Which has Better imaging/soundstage

phipiper10

Was wondering what you all thought of monitors vs. floorstanding speakers in terms of imaging and soundstage.

Let's just say the same drivers are used for each speaker type. Do monitors "disappear" more easily or provider a wider stage?

I prefer floorstanders but is there an advantage to monitors? Anyone got pros/cons from real world experience?

I've mostly found cons thus far for monitors.
Have to buy stands
Buying stands eats up the $$ saved by buying the monitor vs floors anyway
Takes up same space as floorstanders if not on a shelf
May have to fill stands

dorokusai

I prefer monitors over floorstanders for one reason.

You typically expect a floorstander to sound better and when a bookshelf or monitor speaker rocks your world, it's truly special. I had much more fun with smaller speakers than I have with larger ones.

I'm only talking about monkey coffins, not out-of-the-box thinking speakers like Planars or ESL. They require the opposite approach in my mind, go big or don't go at all.

Early B.

In general, floorstanders should have more soundstage.

There should be no difference in imaging.

RuSsMaN

In my experience, all things equal - floorstanders will have a bigger soundstage - but a good pair of monitors offers pinpoint imaging that can be very involving. More of a point-source, if you will.

Cheers,
Russ

heiney9

Floorstanders can convey dynamics and scale much better generally speaking. I also believe they can give a slightly better soundstage. But it's really all a crap shoot.

I was literaly blown away by the my Lsi 9's. I never though a bookshelf type speaker could sound so good. However, the Lsi 15's probably even outdo the 9's in respect to the catagorys mentioned, but your room and placement have a lot to do with it also.

If you have a smallish, intimate listening space sometimes floorstanders are over kill and will sound worse than a well placed bookie. Evaluating your end goal and room dimensions can certainly help you decide what's going to work best. FWIW, I'm still comtemplating moving up to the 15's to improve scale and dynamics (both impact and accuracy).

H9

Jim Shearer

Assuming the drivers are identical and the enclosures around the drivers are also identical (ignoring the box extension to the floor which would provide a degree of freedom for the designer to tune the enclosure for extended bass responce,) the monitor should provide the same imaging and sound stage as a floor stander. The possible advantage of the monitor is the ability to position it in ways that are impossible for the floor stander. Location will affect the performance of a speaker, in some cases quite dramatically. You might have a room where the monitor could be positioned for superior performance as compared with the floor stander. Ideally, this wouldn't happen, but very few can afford to have a room constructed specifically for a sound system, so we work with what we have and can afford. In the end, it's what works for you and depends on your room (and perhaps your significant other.)

Cheers, Jim