gloss black to play around with.

rpf65

I can understand you being hesitant to replace floor standing speakers with bookies. That change could make you feel, al least on a subconscious level, that something is missing. Even though properly placed subs can give the bookies a preformance boost over floor standers, 2/3 of the speaker just isn’t there.

Can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a customer’s house, non audio related, and the very first thing you see is floor standers. I don’t care how much junk, or antiques, in certain neighborhoods, is cluttering that particular room, big speakers announce there presence. Was actually at a house where the guy had a suite of armor standing between the wall and each of his Maggie’s, like they were crowd control or something. The rest of the couples taste in home decor was even worse in some rooms, but I try not to judge.

Any way, I feel your discomfort at not making the statement that a man lives here. Although there have been a handful of single women with floor standers, it is by far the exception.

You see I can understand your feelings that you may be cashing in your man card. I tell guys all the time that if you don’t have big speakers before you’re married, you never will have them. The wife will not allow them in her house. You have to have them first, and let her know it’s a package deal. Again, there are a few exceptions out there.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you there is one advantage to owning bookies over floor standing speakers. They are smaller. You can store at least 3 pairs in the same space as one pair of floor standers. Being smaller, they are also much easier to swap out. That is a huge advantage.

You could own 3 times the speakers, not invade any of the wife’s storage space, and maintain marital bliss. The rabbit hole may get a little bigger, and bank account may get a lot smaller, but compromises are a necessary evil to all of life’s endeavors. All you need now is the properly phrased explanation, as there are no excuses in audio related topics.

For those demanding the return of your man card and all the rights and privileges it entails: I now own three times as many speakers as before, I am not a convert or sell out.

For the wife: These are much smaller, and priced a lot lower than the floor standers they offer, so it really isn’t as expensive as you think it is. It’s more like breaking it down to three smaller payments instead of one large one.

I hope I’ve been of some help.

Hermitism

I own LSiM703s and a Miata. I guess I s u c k at life.

mantis

rpf65 wrote: »

I can understand you being hesitant to replace floor standing speakers with bookies. That change could make you feel, al least on a subconscious level, that something is missing. Even though properly placed subs can give the bookies a preformance boost over floor standers, 2/3 of the speaker just isn’t there.

Can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a customer’s house, non audio related, and the very first thing you see is floor standers. I don’t care how much junk, or antiques, in certain neighborhoods, is cluttering that particular room, big speakers announce there presence. Was actually at a house where the guy had a suite of armor standing between the wall and each of his Maggie’s, like they were crowd control or something. The rest of the couples taste in home decor was even worse in some rooms, but I try not to judge.

Any way, I feel your discomfort at not making the statement that a man lives here. Although there have been a handful of single women with floor standers, it is by far the exception.

You see I can understand your feelings that you may be cashing in your man card. I tell guys all the time that if you don’t have big speakers before you’re married, you never will have them. The wife will not allow them in her house. You have to have them first, and let her know it’s a package deal. Again, there are a few exceptions out there.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you there is one advantage to owning bookies over floor standing speakers. They are smaller. You can store at least 3 pairs in the same space as one pair of floor standers. Being smaller, they are also much easier to swap out. That is a huge advantage.

You could own 3 times the speakers, not invade any of the wife’s storage space, and maintain marital bliss. The rabbit hole may get a little bigger, and bank account may get a lot smaller, but compromises are a necessary evil to all of life’s endeavors. All you need now is the properly phrased explanation, as there are no excuses in audio related topics.

For those demanding the return of your man card and all the rights and privileges it entails: I now own three times as many speakers as before, I am not a convert or sell out.

For the wife: These are much smaller, and priced a lot lower than the floor standers they offer, so it really isn’t as expensive as you think it is. It’s more like breaking it down to three smaller payments instead of one large one.

I hope I’ve been of some help.

Well I'm planning the rabbit hole visit and probably gonna stay in there for a while. I'm gonna explore this area I never did before as the more I consider the room and bass response the more I can convince myself this is a great new chapter.