Does Room Size Matter?! Floorstanders or StandMounts for my lounge?

[bluesurf9]

I am upgrading my hi-fi kit and wandering if I could have floorstanders in my lounge, not sure if the room is too small or not? Dimensions or 3.1m x 5.2m. Opinions please as off to trial some speakers soon! :dance:

 

[stevebrock]

my advice is try them at home anyway - every room is acoustically different - what sounds good in the shop may sound crap at home & vice versa!

 

[Lo Fi]

Similar to my room size, I have Monitor Audio RX6s but bigger would probably too much.

 

[BigH]

Yes room size and sharp does matter. In that size I would tend to go for stand mounts unless you can place them away from walls. Try to get some on home demo. Stand mounts are generally easier to place and canbe closer to walls.

Agree about demo rooms all I have been in have been bad for sound.

 

[MattSPL]

Depends what floor standers you are reffereing to. Some floor standers will perform exactly like standmounts, and have the same drive units and internal volume, others will have multiple bass drivers and utilise the whole cabinet, and will produce more bass. Saying that, there are stand mount speakers out there that will out perform some floor standers too.

Whats your budget, and what speakers are you thinking of?

 

[bluesurf9]

My Budget is approx £400. Am considering Mourdant Short Aviano 6, Q Acoustics 2050i Floorstanders or B&W 685 standmounts so far ...and open for suggestions for anything else or if any of these shoudl be scrubbed off I have a Cyrus 6xpd amp and a Sonos Connect for my music.

 

[BigH]

You could try the new Acoustic Energy 301 which are £425.

 

[bluesurf9]

Thanks will add them to the list, home demo is not possible as only retailer within travel is richer sounds who have a 14 day return policy but you can only get an exchange or a handling fee for a refund. I gues front firing ports is only option for floorstanders?

 

[MattSPL]

I'd stick with front firing ports or a sealed box, even if you choose stand mounts, it will make positioning easier, especially if you intend to use them close to the rear wall.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

David from HiFix gave an excellent reply to one of my posts wrt floor / stand mounts. I'll check ....

 

[bluesurf9]

Thanks RobinKidderminster

 

[shafesk]

My Budget is approx £400. Am considering Mourdant Short Aviano 6, Q Acoustics 2050i Floorstanders or B&W 685 standmounts so far ...and open for suggestions for anything else or if any of these shoudl be scrubbed off I have a Cyrus 6xpd amp and a Sonos Connect for my music.

I would suggest you scrap the aviano 6 and go for the mezzo 6 instead, I heard them both and always preffered the Mezzos. A demo would be nice with cyrus kit as it might provoke the mezzos into brightness.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

There is a myth about stand mounters taking up less space than floorstanders - many stand mounters stand over 17cm wide and go back about 30cm or so, on a pair of stands standing 50cm or so most stand mounters on ...er...stands actually take up more space then many a slim floorstandstander many of which stand less then a metre tall - also the base on most stands is generally larger than alot of floorstanders footprint.

depending on your amp - if it has tone controls or not - should be the main factor for speaker choice. Bass boom can always be controlled by reducing the bass level - its only when you see these standmounts on stands in a normal room you see how big the speaker/ stand package is.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

+1 thompsonsub. Choice of stand/floor based on footprint/stability is often nonsense. Sorry Blue, cant find David's response giving valid considerations for that choice. More to do with control and placement. Hopefully David or others will respond with clarity.

 

[BigH]

There is a myth about stand mounters taking up less space than floorstanders - many stand mounters stand over 17cm wide and go back about 30cm or so, on a pair of stands standing 50cm or so most stand mounters on ...er...stands actually take up more space then many a slim floorstandstander many of which stand less then a metre tall - also the base on most stands is generally larger than alot of floorstanders footprint.

depending on your amp - if it has tone controls or not - should be the main factor for speaker choice. Bass boom can always be controlled by reducing the bass level - its only when you see these standmounts on stands in a normal room you see how big the speaker/ stand package is.

