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Why bookshelf rather than floor-standers??

To sub or not to sub. That is the question. If a person doesn't want extra sub boxes in the room, then why not use the tall skinny speakers with the woofers on the side and the isolated midrange? Some of them work well enough?
And putting the powered sub in the tall skinny box has been done with good success?
 
quiet said:
And putting the powered sub in the tall skinny box has been done with good success?
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My last HT fronts where Polk RT2000P’s (easier than separate subs w/moving every 3 yrs). They did a very good job 2ch. Gave them to a kid and work when I moved into the Tiny House. He is using them 2ch with a newer Marantz Integrated for his TT.
 
There is pros and cons to both sides. Bookshelfs are usually cheaper but when you take into account buying stands they can cost almost the same. Floor standers usually have more bass due to larger cabinet and or more drivers. Floor standers usually play louder and sound fuller. Bookshelfs are lighter and easier to move, while floorstanders are heavier. Plus WAF leans more towards bookshelfs. Unless one can afford it the average household rooms are on the smaller side and some use them as desk top monitors near field so having smaller speakers is enough or ideal for smaller rooms plus you can use mulitiple smaller speakers in a 5-9.1 surround sound. For those that say book shelfs need more bass well one can just add a sub. There is no right or wrong its just what suits you best in your situation.
 
It's also a generational thing.

Tower type speakers did not become a common thing till the 80s.

Many folks on ak stick to 1970s and back gear, a time when large bookshelf speakers ruled and tower speakers were far less common. So by virtue of that, many bookshelf speaker users can be found here.
 
I prefer tower speakers over smaller bookshelf types as the dynamics seem better. However I have lived in apartments where there wasn’t really enough room for big speakers. In those situations I would prefer a bookshelf. Especially if you are very close to neighbors with a shared wall. You can turn off the subwoofer for late night listening. You can’t turn the bass off on a big tower speaker.
 
matteos said:
However I have lived in apartments where there wasn’t really enough room for big speakers. In those situations I would prefer a bookshelf. Especially if you are very close to neighbors with a shared wall. You can turn off the subwoofer for late night listening.
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It's all about compromises.... unseen in the picture are not one.....but two Danley DTS-10's flanking the left/right side of room.

Had neighbors on three different walls, one was the complex manager's home. Never once in three years, did I have anyone complain....also, I made sure to "pre-apologize" to the manager (and neighbors) for ever being loud and they all looked at me and basically said "what the He** are you talking about? I've never heard any noise from your apartment"

So in the end, it's all about respect and control of the volume.

(had even larger speakers in the 2nd bedroom however, I never hooked them up.!!)
 

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crn3371 said:
Very seldom does the best location for bass response coincide with the best location for music listening. Bookshelf speakers (with subwoofers) allow you to place the speakers where they sound best, and place the subwoofer(s) where they sound best.
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to this I reply, and not to you per se, but rather subs in general.

when asked in the store about my opinion on subs I reply as thus: "when you go see Rush in concert, does Neil Peart kick over the bass drum so it plays into the floor? yes bass is omni directional, but into the floor?"

And now I am adding: last friday I went to a small converted theatre to see "the Granati brothers with special guest Donnie Iris". Its a small place and my 4th row center tix was about 12-15 ft from the performers. I was recovering from pneumonia and the strong bass kick, aimed AT me, made it feel like I had to cough, and indeed loosened stuff up for later

In short, bass is meant to be felt, not just heard. If we are trying to recreate a live show, a sub woofer should not be part of the mix.
 
I'm with you ... but my big floorstanders dominate the room when they're at least 3 feet out from the walls ..
I prefer the floorstanders ... whether it's the JBL's or the Magnepans, but they only work in a big dedicated space ..
When I had a 20x30 foot living room in an old Victorian, the Maggies were sublime ..
And a sub would be an un-necessary addition to the JBL's .. unless it was an 18" driver .. there really ain't no music at 18hz ..
 
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Coytee said:
It's all about compromises.... unseen in the picture are not one.....but two Danley DTS-10's flanking the left/right side of room.

Had neighbors on three different walls, one was the complex manager's home. Never once in three years, did I have anyone complain....also, I made sure to "pre-apologize" to the manager (and neighbors) for ever being loud and they all looked at me and basically said "what the He** are you talking about? I've never heard any noise from your apartment"

So in the end, it's all about respect and control of the volume.

(had even larger speakers in the 2nd bedroom however, I never hooked them up.!!)
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I lived next to this one lady who banged on the shared wall every other day. Also she came out and screamed at me for walking past her door "too loudly" at around 8pm once. I really wasn't ever that loud.

Needless to say I didn't live there for very long. I did want to get vengeance on her by putting a sub by the wall and playing a 15hz tone all night long... not a high enough frequency to hear but hopefully enough to shake all the pictures off her wall. Sadly at the time I did not have a capable enough sub... I do now though!
 
Coytee said:
It's all about compromises.... unseen in the picture are not one.....but two Danley DTS-10's flanking the left/right side of room.

Had neighbors on three different walls, one was the complex manager's home. Never once in three years, did I have anyone complain....also, I made sure to "pre-apologize" to the manager (and neighbors) for ever being loud and they all looked at me and basically said "what the He** are you talking about? I've never heard any noise from your apartment"

So in the end, it's all about respect and control of the volume.

(had even larger speakers in the 2nd bedroom however, I never hooked them up.!!)
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They probably complained constantly. Banging on the walls, screaming at the top of their lungs at you.

You just couldn't hear them though :D:D:D
 
rothwellaudio said:
It isn't always about the scale of reproduction. Small speakers may lack a sense of scale (though not always) but can be more accurate, more detailed, more refined etc.
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I have two very highly rated small bookshelf spkrs — KEF Reference 101, and Infinity Modulus. Both sound relatively 'small scale'. As Rothwell notes, accuracy, detail, refinement are superb. I found a pair of small Klipsch 2-ways for about 10 bucks at a Thrift. My expectations were not high: utility or gift speakers at best. But I love them. They lose little if anything to the 'better' ones for imaging, nuance, detail etc, but sound like full-size towers for soundstage, dynamics, all those good 'big speaker' qualities. And very efficient.

Yes I use them with 2 subs, but I use the others with the same 2 subs, so it's equals and the Klipsch still have a dramatic advantage in playing 'big' music, while being just as satisfying with small intimate music. A real discovery, and a surprise: I'm not a Klipsch fan.
 
bimasta said:
I have two very highly rated small bookshelf spkrs — KEF Reference 101, and Infinity Modulus. Both sound relatively 'small scale'. As Rothwell notes, accuracy, detail, refinement are superb. I found a pair of small Klipsch 2-ways for about 10 bucks at a Thrift. My expectations were not high: utility or gift speakers at best. But I love them. They lose little if anything to the 'better' ones for imaging, nuance, detail etc, but sound like full-size towers for soundstage, dynamics, all those good 'big speaker' qualities. And very efficient.

Yes I use them with 2 subs, but I use the others with the same 2 subs, so it's equals and the Klipsch still have a dramatic advantage in playing 'big' music, while being just as satisfying with small intimate music. A real discovery, and a surprise: I'm not a Klipsch fan.
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To get the most from the Modulus speakers the matching stands are a must, along with the matching sub. I've used them with twin 12" subs, but they sound much better with the single Modulus. They give up nothing other than ultimate SPL to larger systems with all the pieces in place. I've had mine for 28yrs, the only pieces that will never be sold.
 
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