Standmounts vs Floorstanders .. What Do You Prefer?

[Witterings]

If you have a medium sized room that could take either and the choice of Standmounts vs Floorstanders which way would you go and why?

 

[matthewpianist]

Floorstanders, purely for aesthetic reasons. If my room allowed it I would have a pair of Mission QX3 MkII, however they would be the wrong speaker for my listening space and the QX1 MkII is a perfect fit.

 

[podknocker]

Wow! It's such a tricky decision.

I have QA3030i on stands, but if I was looking for a new speaker, I'd listen to the QA5040

Tighter bass and more treble, which is what I'm after, but I won't be spending anything for a while.

Some say the footprint is the same, but look at the Spendor A2 and then look at the new B&W 607 S3

Some standmounts have the same volume as floorstanders, so they might not fit in your room.

Also, the bass response is usually higher with floorstanders and you can get 'interactions' with the room boundaries, especially if they are rear ported.

Best thing to do is audition the largest speakers you are willing to install and listen to them.

Work your way down with smaller speakers and see what works best.

There are many floorstanding designs. RTL, Isobaric, ported everywhere etc.

Some floorstanders produce prodigious levels of bass, often at frequencies that can 'hang' in your room.

Speakers are a minefield as they are the final link in the chain and it's this interaction with the room that's so difficult to get right.

 

[Friesiansam]

Before I had to go headphones only, I had a pair of Hitachi HS330s. Big, old-school stand mounters, with 25cm woofers. If I was going back to speakers, I would be inclined to go with floor standing. When you take account of the stands, it's not like stand mounters take up any less space.

 

[podknocker]

The footprint of some floorstanders is tiny, like the Spendor A2 I mentioned.

I would prefer floorstanders, if there's a next time, but there are so many different sounding speakers.

I would always want a standmount I could screw into stands, to give them more stablilty.

I've said this before, but if you have £5k Harbeths and they are not stuck with blu tac and you knock one over.

Blu tac is not ideal and stands screwed in, with or without ballast would be my choice for standmounts.

 

[daytona600]

Floorstanders if Single. Bookshelf if Married
4/5 inch bass drivers are pointless
They both take up the same floorspace

 

[Witterings]

The footprint of some floorstanders is tiny, like the Spendor A2 I mentioned.

I would prefer floorstanders, if there's a next time, but there are so many different sounding speakers.

I would always want a standmount I could screw into stands, to give them more stablilty.

I've said this before, but if you have £5k Harbeths and they are not stuck with blu tac and you knock one over.

Blu tac is not ideal and stands screwed in, with or without ballast would be my choice for standmounts.

Must admit this is something I would worry about as I have 2 Labradors ... I also don't really like using blu tack aas it leasves marks and if you ever wanted to sell them ... guess it's different if you've decided they're your forever speaker.

 

[podknocker]

It might sound petty, but I'm single and do like to move stuff and clean things OCD style.

I had a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 230 years ago and apart from the really annoying upper bass boom, I could hardly shift the things to clean.

They were really heavy and I don't want to buy anything I can't move, in my fifties!

 

[podknocker]

Must admit this is something I would worry about as I have 2 Labradors ... I also don't really like using blu tack aas it leasves marks and if you ever wanted to sell them ... guess it's different if you've decided they're your forever speaker.

Yes indead. I'm single, in a flat with no kids or pets. Even an unruly cat could topple yer Harbeths.

Speakers, stands, screws, spikes.

It's the 4 S's

Edit: a 5th S could be sand, for ballast as you can't get lead shot these days. Didn't know that.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Floorstanders. Good bass is the bedrock for everything else.

 

[podknocker]

That's true, but my QAs dig down to 38Hz I think.

Enough for me, as I'm not a basshead.

You do need the right amount of bass to underpin the music.

The foam bungs work and I don't have the 'honk and drone' now.

 

[twinkletoes]

If you have a medium sized room that could take either and the choice of Standmounts vs Floorstanders which way would you go and why?

Im going to be awkward and I’m going to split the difference. I like large standmounts things like mission 770s wharfdale lintons for example. In my opinion you get the speed of a standmount and the cabinet volume of floorstanders

 

[podknocker]

Im going to be awkward and I’m going to split the difference. I like large standmounts things like mission 770s wharfdale lintons for example. In my opinion you get the speed of a standmount and the cabinet volume of floorstanders

I think the Spendor A4 and A7 are a perfect size, but sadly, I can't afford either, or move them probably.

