bookshelf vs floorstanding?

mrod

I am looking to buy two front speakers. However, I can not determine whether to buy floorstanding monitor 50 or bookshelf monitor 30. Does anybody know what is the difference in sound? Will the 50's sound louder? Will the 30's sound clearer? Thanks

steveinaz

Floorstanders generally give you a "larger" sound with deeper bass. How much so depends on the design and specs. Bookshelves tend to have a little better midrange and soundstage. Some of the smoothest sounding speakers (in my opinion) are 2-way bookshelf designs.

These are loose generalizations, your milage will vary. Best thing to do is listen to both and decide on which you like best.

okiepolkie

If you decide to go bookshelf, and had prepared to spend money on Monitor 50's, get the RTi4's or RTi6's instead. You will get a better sounding speaker for not much more money. The Monitor 30's are $200 and The RTi4's(scratch and dent from Crutchfield) are $200-$220 depending on the color.

I tend to like bookshelves more, but that is my opinion.

steveinaz

okiepolkie wrote:

If you decide to go bookshelf, and had prepared to spend money on Monitor 50's, get the RTi4's or RTi6's instead. You will get a better sounding speaker for not much more money. The Monitor 30's are $200 and The RTi4's(scratch and dent from Crutchfield) are $200-$220 depending on the color.

I tend to like bookshelves more, but that is my opinion.

Absolutely. Good suggestion.

aaharvel

okiepolkie wrote:

If you decide to go bookshelf, and had prepared to spend money on Monitor 50's, get the RTi4's or RTi6's instead. You will get a better sounding speaker for not much more money. The Monitor 30's are $200 and The RTi4's(scratch and dent from Crutchfield) are $200-$220 depending on the color.

I tend to like bookshelves more, but that is my opinion.

what okiepolkie said. Ignore the monitors and get rti's. The rti4's are twice the speaker of monitor 30's and brand new are $260/pair, only $60 more than their monitor counterparts. If you're using a good subwoofer, imo bookshelf speakers give you a higher quality midrange and high-end. Floorstanding designs are much more susceptible to resonance, which may sound 'bassy' but usually only degrades the midrange and treble.

mrod

Thanks guys!

I will get the RTi4. However, I do have another problem. I have an older Onkyo and an older sub Klipsch SW12 II. I have to run wires to the sub. Then from the sub to the speakers. I currently have two speakers. When I get the RTi4, how will I connect the sub to the 4 speakers. There are only 2 inputs and 2 outputs on the sub.

okiepolkie

A couple of questions before I make any suggestions:
What model Onkyo do you have?
What other speakers to you have?
Are you trying for stereo listening, multichannel audio, or multichannel home theater or something else?

mrod

I have an old TX-SV414PRO, which has 60 watts stereo, in surround 50 watts to front and center with 15 watts rear. I have 2 older bookshelf infinities sterling series 6.5". I have it setup for stereo now. However, I would eventually want multichannel home theater. I know I will eventually need a new receiver. For now I would like to upgrade the front speakers, and put the infinities in the rear. The infinities are powered easily. Hopefully 15 watts could push them til I get some polk rears. Then I will get a receiver. I wonder if I could use my old Onkyo as a preamp, and just get power amp? Would I be limited by the sound processing cababilities of the old Onkyo? Maybe I should just get an HK. They seem to have a good rep. However, I read on some forum that the lower end models are not to good. Thanks Okiepolkie

okiepolkie

You shouldn't need to run the rear speakers through the subwoofer at all. They will just run from the rear outputs of the receiver. You can run the front speakers(Polks) through the subwoofer as you described. Depending on your future budget, I would recommend getting a new receiver. The low end HK stuff isn't that bad. Several people on this forum are using the 235 with good success. Denon or Onkyo would also be good options for a small home theater.

Hope this has helped.

Have fun with your new system.

Zach

BTW, welcome to the Polk forum.

Ron Temple

2nd the 235 suggestion. I went from an Onkyo 5xx series receiver to the HK. Night and day difference in power and SQ. Not too many bells and whistles, just 5 or 7.1, plenty of clean power and video switching, but no upconversion. It does have pre-outs.

mrod

Thanks guys

If I connect the rears directly, will they receive the same low frequency that the sub is getting? It is not being filter by the sub.

Thanks for info on the 235. I will look into.

F1nut

There is no substitute for large radiating surfaces.