Its not the space they take up its the space they need to not sound boomy. And just think what sort of speakers/crossovers will have in a £500 floorstander when the cabinets/bracing will cost far more than a standmount.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

There is a myth about stand mounters taking up less space than floorstanders - many stand mounters stand over 17cm wide and go back about 30cm or so, on a pair of stands standing 50cm or so most stand mounters on ...er...stands actually take up more space then many a slim floorstandstander many of which stand less then a metre tall - also the base on most stands is generally larger than alot of floorstanders footprint.

depending on your amp - if it has tone controls or not - should be the main factor for speaker choice. Bass boom can always be controlled by reducing the bass level - its only when you see these standmounts on stands in a normal room you see how big the speaker/ stand package is.

Its not the space they take up its the space they need to not sound boomy. And just think what sort of speakers/crossovers will have in a £500 floorstander when the cabinets/bracing will cost far more than a standmount.

The inards on floorstanders once the price of a stand is added to the standermount does not suggest they have inferior inards.

Again, if you have an amp with tone controls you can tailor the sound to taste or use bungs, It does boil down to taste at the end of the day, but a pair of BX2's (£250) on a pair of Atacama Aurora 6 (£160 ) will stand 100x25x33 compared for a little extra the BX5 (£500) standing at 85x17x25 . Both can sound boomy depending on placement and room accoustics, both can sound just right too.

just suggesting that blue consider the options especially if his/her amp has tone controls.

 

[Pete68]

Room acoustics is everything!! Try and audition some speakers at home.

In a small room bookshelf speakers are best because floorstanders can sound boomey, I know this because the front room in our new house is smaller then in our old place and my system sounds well below par. It's the speakers.

Personally I'm going to purchase a speaker kit and build my own but if I had your budget I would consider the following:

EB Acoustics EB1 (you can get these on a 30 day home trial)

Acoustic Energy 301

Q Acoustics Concept 20

Good luck

 

[tomlinscote]

Speaker kit??? More info please, I made my own speakers some 16 years ago using an old wardrobe some one was throwing out, have replaced all 4 drivers (2 way design) once in that time but even fed from a 20yr old donated Trio amp they still sound good though relegated to kitchen duty now!

Any info on a new kit would be welcome.

Tommo

 

[Pete68]

Speaker kit??? More info please, I made my own speakers some 16 years ago using an old wardrobe some one was throwing out, have replaced all 4 drivers (2 way design) once in that time but even fed from a 20yr old donated Trio amp they still sound good though relegated to kitchen duty now!

Any info on a new kit would be welcome.

Tommo

Wilmslow Audio have been building speakers for 40 years and supply tried and tested kits. The cabinets come in easy to assemble packs and the drivers and crossovers are all the kind of stuff used in very high end speakers. The kit I'm looking at will cost me about £750 and should get me a set of speakers that perform like shop bought 2-3k speakers. I can finish them however I like and will take the cabinets down to the local car body shop and get them sprayed up in the colours I want to a high standard.

What turned me on to this was when I bought some replacement drivers for my Acoustic Energy AE120s - they were only £27 each and would have cost AE a lot less. When you purchase speakers from a manufacturer at my budget range you are getting the cheapest drivers, crossovers etc. In the kit I want the drivers cost about £150 each (x4) so I am expecting a lot more bang for my buck.

There is a whole world of DIY hi-fi out on the interweb. Individuals and major players alike are building from scratch and/or supplying kits for everything from DACs to cables to speakers. If your that way inclined it's definately worth taking a look.

 

[Pete68]

By the way....if you think buying hi-fi is addictive then be warned...this is worse

 

[Native_bon]

Room acoustics is everything!! Try and audition some speakers at home.

In a small room bookshelf speakers are best because floorstanders can sound boomey, I know this because the front room in our new house is smaller then in our old place and my system sounds well below par. It's the speakers.

Personally I'm going to purchase a speaker kit and build my own but if I had your budget I would consider the following:

EB Acoustics EB1 (you can get these on a 30 day home trial)

Acoustic Energy 301

Q Acoustics Concept 20

Good luck

I dnt quite agree with your threoy.. I have flooring standing speakings & big ones at that, & no sign of boominess... My room is 16ft by 12 ft. But i do agree with the part about room acoustics.. I believe that room acoustocs in the most important factor when setting up a HIFI system.. If not what is the piont.. just get urself an AV AMP with tone controls & auto calibration.

I think it should be standard pratice nowadays for any one buying Hifi to audition at home.. Again whats the piont of doing demo in the shop...