 

[Witterings]

Im going to be awkward and I’m going to split the difference. I like large standmounts things like mission 770s wharfdale lintons for example. In my opinion you get the speed of a standmount and the cabinet volume of floorstanders

I'd been looking at both of those earlier today before I started the thread, whilst I'd love to hear them both and would love a pair, I think the wife would consider them reasonable grounds for divorce

 

[matthewpianist]

I'd been looking at both of those earlier today before I started the thread, whilst I'd love to hear them both and would love a pair, I think the wife would consider them reasonable grounds for divorce

I had Lintons with the matching stands for quite a while. They're very capable but on the reserved side and they never quite engaged me. I heard the Mission 770s at Bristol in January, and they were more my cup of tea. Both need a fair bit of space.

 

[podknocker]

What's happened to PRaT?

It's a dirty word in HIFI these days.

Let's buy stuff that sounds really safe and old fashioned.

State of the art recordings, streamers and CD players are beggng for a system with bounce and verve.

Lots of speed and detail and stuff that makes you want to turn it up!

It's the soft, bloated upper bass that annoys me and it's not accidental.

In many designs, the drivers and crossovers are tuned to give you this 'impressive' demo room honk.

No ta.

 

[matthewpianist]

That's one of the things I like so much about my Missions @podknocker - no bloating, plenty of detail and pace, but also no trace of thinness or harshness.

 

[Messiah]

Whilst I have owned a few pairs of floorstanders over the years I tend to lean more towards standmounts and a sub.

I just find this combination gives me a solid performance over the entire frequency range along with greater flexibility with speaker placement etc.

If space becomes and issue and I need to put them on a sideboard (or Kallax with my home cinema set-up) or wall etc then I could.

If bass response is not great I can move the sub somewhere else.

(Although I have found no need for a sub with the QA 3030i’s).

 

[nopiano]

As our dog doesn’t go in my ‘music room’ I choose based on sound and budget. To illustrate this I’ve gone from stand to floor to stand and back again over the years. It’s always been about the sound I’m seeking or something I just loved.

I think I posted this ‘Hifi shop’ picture recently after a pal came over, and wanted to hear my ATCs having had the Sonus fabers on all afternoon. The stand mounted Italians are taller than the floorstanders from Gloucestershire!

https://imgur.com/C2eHlPh

View: https://imgur.com/C2eHlPh

 

[Al ears]

I'd settle for floorstand which I currently use. I also have standmounts which work very well in the same room.
I got standmounts because I already owned some quite expensive speaker stands.
If I had to factor in the cost of stands if buying from scratch I would get floorstanders as all the money will have gone into the speakers themselves.

 

[plastic penguin]

Definitely floorstanders. Standmounts are spoilt by by ugly metal stands, really it's like going into a hi-fi shop and buying some cut down scaffolding. This is why I'm saving my pennies for good quality wooden ones, although every time I save some money I spend it on other non-hi-fi related stuff.

But yes, purely as aesthetics go, floorstanders for me all the way.

 

[nopiano]

Standmounts are spoilt by by ugly metal stands

Not all of them!

https://imgur.com/GGVvYwA

View: https://imgur.com/GGVvYwA

 

[twinkletoes]

I'd been looking at both of those earlier today before I started the thread, whilst I'd love to hear them both and would love a pair, I think the wife would consider them reasonable grounds for divorce

They are big old units!

 

[podknocker]

Not all of them!

https://imgur.com/GGVvYwA

View: https://imgur.com/GGVvYwA

My QA 3030i on matching white stands look very modern. They nearly vanish with the decor and the soft lighting.

 

[nopiano]

My QA 3030i on matching white stands look very modern. They nearly vanish with the decor and the soft lighting.

I bet they do. After putting my smaller 3020i away I bought some of the dedicated stands that were going cheap. I think they’re black, but I confess they’re unopened. QA makes some stylish kit though. Here mine are on old Celestion stands that are too short.

https://imgur.com/KDQUEqt

View: https://imgur.com/KDQUEqt