Am i wrong to only consider floorstanding speakers?

[matengawhat]

I have posted a couple of threads this week re £1500 to spend on speakers and was only considering floorstanding speakers - am i wrong to just ignore the standmounts? Is there any standmount spekaers that can give me the same depth of sound - is it merely a trade off of bass? If so what should i consider?

My rooms quite big 5m by 10m but i sit porbably about 4m from my speakers.

I would ideally like them to also be bi wireable.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm a big fan of stand mount speakers and I think you can get very good extension from some boxes. It would be worth considering some in that price bracket as you'd get a lot of speaker for your money. It's not just about bass depth but the dB level at the lower frequencies.

- The Spendor SA1 with stands is £1500 but doesn't go low at all so might not be your cup of tea. Interestingly they have a rich sound that gives a fullness not common on superminis.

- There's the new Proac Response D2 at around £1750. These look like a nice proposition to me as I'm yet to hear a bad Proac speaker and they're the latest design. At 43cm tall they should provide a decent amount of dB at the lower frequencies.

- The Proac Response 1SC is a bit smaller and doesn't go as low as the D2. This sells for £1250 and is very nice. I nearly bought them over the Spendors but the bass porting would have put me back to square one.

- The B&W 805S is apparently a class leader but I haven't heard it.

Don't just aim for floorstanders as there's too many superb bookshelf speakers at that price point that would probably give you a better sound than the price-equivalent fs. Just give a few a try!

 

[John Duncan]

Yes, simply. Under a grand, not sure I would even consider floorstanders, at your price point they're in contention but there are still plenty of capable stand mounts out there - I mean look at that Gamut (?) that was just reviewed about the 5 grand mark - size of a quad 11 or something.

Proac and Sonus Faber would spring to my mind first around the 1.5k mark. And aren't the Wilson Benesch Square Ones around one and a half? They'd be on my list I think. Even the Spendor SA1s with their 400 quid stands (though they didn't blow me away, they may you).

 

[Anonymous]

£1.5k for standmounts? ProAc Response D Two (As Igglebert suggested)
£1.5k for speakers? ProAc Response D Two (As Igglebert suggested)!!!

 

[Big Chris]

I can see where you're coming from as your room is uncommonly large. But I personally wouldn't dismiss standmounts out of hand.

I think that demo-ing speakers is gonna be more important to you than it would be to the 'regular' homeowner, although trying to find a demo room of similar proportions may prove a tad tricky!!

;-)

 

[Anonymous]

have to agree with all thats been said so far, especially with JD - under a grand i wouldnt consider a floorstander. to further that, regardless of your price range i would never dismiss standmounts. there is nothing a good standmount cant do (albeit they will probably be a rather large standmount).
you might want to consider going active at this price point as well... of course there is the AVI ADM9 or 9.1 option but also consider the PMC DB1S-A. i would check out the Dali Mentor 2 if you can find them.

 

[gpi]

Focal Chorus 807V, under a grand?

 

[Thaiman]

I am using a pair of Oper Callas DIVA at the moment and if you can find an Ex-demo pair then shouldn't be too far off your budget (rrp £3K).

Personally I prefer Floorstands at this price point (and my room is similar size to yours) as most of them design to have more impact to the sound. More impact will give you more of "the sense of being there" but unlike many sub £1,000 floor standers, bass should be quick and tueful.

I know size is not everything, Totem Arro show me that! Acoustic Energy AE1 mk3 and NEAT MFS also have generous bass for their size but if you gonna pay £3 in the pub you might as well have a pint rather than half

 

[radovantz]

The design of a floorstander should be also considered in which it may effect its sound quality. One cilinder occupied by more than one driver is a wrong design because those drivers will fight among each other to breathe. It is why some manufacturers., for instance, AE seperates its bass and mid-bass driver in their towers. Some of new floorstanders made by Mission and Polk Audio have 3 bass drivers in one cilinder, but i can't imagine how they sound like