Do I really need floorstsnders?

[lattiboy]

Hello,

my listening room is 25x25. The “listening” portion is essentially 15x13 (my couch is about 13’ from where I sit. I’ve always used large, floor standing speakers because I kind of figured you needed that to fill out the room with sound.

Currently I use Monitor Audio RS6 Silvers with two Infinity SUB R12 subwoofers. It sounds amazing, but I like to experiment with stuff and need to be pointed in the right direction.

If I’m comfortable with the subs handling everything below 100Hz or so (I have active bass management with my receiver) , is there a bookshelf-type speaker that would provide adequate sound for my listening space? I really like a big soundstage and detail over tone.

I’ve looked at the LS50s since they’ve gotten down to below $800 used. I also have a pair of Yamaha 500 2-way monitor speakers I use in my office. There’s also the JBL 530s on sale for $300 pretty often.

Thanks!

 

[tomlinmgt]

I tried LS50s in a 16x20 space with dual 12” DIY sealed subs that were -3db @ 25 Hz...



...and the room swallowed them up. They just couldn’t produce mid/upper bass, mids or highs that engaged me with any sense of authority, realism or scale compared to bigger speakers with subs...and I tried them with some big muscle SS amplification (Threshold) and some healthy tube power. The only stand mounts I experienced that could deliver something exciting and authoritative were Energy Veritas 2.2...


...but to truly grip the room and load it with sonic energy that gave a true sense of lifelike scale and dynamics, I found speakers that had a lot of driver surface area or horn loading (or a combination of the two) did the best job.





And all of those speakers were supplemented with the dual subs with no filtering out of the low frequencies to the mains.
I haven’t heard your Monitor Audios, but figure they’d be close to my ADS 1290/II’s in terms of sonic energy produced. So unless you intend to listen in a near field configuration or move your system to a smaller room, I suggest you stick with floorstanders in a room with as much volume as the one you’re currently using.

I have the JBL 590’s, and they can create some impressively large sound stage scale in my 16x30-something living room. Not sure if the 530’s could do the same, but they do use the same compression driver and similar biradial horn as the 590, so if supplemented with a pair of capable subs they could probably compare similarly to their big brother. More so than the LS50’s, I’d wager.

- Michael

 

[Guest159]

I'm in complete agreement with tomlinmgt. That kind of space is just too large for a bookshelf to fill with sound. It's about twice the size of my listening room and I feel my room is about as large as you'd want to go with bookshelves. I'd personally rather have an excess of speaker than a deficit. Something like an LS50 is doesn't have the bass to support subs crossing over at 100Hz in that volume of space.

 

[GD70]

As they say, there's no replacement for displacement. You definitely want larger floor standers, ASD 910's, 1530's, 1590's, maybe L980's. You might also consider the larger Magnepans. Incredibly natural sound as you seek,

 

[Grenadeslio]

You might be surprised what a pair of Jamo C103's with 12" subs as stands are capable of.


They came in three finishes and are usually stand mounted but mine as you can see are utilizing subwoofers for this.

Here they are in real mahogany on stands.


If deciding you still need more these did have bigger brothers up to the C-109, but they're huge.

 

[lattiboy]

I tried LS50s in a 16x20 space with dual 12” DIY sealed subs that were -3db @ 25 Hz...

View attachment 1700607

...and the room swallowed them up. They just couldn’t produce mid/upper bass, mids or highs that engaged me with any sense of authority, realism or scale compared to bigger speakers with subs...and I tried them with some big muscle SS amplification (Threshold) and some healthy tube power. The only stand mounts I experienced that could deliver something exciting and authoritative were Energy Veritas 2.2...
View attachment 1700610

...but to truly grip the room and load it with sonic energy that gave a true sense of lifelike scale and dynamics, I found speakers that had a lot of driver surface area or horn loading (or a combination of the two) did the best job.

View attachment 1700621 View attachment 1700620 View attachment 1700619 View attachment 1700618 View attachment 1700623
View attachment 1700636


And all of those speakers were supplemented with the dual subs with no filtering out of the low frequencies to the mains.
I haven’t heard your Monitor Audios, but figure they’d be close to my ADS 1290/II’s in terms of sonic energy produced. So unless you intend to listen in a near field configuration or move your system to a smaller room, I suggest you stick with floorstanders in a room with as much volume as the one you’re currently using.

I have the JBL 590’s, and they can create some impressively large sound stage scale in my 16x30-something living room. Not sure if the 530’s could do the same, but they do use the same compression driver and similar biradial horn as the 590, so if supplemented with a pair of capable subs they could probably compare similarly to their big brother. More so than the LS50’s, I’d wager.

- Michael

Holy crap! Thanks so much for the detailed response!

I’ve had the JBL 530s in a cart for a while now and just pulled the trigger. It’s Walmart, so I have a month to kick the tires and return when I feel like it. Will report back when I do!

PS the 530s are $300 a pair right now at Walmart.com! The JBL fire sale ended a few days ago, but I’d prefer buying from Walmart because of local ease of return.

