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Why bookshelf rather than floor-standers??

Bigmoonface

Bigmoonface

Active Member
I notice lots of members here have bookshelf speakers, mainly on stands! And I mean members often with quite high end systems and people who have been around the audiophile hobby far far longer than I have.

As a relative newbie as soon as I could afford to I got a pair of large floor-standers. Coz normally floor-standers have bigger and more drivers and therefore produce a larger more fuller sound! Don't they? Am I missing something here?

I've been under the impression bookshelf's existed as a space saving device. Capable of decent sound but not as good as floor-standers! But then I see larger bookshelf speakers on stands taking up just as much space as as any floor-standing speaker would!!??

I'm obviously under a misapprehension!??
 
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Really depends on the speakers. ADS had the 910 a 'bookshelf' speaker and it was nearly their best. AR had the 3/3a which was their best. Same for others and those could be better than other company's complete line from small to large bookshelf and towers.

But aesthetics and WAF and all sorts of reasons why folks stop with a bookshelf speaker. When the AR-3 came out it was one of the best no matter it's size vs. the monsters that were common at the time.

Many big speakers need to be out in the room. Bookshelf models too, but folks will live with the downgrade in performance pushing them back in line with their rig against the wall.

So many reasons from the tower isn't better to the significant other will only allow to nostalgic desire to have that old beloved bookshelf. Really a case by case discussion. Some bookshelf speakers really are very good.
 
Depends on your definition of "bookshelf" speakers. My AR's are considered bookshelf by the manufacturer but many place them on the floor, they are 12" 3/ways.

Smaller speakers have a better chance of disappearing, and with their small front baffle less diffraction, this could lead to better imaging/soundstage. This is not concrete, my AR's throw a nice soundstage, but I also own many "smaller" speakers.

The smaller are paired with either one or two subwoofers, setup correctly they leave nothing on the table when directly compared with much larger systems.

Hope this helps.
 
I completely understand your question because I’ve recently made the transformation. Bookshelf speakers on stands put the sound right in the sweet spot as far as listening position. I spent quite a while thinking bigger had to be better but that’s just not the case. The Holt Hill Audio’s I’m using make SO MUCH bass it’s amazing. And they’re built by a member of AK to boot.
 
at the <1 watt you are likely to listen to all day, book shelfs can do real good. I use a set of Carvin PM5s in my office that only ever see needle bounce on the SX890 when Donnie Iris 'I cant hear you' or Van Halens 'Tattoo' comes on (ok there are others but you get the point)

I managed a trade of the century for a set of mint HPM100s at my other place that are floor standers on milk crates and indeed they are underutilized 99% of the time.

Bookshelf speakers got better because theyhad/have to. the growing trend on people under 40 is to live in millennial housing in townhomes, apartments, condos etc and there is no room so for the ones who actually listen to music on actual systems, the market as it is, responded over the last few decades.

btw at my funeral I have left instructions that my SX3900 be playing into the HPM100s with my mix of CDs on random. It will be a celebration no doubt, but a GOOD sounding celebration. Everyone is invited....
 
My threeway Brystons are a largish (esp by current standards) bookshelf model with eight-inch woofer, while the two-and-a-half-way Monitor Audios in the bedroom are small towers, with six-inch woofers, as many shelf models have.. Love the sound of both. Like either pair better than the K-horns that preceded them, so large size is not the be-all, end-all for everyone.
 
Bigmoonface said:
I notice lots of members here have bookshelf speakers, mainly on stands! And I mean members often with quite high end systems and people who have been around the audiophile hobby far far longer than I have.

As a relative newbie as soon as I could afford to I got a pair of large floor-standers. Coz normally floor-standers have bigger and more drivers and therefore produce a larger more fuller sound! Don't they? Am I missing something here?

I've been under the impression bookshelf's existed as a space saving device. Capable of decent sound but not as good as floor-standers! But then I see larger bookshelf speakers on stands taking up just as much space as as any floor-standing speaker would!!??

I'm obviously under a misapprehension!??
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Its trendy. I have both and as far as bookshelf speakers have come, the iron law still applies. I really dont care about "asthetics" as much as I care about sound quality. Il take a huge pair of high quality cabs with 15"ers over invisible speakers all day long. But that's just me.
 
Bookshelf speakers are simply more versatile than floor standers. I love to change up speakers all the time and the speaker stands that I use are actually speakers themselves and place the tweeters of the top speakers right at ear level when seated.

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quaddriver said:
Bookshelf speakers got better because theyhad/have to. the growing trend on people under 40 is to live in millennial housing in townhomes, apartments, condos etc and there is no room so for the ones who actually listen to music on actual systems, the market as it is, responded over the last few decades.
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Spot on I'd say. The market caters to buyers, and as such the market is flooded with what people are buying. That would be towers, book shelfs and sub woofers.
 
I can't imagine myself choosing small speakers in a small apple to big apple comparison when sound was the overridingly important factor.

I can imagine a maker who specializes in small speakers that doesn't even offer large versions, although I'm not specifically aware of one.

I can name an example of a nice small speaker whose larger brother just wasn't as well designed; Radio Shack's LX-4 and LX-10.

I can also picture someone choosing small speakers if they really liked a line and simply couldn't afford the higher models.

I have some small speakers I really like, some of which make impressive bass for their size. In the end I always prefer a large speaker that just makes impressive bass, no caveat required.
 
The term "bookshelf" has been abused as time has gone forward. In the old days, a bookshelf speaker was literally designed to be placed against the wall, sitting on a typical books shelf. The wall reinforced the bass response and helped to create the lower/midbass sound stage. The term "bookshelf" was more to describe placement, rather then size.

Now days, the term bookshelf basically has nothing to do with placement and everything to do with its general size. Most if not all are now designed to be placed out into the room, usually on stands that would be tall enough to at least place the tweeter at the seated listener's ear level, or higher.

There are "bookshelf" speakers that can put many tower type speaker to shame. David did kill Goliath.
 
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