What do floor standers really bring to the table?

[Destination: Moon]

Aside from higher SPLs, what real listening advantage do towers have over the better measuring bookshelfs, if any?

 

[DVDdoug]

Bigger is better!

Generally, you can get more bass out of a bigger woofer and/or a bigger box.

 

[Destination: Moon]

Bigger is better!

Generally, you can get more bass out of a bigger woofer and/or a bigger box.

And if you already have a sub?

 

[Sancus]

The true answer is "nothing" because some floorstanders don't even output higher SPLs than some bookshelves, for example there's no way a Kef R5 is ever going to compete with a Genelec 8361A in terms of SPL.

However, *some designs of floorstanders* can:

• control directivity to lower frequencies due to the use of larger woofers(ie, they turn omnidirectional at lower frequencies).
• reduce the impact of SBIR and/or room modes due to having multiple woofers closer to the floor and spaced out.

Also, some people think they look nicer than bookshelves on a stand.

 

[Ron Texas]

@Sancus the R5 and similar speakers could be called bookshelf performance for someone who doesn't like stands. However, you illustrate the problem with the OP's question. I suppose one could say speakers like the 8361 or JBL 708P really aren't stand mounts. Most are mounted to walls or some other part of the room.

 

[Chrispy]

Perhaps a bit better sensitivity....

 

[kchap]

Strange question, by definition they do not fit on the table.

 

[valerianf]

"And if you already have a sub?
Remove the sub and enjoy a large Soundstage with fully integrated bass drivers.
It is obvious for music listening.
Keep the sub for movies.

 

[AdamG]

"And if you already have a sub?
Remove the sub and enjoy a large Soundstage with fully integrated bass drivers.
It is obvious for music listening.
Keep the sub for movies.

Exactly what I do. 2 channel music floor standers no sub. Movies and multichannel music use the sub. It’s about increasing the range of way to reproduce sound in various ways. In the end, it’s about what makes you happy.

 

[Chrispy]

"And if you already have a sub?
Remove the sub and enjoy a large Soundstage with fully integrated bass drivers.
It is obvious for music listening.
Keep the sub for movies.

Definitely not obvious to me that all floorstanders are better without a sub. I have fairly capable floorstanders but they're still better with my more capable subs. Might depend on what floorstanders you have, but just being a floorstander isn't very meaningful.

 

[kchap]

Definitely not obvious to me that all floorstanders are better without a sub. I have fairly capable floorstanders but they're still better with my more capable subs. Might depend on what floorstanders you have, but just being a floorstander isn't very meaningful.

I find the whole subwoofer thing too hard to get right; either overpowering or ineffective.

Floor standing speakers for me. No subwoofer.

 

[Chrispy]

I find the whole subwoofer thing too hard to get right; either overpowering or ineffective.

Floor standing speakers for me. No subwoofer.

Definitely easier not to spend time properly integrating the sub, or using suitable gear for doing so. Properly integrated is an improvement IME in any case.

 

[Beershaun]

IMHO floorstanders bring higher sensitivity which is a big deal unless you are actually 1 meter away from your speakers. So in a open concept living/kitchen space for example, you get much better sound quality at lower levels when further away from the speakers. Meaning bass notes and dynamics are higher SPL at a given volume position. Much nicer to listen to as background music or for a cocktail party when you want people to enjoy the music but not be dominated by it.

Also I have a subwoofer with mine and it's definitely a big improvement. especially to get those bass notes to carry at low levels around the room.

 

[Destination: Moon]

"And if you already have a sub?
Remove the sub and enjoy a large Soundstage with fully integrated bass drivers.
It is obvious for music listening.
Keep the sub for movies.

IMHO floorstanders bring higher sensitivity which is a big deal unless you are actually 1 meter away from your speakers. So in a open concept living/kitchen space for example, you get much better sound quality at lower levels when further away from the speakers. Meaning bass notes and dynamics are higher SPL at a given volume position. Much nicer to listen to as background music or for a cocktail party when you want people to enjoy the music but not be dominated by it.

Also I have a subwoofer with mine and it's definitely a big improvement. especially to get those bass notes to carry at low levels around the room.

I'm not sure what your trying to say. Aren't bookshelves made with various sensitivities? And doesn't the low end fall off universally as a function of lower volumes? I thought that the "loudness" switch on many amps (maybe old school?) was there to try and compensate for this??

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Depends on what you call 'bass'. If the music one listens to is mostly made up of bands with electric bass, then 40Hz or so is fine, and a floorstander will do that with more efficiency than a stand mount because of the extra cabinet volume.

Going lower in frequency with high output levels will require a sub. Period.

 

[MZKM]

Average bookshelf is 86dB
Average tower is 89dB

Many tower speakers use a midrange driver to make a 3-way design compared to the 2-way design of the bookshelf models, so hopefully you get better sound due to better directivity matching, plus lower distortion from the woofers and tweeters not being crossed as extremely.

Many, many people simply do not want a subwoofer.

Towers generally look better than bookshelves on stands; and some people buy such expensive stands (all metal and filled with sand/beads) that the tower counterpart may not cost that much more.

 

[Honken]

Reading through this thread reminded me of the comparisons by @amirm made in the Triangle Esprit Antal Ez review thread. Looking at the data alone, the M16 looks superior to my untrained eyes, yet the Triangle was preferred in that direct comparison.

Was it really just because the Triangle is a bigger speaker?

 

[levimax]

It is also easier to integrate a subwoofer with tower speakers ..... crossing a sub at 80Hz eliminates issues with sound localization but to do so you need good response down to ~40 Hz which towers are more likely to do. A tower and bookshelf on stands take up the same footprint and as mentioned stands can be expensive so if the price is not a lot higher for towers you get better performance, they take up the same footprint, and may or may not look better (subjective) so towers actually do bring a lot to the table.

 

[Beershaun]

I'm not sure what your trying to say. Aren't bookshelves made with various sensitivities? And doesn't the low end fall off universally as a function of lower volumes? I thought that the "loudness" switch on many amps (maybe old school?) was there to try and compensate for this??

Sensitivity is an outcome of all the different decisions that the manufacturer makes. Cone material, magnet size, crossover design, Cabinet volume etc. These all impact how much SPL can be generated by the speaker at 2.8v/1m. If you look at Amir's measurements they are all taken at 2.83v/1m. What you find with the floor standers vs. the bookshelf speakers, is the floorstanders almost always have much higher DB levels (90-95db) range in the frequency response slope on the Y axis than bookshelf (85-90db) range. this tends to be due to the volume of space in the cabinet. That's where my knowledge ends I'm afraid as I don't know the engineering math on cabinet volume impact on speaker SPL/efficiency.

 

[RobL]

I used to have Polk LSIM705’s (large floor-standers), I now have JBL 705p’s w/sub (small active bookshelves). The Polks just plain sounded more impressive. I don’t know why and I have tried to figure it out. They just did. Floor-standers won that battle, hands down.