Floorstanders vs bookshelf on stands

True Blue

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Hi all,

Just browsing through the site under best buy speakers and all the sub £1000 speakers are bookshelf type (which I am assuming have been mounted on stands). Does this mean you dont really see the benefit of floorstanders until above this price??

Any thoughts / views?
 

cheyworth

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It's very much 'Horses for courses'.

A stand mounter e.g Monitor Audio RS1 will generally produce a better stereo imaging sound and work better in a small room to the floorstander RS8, the RS8 will produce greater and deeper bass and will fill a larger room but may lose some of the timing and imaging of the smaller speaker due to cabinet movement/resonance.

Others will say more...
 
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Anonymous

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You will also see higher quality drivers / crossovers / build quality in a bookshelf at the same price. It all depends what you're after.
 
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Anonymous

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... and those extra drivers mean timing can become more of an issue, most get it right but there are a fair few where it wrecks an otherwise fantastic speaker. Bookshelf speakers on the other hand are generally very coherent.
 
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Anonymous

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My experience is that you need to spend over a £1k to get decent floorstanders. I'd be starting with something like the PMC GB1i or Spendor A5. That's a view that fits my expectation of sound quality, yours may be different.

I'd even consider going to large stand mounters before floor standers. Examples are Proac Response D2, Harbeth Monitor 30, Spendor S3/1R.
 
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Anonymous

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I used to think alot more but system matching is something to consider too. Recently I was considering exchanging my £1600 standmounters for a pair of £1200 floorstanders; they suited my system more. I didn't though.
 
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Anonymous

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igglebert:My experience is that you need to spend over a £1k to get decent floorstanders. I'd be starting with something like the PMC GB1i or Spendor A5. That's a view that fits my expectation of sound quality, yours may be different.

I'd even consider going to large stand mounters before floor standers. Examples are Proac Response D2, Harbeth Monitor 30, Spendor S3/1R.

Depends on what you think is decent, but I recently heard a pair of Q Acoustics 1050i's and was very impressed by the sound produced by these relatively cheap speakers.

I personally think that it alot of it comes down to personal tastes and finding the right speakers for the right room.
 
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Anonymous

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Jan Hibma:I personally think that it alot of it comes down to personal tastes and finding the right speakers for the right room.
Yeah, agreed. I crave high resolution and well-timed bass so my requirements are quite high. As you highlight, choosing the right pair for the room is critical and a key lesson that took me a while to understand.
 
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Anonymous

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Standmount for me (almost) every time no matter how big the room.
 
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Anonymous

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igglebert:My experience is that you need to spend over a £1k to get decent floorstanders.I'd agree.

Depends on what you think is decent, but I recently heard a pair of Q Acoustics 1050i's and was very impressed by the sound produced by these relatively cheap speakers.The 1050's may sound good to some, and i can understand why, but if you compare them to something like the RS1's, they'll blow the 1050's out the water with their mid and treble detail, imaging, soundstage depth, bass control etc etc, and you get a nice wood veneer thrown in for good measure. As igglebert states, to get similar qualities from a floorstander that you get from a £500-800 standmount, you have to spend nearer the £1500 mark.

Because standmounts have smaller cabinet panels, they're less prone to cabinet boom, which in turn tends to give a less 'coloured' view of what's going on, producing a far more accurate presentation, giving a more 3 dimensional image. As they're smaller, material costs are smaller, so you tend to get better quality drivers/crossover and finishing. The only thing you have to take into account is a quality pair of stands, which won't be cheap at about £150/200.

A floorstander will utilise the space below a standmount that isn't being used, and look more attractive than using most stands. The extra cabinet volume will give extra depth, but this will need extra cabinet bracing which comes at a price. Whether they give extra punch is debatable, as some feel standmounts give a more dynamic punch as they sound faster due to the reasons listed above. But they will give higher SPL's with more, and deeper bass. As I said, because of the extra bass and volume floorstanders give, more money needs to be spent on counteracting the drawbacks this brings.
 

JoelSim

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Octopo:Standmount for me (almost) every time no matter how big the room.

If you choose the right floorstanders, you get the detail, the timing, the soundstage...

and the scale

ÿ
 
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Anonymous

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JoelSim:
Octopo:Standmount for me (almost) every time no matter how big the room.

If you choose the right floorstanders, you get the detail, the timing, the soundstage...

and the scale

ÿ

It's interesting because I've made some bad decisions about speakers for room size in the past and have had to spend cash to correct it. All of the floorstanders I've heard would die under my room placement requirements. Bass boom is bass boom.

As Octopo seems to have experienced, I've heard good floorstanders but I just can't bring myself to get floorstanders. They always sound compromised in comparison. Dunno, perhaps just a psychological thing.
 
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Anonymous

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I find to get the best out of floorstanders they have to have excellent quality components in the crossovers otherwise timing and mid range clarity is an issue.

Unless you have the knowledge to upgrade them yourself you have to spend considerably more to match bookshelf speakers in this area.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Psychological is a possibility but here is what I have been through. Floorstander, standmount, standmount, (change of residence; much larger room same standmount), tested many, many floorstanders in the flat. Kept the standmount.

As stated much earlier on it depends on what you want to hear.ÿ
 
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Anonymous

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This is an interesting thread!

I just purchased a pair of RS6s. From what you guys are saying, spending 450 on standmounts and 200 on stands would be better investment? I am skeptical but open to change my opinion :)
 

True Blue

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Blimey, just a few responses, thank you all. I am replacing a pair of Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers and am thinking along the lines of the Rega RS1 with soundtyle Z2 stands. Or the RS3's am torn, would I notice a "huge" difference in SQ for the extra outlay?
 

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