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Floorstanding speakers vs. Standmount speakers&sub

I`m just curious as to what your thoughts are on this topic. I know this has been debated before but I couldn`t find much out there on this. The reason I ask is I`m currently using PMC FB1i`s with an Esoteric AI-10 integrated amp and a Bryston BCD-1 cd player in a small to mid size room, 16x13x8 with an open staircase. The room is fully furnished and carpeted and the speakers must be place about a foot off the wall. I realize that standmounts will not go as low in the base extension but paired with a good sub could sound as good or better than some smaller floorstanding speakers. I`m looking for a wider soundstage /dispersion and a fuller sound . The bass and clarity is pretty good on the PMC`s. If you have any suggestions for good standmount & sub combos that may better the PMC FB1i`s or any other small floorstanders that may sound better with my situation please suggest some. I did demo Dynaudio Contour 1.4`s, they were nice sounding. Thanks in advance.
darrenmc
9 responses Add your response
manitunc
795 posts
 
One of my setups is an NHT Classic 3 with NHT 12" Classic Subs. One advantage to subs is that you can place them anywhere in the room, not necessarily where the best imaging is with the mids and highs. Also, I highly recommend using 2 subs, even if you have to go to 10" instead of 12". 2 subs makes for much smoother bass.

NHT also makes a Classic 4 tower speaker, which is the Classic 3 with a 10 side firing woofer built in. It takes up the same room as a Classic 3 with stands.

Either option works well and you can get the Classic 4 for $1000.00. Way below your budget, but then you can buy a great turntable or more vinyl
inpieces's avatar
inpieces
199 posts
 
Go and listen to Barefoot Micromain 27. You'll need no sub.
jdoris
972 posts
 
Gallo 3.5s with optional bass amp? Could be done at your price point. Matching subs could be added if they still didn't go deep enough. Floorstanders small enough to be quite unobtrusive, though weird looking. Outrageous imaging and soundstaging; an impressive value. (Rereading this, I wonder why I don't own them!) Downside for you might be that they show their best attributes on good recordings, so some of that might be lost on a diet of hard rock recordings. Walter at Underwood handles them, and is a good guy to talk to.

John
mechans
3,048 posts
 
There is a pair of Wilson Sophias for sale here for $4,995. I bet you would be happy with them.
In general, I think it is easier to rely upon the manufacturer to dial in bass with their own well designed crossover rather than trying to get it just right on your own with a sub. Therefore I advocate the floorstander. BTW it is refreshing to hear some one say they like hard rock. Good Luck!
No affiliation with whomever it is selling the Wilsons.
chayro
2,984 posts
 
One of the best pieces of advice I've ever gotten from a dealer was not to think of speakers in terms of monitor or floorstanding. Just find a speaker you enjoy listening to and don't worry about the design. Sounds simple, but very few people think that way. They assume a floor-stander has more bass or deeper bass, which isn't necessarily true. Frankly, if you listen to mostly hard rock and metal, I would seriously consider a pro-sound speaker like a JBL Professional or EAW with a 15" woofer and a horn or 2-12"s and a bullet tweeter, or even the JBL 3-way with the 18" woofer. These will give you much more impact and sound pressure than comparable high-end speakers. In a perfect world, a speaker should be able to reproduce all types of music, but in the real world of budgets and design compromises, some speakers are definitely better suited towards certain genres of music.
darrenmc OP
25 posts
 
Price range would be $3500 - $6000 for both speakers & sub. Also I listen mostly to hard rock/metal music.
manitunc
795 posts
 
you need to specify your price range. There are many stand mount speakers that fit your descripton, but many are quite expensive. think Harbeth, Spendor, Sonus Faber. An advantage of stand mount is that less money is spent on the speaker box and there is less box material to resonate and muddy the sound. But you still have to buy stands, so figure that into your equation. Also, subwoofer integration with small monitor speakers isnt as easy as just connecting and play. Most people over do the level of the sub, and run it too high in frequency. If you are just trying to fill in the bass, then your crossover shouldnt be any higher than 80hz max, preferrably 60hz. then play some bass heavy music and turn up the sub until you just notice it, then back off a hair. thats a good starting place.
a well designed 3 way will likely sound better than a sub/satellite system, but not always
tom6897's avatar
tom6897
1,484 posts
 
I owned two pairs of the S1.4's for several years and I am a big fan of the Dynaudio brand. The bass is already pretty deep without a sub. You may also want to look at the new Focus series. Be sure to get the dedicated stands if you go with Dynaudio.
teajay
1,691 posts
 
Hi Darrenmc,

I would highly recommend that you put on your audition list the LSA Statement Monitor. LSA has three different levels for this speaker and the Statement with a ribbon tweeter is the reference which retails for around $2500.00. It's easy to match with a good subwoofer. It recieved a steller review on the website Sound Stage, that you might want to look at. I'm going to be doing a review for my website hometheaterreview.com in the near future.
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