 

[lattiboy]

You might be surprised what a pair of Jamo C103's with 12" subs as stands are capable of.
View attachment 1700896

They came in three finishes and are usually stand mounted but mine as you can see are utilizing subwoofers for this.

Here they are in real mahogany on stands.
View attachment 1700895

If deciding you still need more these did have bigger brothers up to the C-109, but they're huge.
View attachment 1700904

one of my big speaker regrets wasn’t getting in on those when they were basically giving them away a year or two ago. I think Frys has them for $130 a pair or something stupid.

 

[zebra03]

Really ?!?!?! Walmart is selling JBL speakers ? Well , Hokey Nids , you learn new something every day .

 

[RunOutGroove]

You might be surprised what a pair of Jamo C103's with 12" subs as stands are capable of.

I've been looking at a pair of these in my local ads and I'm considering pulling the trigger on them. Seems like between the very attractive price that they're selling for and me selling one of the pairs of my current speaker collection that I could get these with a somewhat minimal total investment. I hear good things... I'm never going to have floor standers in the space that I have (I guess that I could, but I won't like the room arrangement) and would love to have a beefier sounding bookshelf speaker than what I have. I'd be using them with a much smaller, single sub, but my room isn't huge either so it's likely to be a combo that's going to be satisfying enough for me.

I wonder how you would describe the sound of these? What do they seem to do well.... less well, etc?

 

[quiet]

I tried LS50s in a 16x20 space with dual 12” DIY sealed subs that were -3db @ 25 Hz...

View attachment 1700607

...and the room swallowed them up. They just couldn’t produce mid/upper bass, mids or highs that engaged me with any sense of authority, realism or scale compared to bigger speakers with subs...and I tried them with some big muscle SS amplification (Threshold) and some healthy tube power. The only stand mounts I experienced that could deliver something exciting and authoritative were Energy Veritas 2.2...
View attachment 1700610

...but to truly grip the room and load it with sonic energy that gave a true sense of lifelike scale and dynamics, I found speakers that had a lot of driver surface area or horn loading (or a combination of the two) did the best job.

View attachment 1700621 View attachment 1700620 View attachment 1700619 View attachment 1700618 View attachment 1700623
View attachment 1700636


And all of those speakers were supplemented with the dual subs with no filtering out of the low frequencies to the mains.
I haven’t heard your Monitor Audios, but figure they’d be close to my ADS 1290/II’s in terms of sonic energy produced. So unless you intend to listen in a near field configuration or move your system to a smaller room, I suggest you stick with floorstanders in a room with as much volume as the one you’re currently using.

I have the JBL 590’s, and they can create some impressively large sound stage scale in my 16x30-something living room. Not sure if the 530’s could do the same, but they do use the same compression driver and similar biradial horn as the 590, so if supplemented with a pair of capable subs they could probably compare similarly to their big brother. More so than the LS50’s, I’d wager.

- Michael

I see things really are bigger in Texas.

 

[RunOutGroove]

I guess that it all depends on what your expectations are but it seems like in all but a super cavernous room one ought to be able to use some kind of bookshelf speakers, not necessarily super-compact ones and maybe with a sub or two get a really full sound. I'm not as expert as some folks (most folks!) here though and I also probably aren't looking for the same sort of things...

 

[quiet]

The little speakers will be short between 100 and 500 Hz.

 

[Grenadeslio]

one of my big speaker regrets wasn’t getting in on those when they were basically giving them away a year or two ago. I think Frys has them for $130 a pair or something stupid.

Well, if you had kept a watch they ran several sales. The first they were indeed $129, I missed that one also, it was November 2017. The next sale I caught was in February 2018, grabbed a pair for $169, then thought "I should have grabbed more", it was already too late. So I kept watch, then caught another sale in March, grabbed 4 more pair at $179, put those on eBay for a bit of a profit eh lol.

 

[Grenadeslio]

I've been looking at a pair of these in my local ads and I'm considering pulling the trigger on them. Seems like between the very attractive price that they're selling for and me selling one of the pairs of my current speaker collection that I could get these with a somewhat minimal total investment. I hear good things... I'm never going to have floor standers in the space that I have (I guess that I could, but I won't like the room arrangement) and would love to have a beefier sounding bookshelf speaker than what I have. I'd be using them with a much smaller, single sub, but my room isn't huge either so it's likely to be a combo that's going to be satisfying enough for me.

I wonder how you would describe the sound of these? What do they seem to do well.... less well, etc?

Out of the box they're really in your face and boomy bass, but very holographic imaging. At first listen I thought of selling them, but kept them connected and they settled in nicely. So if you do purchase count on 100hrs of break-in before final evaluation.

As for how they sound? In a nutshell......HUGE, way bigger than their size would imply. A sub isn't really required unless needing that final octave, these have prodigious bass output. Highs are articulate without being harsh, holographic 3D imaging, and they look great also. These retailed for $1800, after hearing them broken-in they were a bargain even at that price. At the price I paid? Well..... I stole them actually lol.

