Should I graduate to floor standers or will larger bookshelves suffice?


Hey guys,
I moved into a larger space several years ago, more of an open floor plan, and soon realized that my current speakers, Legacy Studio HD, in a surround array, might be a bit overwhelmed. It’s a weird, asymmetrical space, but it’s also significantly larger than my previous one. So the title of my post says it all…can I still get adequate coverage with bookshelf speakers, or do I now need floor standers? A friend told me to basically “sit closer to the tv” but that isn’t practical.

I thought about the Calibres from Legacy as an option, which is about my price range…up to 7k or so. I also see all these great internet only brands, like Fritz, or Philharmonic, etc, and I hear about their prodigious extension and sound stage, but can these bookshelves fill my room, or any room for that matter?

Let me also add, I have no problem graduating to floor standers, so suggestions are also welcome.

Thanks in advance.

jonasandezekiel

Fritz are excellent. The sliced cone drivers have an amazing amount of bass and he expertly mates them with top end tweets in relatively small packages

Floor standers are Always better than bookshelf speakers...I've got some great bookshelf spkrs but they don't have the musical impact of a live show like the kick ass floor standers, Period. IMHO

@jonasandezekiel

You mentioned your room is an open floor plan and asymmetrical. I’ve lived with such a room for decades. There is a conventional corner behind the right speaker and a more open area with a corner behind the left. With conventional box speakers, the right speaker’s bass is more reinforced by the corner. There are also some imaging problems due to the asymmetry.

I discovered that dipole planar speakers helped to reduce these issues. I had the Magneplanar IIIa and then Apogee Duetta II. I had the latter refurbished a few years ago, and they’re better than ever. If the issues I described above apply to your situation, I recommend you consider planar speakers. They excell at producing a realistic, 3-D soundstage and realistic-sized images. Many often have exemplary tonal reproduction. If you like realistic bass, I would recommend a refurbished set of Apogees. If you listen to less bass-heavy music, then Maggies or electrostatics deserve consideration.

if you really love your current speakers, try a pair of subs...otherwise get floor standers - and maybe subs also...I prefer floor standers, but have friends who in small rooms love the sound of smaller monitors, and yes, they know they take up the same space...

@drmuso thats a good point. I think my room really sucks for acoustics, and it may be a large part of my problem. These speakers sounded a helluva lot better at my old place....at least their weaknesses weren’t so pronounced.