The age old question of.........

[admin_exported]

Standmount Vs Floorstanding speakers!!

I'm sure this topic has probably been done to death on this forum but as a hifi novice who's about to invest a good wodge of his student beer tokens on a pair of speakers I'm in desperate need of advice on what to choose.

I listen to a wide variety of music including classical, jazz, 70's rock, dub and reggae but around half my time is spent listening to dance music, especially trance and minimal techno that involves fast moving deep basslines. With this in mind I originally thought that a pair of floorstanders would be the right choice of me as people have told me they have a wider frequency range and a better bass response. That and I also think they look rather tasty!!

Then last weekend I plugged my amp and CD deck into a friends pair of Monitor audio Gold 10 standmounts and was shocked as to how good they sounded so I'm now back to square 1 as to what speakers I should buy. Other people have advised me that a pair of standmounts and a good quality sub may even be better than floorstanders, is this true? I would have thought having separate units would effect the integration?

I have around £400 to spend on a pair of speakers and I wouldn't mind buying 2nd hand. They'll be paired with a quad 77 integrated amplifier and a marantz CD-63 player. The system is for my bedroom that's 20ftX10ft with all the usual bedroom paraphanalia but these can be shifted about for optimum listening

Thanks for the advice

Hank

 

[Alec]

WARNING - I'm a novice myself and what im about to say is just to start you off. Try checking back here at a busier time to see if anyone more experienced can help. Depending on where you position your speakers, i guess that room may just be big enough to justify floor standers. However, the consensus on floor standers V standmounts seems to be neither. In other words, you will probably find a bigger diference between a good pair of stand mounts and a rubbish pair than between stand mounts and floor standers, and floor standers may well swamp you. The consensus also seems, by and large, to avoid subs and just get speakers with decent bass, unless you are going to be playing games and watching movies with your speakers too. All that said, theres no substitute for listening to floor standers and standmounts in your budget and trusting your ears. I bet there are some good stand mounts at your level, but im too inexperienced to reccommend im afraid, plus, my speakers (Monitor Audio BR2s) arent at your price level. Anyway, thats all from me, hopefully someone will come and let you know if im leading you astray.

 

[nads]

welcome to a world of hurt.

but i think for the money a good pair of bookshelf speakers on good stands could be the way to go.

says someone who has just bought floorstanders.

 

[Anonymous]

I used to have floorstanders but now have standmounts. i would not go back to floorstanders as i think that standmounts can sound a little speedier and often give a better 3d picture that floorstanders. You can get standmounts that give you really big bass too, you don't always have to get a floorstander for that. With your room size i would not want too large a speaker as there is nothing worse than a big speaker in a smaller room. You mentioned the GR10's. A friend used to have a set and they sounded fantastic but you need a decent sized room and a high ceiling or they won't sound good. I know, i tried them in my old flat and they were awful, far too big a sound for the room which was 15 feet by 11.
Anyway, a couple of suggestions might be monitor audio bronze 5 floorstanders. They are not too big and produce a weighty driving dynamic sound ideal for dance/electronic music and the other types of music you listen to.I would demo them in your home first if possible though just to be sure. The monitor audio RS5 floorstanders are also worth a listen.They are a little smaller than the Bronze 5's and only have one woofer so could be a good bet.
As for standmounts, B&W's 685's might do the trick, although again they are big powerful speakers so i would want a demo at home if possible.Monitor audio RS1' s also produce a huge amount of bass for such small boxes although you might think they dont quite have enough.Still, worth a listen i think.

 

[Thaiman]

With you electronics, which is very good, I don't think floorstand needed. Try MA BR2!

 

[d_a_n1979]

All i can say is Ebay...

Atacama SE20 or SE24 speakers stands f(illed with atabites preferably) along with either B&W 602 S2 or B&W 602 S3 speakers.

These will suit your music tastes down to a tee. The B&W's provide great, clear, puncy controlled bass along with a great midrange and crisp treble. The Atacama stands will help to control that bass, especially for the Dance, Techno and Trance music you listen too.

Believe me, if you get them, you'll love them!

 

[Andy Clough]

Each type of speaker has its own merits and shortcomings. A standmount speaker ought to produce a more agile, articulate sound, while a similarly-priced floorstander provides lower bass and a greater scale of sound, but only go for the latter type if your room is big enough to warrant it.

There are more compromises where floorstanders are concerned: their physically larger dimensions can mean a loss of cabinet integrity (due to larger panels), and the often higher driver count can mean compromises where integration is concerned.

Comparatively-priced standmount speakers often sound better, but you have to factor in the cost of stands, too.

 

[JoelSim]

I have to say I was faced with the same predicament in my living room. It's about 4m front to back and 6m wide. I went for floorstanders and they sound great. For the type of music you listen to, then B&W would seem the best choice in my view.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the helpful replies!

I think the only way for me to decide at the moment is to go to my local hifi store and have a good listen.

The faster more accurate sound of standmounts seems very appealing and am I right in saying they'll offer me a tighter punchier bass as opposed to a more resonant sound? a tighter punchier bass is what I'm after but I'm worried about the narrower frequency range that standmounts as I know some of the producers that I listen to go down to around 25hz for their kick and bass.

On the subject of standmounts, I've come across a pair of quad 12L2's for a reasonable price. Does anyone here have any experiance of these speakers and how they compare to the old Monitor audio Gold reference 10's or B&W 685 or 602's?

 

[d_a_n1979]

In my opinion, the B&W 602's will blow the 685's out of the water with the music you listen too

Having recently auditioned the 685's against my 602s, there was no competition. The 602's won every round.

 

[Anonymous]

Stand-mount speakers with a sub will give you almost the best of both worlds! You can tune the sub to the room (and even the music), whilst enjoying the tautness and clean sound you get from the main speakers. I guess the only danger is the need to persistently play with the sub settings!