Do floor standers have to stand on the floor?

[Daveperc]

OK - slightly dumb question, but the preferred location for my speakers will be on a lowish plinth unit that forms part of some built in units.

I'm thinking of Monitor Audio BX5's or possible KEF Q500's - and am having a demo next week.

Is there any reason why they shouldn't stand on the very solid base unit? Tweeters will still be around ear height etc.

Main reason for preferring floor standers is my perception that I'll get a more solid bass response than equivalent stand mounters.

Am I completely off my trolley - and if so what would you recommend as an equivalently priced set up?

Amp will probably be one of Rotel RA10, Marantz PM6005, or Arcam A19 - depending on the demo outcome.

Dave

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Because I don't have wide open spaces in my flat, all, all, my so-called floorstanding speakers are on stands, ranging from 20cm, 30cm and 40cm tall, except for the surround (but still "floor-standing") speakers in the kitchen and my bedroom, which are on surfaces about a metre and 63cm high respectively.

Tweeters will still be around ear height etc.

That is said to be the important thing, which I try to achieve in all four of my rooms, certainly as far as the front speakers are concerned. I think that many so-called floorstanders are simply too small to have the tweeters at ear height when one is seated.

 

[Daveperc]

Many thanks - that's really helpful. I will certainly read the paper, but at the moment it appears the site is down (genesisloudspeakers.com).

When I last bought speakers (35 years ago!) big = beautiful - I can well imagine that the world has changed!

Any particularly good speakers in the £500 - 700 bracket you'd recommend?

 

[Daveperc]

[UNPUBLISHED]

Hmm - I can't seem to find the way to delete a double post!

 

[gurux]

There are plenty of speakers, each brand has a house sound and ideally you should try them all. Partnering is also important.

I have been a Naim user for quite a few years and because Naim works better with certain brands of speakers my experience is limited / biased. But I've always been a Neat fan so I would certainly give Motive Two a listen, it's a wonderful little speaker (it's actually a floorstander although a small one) capable of great bass. Because a new range with an improved tweeter has just been released the old range can be had for bargain prices, you might even be able to get a brand new one from a dealer for your budget.

But there are plenty of others - I would try PMC DB1i (a bit more expensive), the famous KEF LS50, the Guru Juniors, see what you think of B&W's budget speakers (a lot of people love their sound) etc. Just visit all the dealers in our area, the more the better!

 

[gurux]

It's a long story and there are plenty of opininons.

It all boils down to coupling vs decoupling - you can find plenty of info about it on the Internet if you do a search (or click on my link to start with).

Depending on speakers, base, surroundings etc you might be better off coupling (and purely for SQ this is generally the preferred method) or decoupling (particularly if you don't want to transmit vibration to floors / neighbours etc) and some speakers actually work better in this scenario.

In my experience the way the speakers interface with the floor, floor material etc are important and even little things like a different type of spikes or spike feet can also make quite a difference.

But I wouldn't bother with it at this point. Go listen to some speakers (and I would certainly give the Neat Motive range a demo before making a decision), make your choice, take them home, experiment with positioning, then let the sound settle.

After a month or so, once you get used to the sound, think of weaknesses and if there's anything you'd like to improve. If you find the system too "soft" or slightly unfocused I would try to couple the speakers to a solid base and / or use something like Soundcare Superspikes, possibly on some solid, heavy granite plinths. If, on the contrary, you would like a more relaxed, softer, smoother presentation, I would explore decoupling options - sorbotane etc.

Last but not least standmounts can be capable of delivering some serious bass. But there is bass and there is bass and while the quantity can be plentiful, it's the very low (below 60-70Hz) frequencies that the standmounts generally can't reproduce. Whether you need that low bass / sub bass or not it's up to you but, again, I would certainly do some critical listening before making any decision. I would also look into bass port location and stuff, if a speaker is back ported it will probably need a fair distance from a back wall to avoid sounding boomy.

My personal advise: if the budget is tight you get more value from the best standmount you can buy rather than from the big wooden crate. Quantity and size don't equal quality and in this case more can almost always be had in the lesser package. Big speakers have resonance issues, phase issues, crossover issues and at the cheaper end of the market they are almost always bettered by similarly priced standmounts.

Think of things this way. For the same money which one do you think it will sound better: the big box (which is not cheap to manufacture) with at least three drivers generally sharing the same internal compartment, a more complex crossover etc or the small box with only two drivers, a simple crossover? Which one will have the better, more expensive drivers (although maybe not the same low end extension), which one will offer the better crossover, the better enclosure? Big speakers look good in the photos but to actually manufacture a good set of floorstands costs quite a bit more compared to standmounts. At a similar price the floorstander manufacturer will have to cut a few corners to be able to make a profit as well.

 

[Daveperc]

Mant thanks - have spent a good deal of time readng, thinking and re-planning! So here's the cunning plan!

With a little reconfiguration I can create two clear tops to cupboards (which will hold my vinyl collection) so will be about 450mm high and 450 deep. Speakers will be about 2.4 m apart, and I usually sit about 4.5 m from the speakers. It's an L shaped room (7.3x3.3 on the long leg and 6.4m x 4m on the short leg. The speakers face down the short leg from the base of the L with a full length window (curtained) an one side. Room is carpetted and has various sofa's etc.

Rather than floor standers I go for "stand mounters" - and my current thought is to go for EB2's - the reports seem pretty solid, and of course they are only on sale and return. I like the fact that they appreciate being fairly close to a wall (they'll only have about 100mm behing them max with my set up, appear to have great dynamics, but don't want to be driven really loud - which suits me just fine. I also like their size which wll give more physical presence than some of the equivalent price/spec competitors

When they come (?Feb ) I can first see how they sound with my current old Marantz amp, and then take them off to my local hifi shop to do a back to back comparison with other speaker/amp combo's. If I'm not happy I still have all the options as before.

Has the advantage that I get to hear them in my room rather than in the demo room first. Also allows me to manage the decision process rather than doing everything in one go at the demo room.

So - any thoughts??
Dave

 

[Daveperc]

Well, in the absence of any comments I've taken the plunge and ordered!

Just spoken to him and got very friendly reception! Looks like delivery will be end Jan/early Feb - so it will be the old system for the Christmas parties!

Loving that they are individually hand made, right down to hand winding the coils in the crossovers! Feels so much better than buying off the shelf something made in a million sq ft factory in Shenzen!

Having said that - will still go for a "brand" Amp - am hoping that Arcam FMJ A19 will hit the seet spot - have to wait till Feb to find out though!

Dave