 

[Harvestor]

Hello,

my listening room is 25x25. The “listening” portion is essentially 15x13 (my couch is about 13’ from where I sit. I’ve always used large, floor standing speakers because I kind of figured you needed that to fill out the room with sound.

Currently I use Monitor Audio RS6 Silvers with two Infinity SUB R12 subwoofers. It sounds amazing, but I like to experiment with stuff and need to be pointed in the right direction.

If I’m comfortable with the subs handling everything below 100Hz or so (I have active bass management with my receiver) , is there a bookshelf-type speaker that would provide adequate sound for my listening space? I really like a big soundstage and detail over tone.

I’ve looked at the LS50s since they’ve gotten down to below $800 used. I also have a pair of Yamaha 500 2-way monitor speakers I use in my office. There’s also the JBL 530s on sale for $300 pretty often.

Thanks!

You'd be Amazed at the small vintage OHM Acoustics model L....
Here's my set sitting on my OHM model H


Up close below...
8 inch Woofer's....huge magnets!


Up close photo not mine, but this is how pretty they can be.

 

[RunOutGroove]

Out of the box they're really in your face and boomy bass, but very holographic imaging. At first listen I thought of selling them, but kept them connected and they settled in nicely. So if you do purchase count on 100hrs of break-in before final evaluation.

As for how they sound? In a nutshell......HUGE, way bigger than their size would imply. A sub isn't really required unless needing that final octave, these have prodigious bass output. Highs are articulate without being harsh, holographic 3D imaging, and they look great also. These retailed for $1800, after hearing them broken-in they were a bargain even at that price. At the price I paid? Well..... I stole them actually lol.

Wow... it looks like I might be getting these and playing musical chairs with the speakers that I've got. I really like both pairs that I have currently but can't justify owning stuff that I don't have hooked up and will inevitably like these Jamos even better than either anyway. I'm a little worried that my Marantz 2270 won't give enough muscle to these to really shine, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'm considering getting some kind of higher wattage power amp at some point and using the Marantz as a preamp... It would be nice though if once I hook up the Jamos that I won't feel like I need that extra wattage, but either way, I'm sure that they'll sound great at low to mid volumes anyway (which is how I'm usually listening anyway).

I'm excited by the "3D" part of it in particular. When I got my Elac speakers I was amazed at how spacious everything sounded with them. I know that they are on the cheaper end, but not having much experience with really high end stuff they really impressed in that regard... and the Jamos it seems are likely to be a league better than that.

 

[Grenadeslio]

Wow... it looks like I might be getting these and playing musical chairs with the speakers that I've got. I really like both pairs that I have currently but can't justify owning stuff that I don't have hooked up and will inevitably like these Jamos even better than either anyway. I'm a little worried that my Marantz 2270 won't give enough muscle to these to really shine, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'm considering getting some kind of higher wattage power amp at some point and using the Marantz as a preamp... It would be nice though if once I hook up the Jamos that I won't feel like I need that extra wattage, but either way, I'm sure that they'll sound great at low to mid volumes anyway (which is how I'm usually listening anyway).

I'm excited by the "3D" part of it in particular. When I got my Elac speakers I was amazed at how spacious everything sounded with them. I know that they are on the cheaper end, but not having much experience with really high end stuff they really impressed in that regard... and the Jamos it seems are likely to be a league better than that.

They do like power, mine are currently connected to an amp with 400watts per channel and they crank. But I bet they'll sound superb with your Marantz until able to add a power amp down the road if you feel the need for more db.

My living rm system has one of my Kenwood integrated amps seeing only preamp duty with a Belles power amp doing the heavy lifting for my AR's. The Belles is the black box bottom left.

 

[classic carl]

Currently I use Monitor Audio RS6 Silvers with two Infinity SUB R12 subwoofers. It sounds amazing, but I like to experiment with stuff and need to be pointed in the right direction.

I have the Monitor Audio Silver RS8 towers with a Monitor Audio FB210 sub and an original Martin Logan Dynamo sub in a smaller room than yours. The room is 23 x 13 and the Dynamo has a downfiring 8" driver, while the FB210 has both front firing and downfiring 10" drivers. I've never tried any standmounts in the room, but don't think they would do the job as impressively as the Monitor Audio towers that I've owned since they were new.

 

[RunOutGroove]

Incidentally, I don't really get the appeal of bookshelves on stand mounts far way from the wall. if you're doing that, what do you really gain in space over floor standing speakers? If you have a set of bookshelf speakers you really like and have some floor space, then I could see that this solution makes sense, but it still takes up space on the floor and likely not any less than some lower profile floor standing speakers...

 

[Grenadeslio]

Incidentally, I don't really get the appeal of bookshelves on stand mounts far way from the wall. if you're doing that, what do you really gain in space over floor standing speakers? If you have a set of bookshelf speakers you really like and have some floor space, then I could see that this solution makes sense, but it still takes up space on the floor and likely not any less than some lower profile floor standing speakers...

If your thinking of getting the Jamos understand they're rear ported and will need some breathing space behind. Plus if you want that 3D holographic imaging I was referring to they will need some space around them.