Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume setting

[just4kix]

It is a myth that FS's are always better than BS's. In the recent HFV meet at Navi Mumbai, this was proven.

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[push]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

Excellent thread...
I have one question from sometime now, do floorstander really good only when placed in big room?
If yes how big it should be?

P. S: I am torn between FS and BS...my media room is going to be 13*12 ft.

 

[manoj.p]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

Can anyone explain HOW a bookshelf speaker will reduce the floor space consumption over a floorstanding one?

if you use a shelf mount.

 

[just4kix]

Excellent thread...
I have one question from sometime now, do floorstander really good only when placed in big room?
If yes how big it should be?

P. S: I am torn between FS and BS...my media room is going to be 13*12 ft.

Floorstanders look sexy but how good they are will depend upon how good the crossover network is. For a room of your size, bookshelves are sufficient. Not that floorstanders are bad, but buy then if you wish to impress others no end. If you find BS and fs same in performance and both are same price, then choose either.

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[edge111hussain]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

Excellent thread...
I have one question from sometime now, do floorstander really good only when placed in big room?
If yes how big it should be?

P. S: I am torn between FS and BS...my media room is going to be 13*12 ft.

For ur room size, a FS is an overkill.
IMHO a FS does one thing a lot better at a similar priced BS, BASS.. Saying that, at a similar price point, all BS will outshine similar priced FS's. But for ur room size a bookshelf is more than enough.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

Most of the few speakers, away from home, that I have heard over the past few years have probably been better than my own. Many of them were small speakers on stands. There are two different scales here, with, subject to certain constraints on frequency range as dictated by size, are going to widely overlap. There is no scale with a line where bs is on one side and fs on the other.

There is also an enormous variety of floor standers. Dr.Bass's Tanoys make my Castles look like miniature things: they really are quite petite as floor-standers go. There is no limit to the possible size of a floor-stander: by definition, that is not true of bs speakers.

I don't know how much visual scale is going to be effective in deterring a person from buying speakers that are too large for their room, but it certainly is going to be a control factor. If you can't get it in the door... (I wish I could draw cartoons )

 

[vnmathur57]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

BS is always a compromise and are a space saver only when you already have a cabinet/bookshelf/desk. BS will share the space on it alongwith other things. Otherwise they have to be allotted space like an FS needs. Some BSs may be sounding satisfactorily but there is always an ITCH to graduate to FS. And finally, FSs LOOK like speakers yaar! BS don't.

 

[just4kix]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

BS is always a compromise and are a space saver only when you already have a cabinet/bookshelf/desk. BS will share the space on it alongwith other things. Otherwise they have to be allotted space like an FS needs. Some BSs may be sounding satisfactorily but there is always an ITCH to graduate to FS. And finally, FSs LOOK like speakers yaar! BS don't.

I respectfully disagree. I used to think same as you untill I actually auditioned. A 30K BS will definitely outshine FS in the same price range and give solid competition to even 50K FS's. Bookshelf is NOT a compromise. The name is also a misnomer. People think that by the name itself, these speakers are something that are crammed within a stack of books. Bookshelves are designed specifically for rooms that have limitations of space and that is the largest extent of their compromise.

Yes. Floorstanders look impressive and one should go for them if performance is equal and you have space to accommodate. But just as I say for a TV, go for speakers that sound better and not look better. Best way is to audition.

 

[SatMumbai]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

To the OP,

I recently attended a course and I got introduced some concepts which I will not discuss here (for keeping the theme of the thread consistent)

"Being & Action" is the operative word that I would like to bring in here. Some people commented based on the auditions or inferences based on experience (like shows, friends place borrowed for few days etc but excluding not owning and having them at home for some time) or information they gathered.
And some, like me, might be sharing the experience "as lived" or "being & Action" in the sense of buying both kind of speakers and living with them for months / years at our home environment and then forming opinions. There is a significant difference when some one has purchased (which shows the commitment) and having the speakers (be it BS or FS) at home environment.
Reading material that is available on internet along with people's deductions are important as well as they give a different kind of analysis from my own and this goes into the analysis (self & others) bucket. However "Being Lived" experience is an actual experience which I would put into the experience bucket.

There are some who commented from 'being lived' with both kind of speakers and their experience might be more relevant in your context. However please take the analysis from the other set of people as they might have touched a point which was not considered by any one else but relevant for you.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Re: Bookshelf vs. Floor stander dilemma Do Floor Standers require higher Volume set

There are choices personal, choices technical, choices aesthetic ...and more.

Nobody can argue with the physics of speaker cabinet size and frequency response and, hopefuly, manufacturers reflect this honestly in their specs. One can argue whether that makes a practical difference or not, and that may also depend on the kind of music that a person listens to. I can't say that I ever notice a lack of bass in my tiny entry-level desktop monitors --- but then, my hearing requires that the treble be turned up anyway.

So, my choice of floorstanders is largely aesthetic/practical. It's also for the room: I don't have any reservations at all in buying much smaller monitors for my focus on PC-delivered desktop audio.