Bookshelf vs. Floorstand


What is the difference between bookshelf and floorstanding speakers. There are lots of very expensive bookshelf speakers... do they perform better than cheaper floorstands?

I know it is usually the bass that is weak for bookshelf speakers but what if you have a sub? Will that make them comparable to floorstands? Can high end book shelf speakers from say focus or sonus fill in a big room as good as say hmm... paradigm 100s?
doodleboytoyb266

Showing 1 response by loki7177

imo you should go with the auditor. not one of the floorstanders you have listed is full range. they only provide a little more bass extension then the auditor. in order to get full range sound from any of the four speakers you listed you are going to have to add a sub. if you get the auditor you have the midrange magic you want plus you can add a sub for bass if you missed it anytime. however if you get one of the floorstanders, and you missed the midrange you can't just add another component for it. you would have to replace the speakers and you might end up getting the auditor anyway.

stands are very important just like everyone has stressed. there are good stands at $150 new, ie atacama nexus and sound organisation z522 just to list a couple. you can get great stands here for about $300 used, ie, sound anchors and orisis though both are hard to find. you can also get sound anchors 3 post stnad new and custom made for about $450 still less then the auditor stands which are about $700. but keep in mind that the auditor stands offer a couple of features that the other don't. first, you can mount the speaker on to the top plate, that will give it extra stability. second, it puts the auditor at an angle, so that the woofer is closer to you then the tweeter. i don't know how that affects the performance of the auditors. when i auditioned them they were on their stands. so if you are considering other stands you might want to have your dealer set them on flat so you can compare them.

hope this helps, good luck.