Towers VS bookshelves: Can people hear the differences?

[JSmith]

Bass differences between tower and bookshelf speakers are obvious. You don't need a blind test to study this.

This... even if a pair of bookshelves are somehow rated the same in frequency response, the floorstander will generally always have better bass extension and will be easily audible. If going for bookshelves a decent sub is required IMO to make up the shortfall of the smaller enclosures.



JSmith

 

[restorer-john]

I played the 1812 Overture at idiotic levels and felt the air move. I still can't believe they let a broke teenager do that.

Awesome experience for sure! But you'll have ASR members telling you those IRS Vs would be indistinguisable in blind test from a pair of JBL 705s. LOL.

I was at an audiophile friend of mine's place on Sunday, just. He has three systems in various areas: A cute little pair of Monitor Audios on one vintage system, a nice pair of gorgeous little Harbeths on a classic Audio Research tube power/tube preamp/rotel CD and a serious vinyl system which has a pair of Wilson Audio Sashas driven by a Gryphon Diablo and a VPI Prime Signature TT with a Benz Micro Glider on it.

I've said it before and I said it again. It's the finest vinyl reproduction I have ever heard. The scale and effortlessness of the system and particularly the speakers in his semi treated room are something you need to hear to understand. It's a pity people make buying decisions based on preference numbers and not actual experience.

 

[Grandzoltar]

upgrade of my 2 subwoofers, which have filled in the very bottom octave in a way my older HSU's couldn't

Just curious which hsu's did you have? And what did you upgrade to?

 

[warthor]

Sorry to be so on topic with this post... but if you included well integrated subs with the bookshelves - I think it would change the conclusion significantly. Otherwise the previous responses covered it all (and obviously much that was completely tangential as well).

Thanks for the thought! I was wondering about this, as well. With the difference in cost between bookshelves and towers you could buy a 10-12 inch subwoofer. I currently have one sub and if I got another I wondered if the differences might disappear.

 

[Sal1950]

Just curious which hsu's did you have? And what did you upgrade to?

I had a pair of some older STF2 replaced with SB2000

 

[MattHooper]

Brown furniture is back.

Fashion cycle: https://www.domain.com.au/living/wh...omes-like-their-grandparents-in-2021-1022683/

On that theme:

Not that my listening/living room looks remotely like my granny's...

I deliberately chose a brown/black/cream color scheme for my room, as most speakers (at least the ones I tend to like) tend to come in those shades - e.g. some sort of wood veneer (which I like), with black speaker grills or whatever. This really worked out as most speakers, and I've had a lot, seem to instantly mesh quite well with the room.

 

[MattHooper]

When I go to audio shows and I'm sitting in front of a pair of speakers being demoed, I very often close my eyes to get a feel for the sound and try to ask myself what impression the sound is painting in my mind - big? small? high quality? Average? It often seems pretty revealing. I've sat in front of very tall floor standing speakers that, eyes closed, sounded more like crappy bookshelf speakers. And small speakers have sounded much bigger.

That said, generally speaking, not surprisingly many big speakers certainly sound much bigger.

I've had stand mounted speakers spec'd to around 40Hz at the same time as floor standing speakers spec'd around the same (and sounded so).
The stand mounted were inevitably two-way, the floor standing multi-way, with a bigger woofer. Though it sounded perceptually like they went similarly low in the bass in terms of what tones they were producing, the floor standing speaker just sounded more effortless and solid. Especially when I'd try to crank both to listen in the room, or down the hall, the stand mounted speaker sounded sort of like it was 'faking' the bass - and running out of steam. I could hear the notes, but they didn't have any solidity, punch and authority like the big speaker, which seemed to go louder with much more authority.

I love stand mounted speakers and always keep some around, but due to this experience over many years I gravitated to larger speakers for most of my listening.

 

[izeek]

I'd agree with watchnerd though I'm far from where he is in audiophile life.
I've had a few bookshelves, though nothing like a kef, and they really sounded great.
That being said, I feel like they do not have the presence and energy I get from my towers.
For me, me, I was craving something more, deeper, expressive.
I love my lofi jbl l890s. Some people reviewed them as having bright highs, present mids, and somewhat lacking in bass. I don't know what they were listening to but my l890s crank out way more bass than any bookshelf I've owned(not any really great models, im lofi after all).
They are also more vibrant with a good bit of spaciousness. And that bass. Which is even better with the matching l8400 sub I bought later.
They fill the same room in ways the bookshelves couldn't.
All in my head.

 

[digicidal]

They fill the same room in ways the bookshelves couldn't.
All in my head.

Possibly but not necessarily (referring to the "all in your head" part). One of the things that is distinctly different, as mentioned previously I think, could be distortion values. In towers with multiple drivers and/or larger displacement, it's entirely possible to reach output levels which would unsettle a single driver in a smaller enclosure. Naturally the amount would depend on the design and transducers used in the models involved - and the perceptibility would depend on design, amplification, room acoustics, and listener sensitivity.

But at least a little bit of that "filling the room" feeling might be both actual and measurable in many cases.