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Monitors vs. Floorstanders - What an eye opener

Greetings,

I was 100% intent on buying a large floorstanding speaker, thinking that a stand mounted, monitor type speaker just couldn't reproduce music in a realistic fashion (full range), and that you've just got to have bass extension down to 20HZ and multiple, large drivers.

Well, I just bought a pair of Energy RC-Mini's because they were one of only two or three speakers that would fit on a specific shelf in our family room. These are for a second system I'm putting together for my wife, and I don't have the source components yet.

I was anxious to hear how they sounded, so, I unboxed these tiny little speakers (two-way with 4.5" woofer and dome tweeter), and hooked them up to my big rig. I sat them on two dining room chairs in a much less than ideal position (sitting too low on a cushion with total disregard to placement), put on some Rikki Lee Jones, and my goodness, I almost fell out of my chair!

Straight out of the box these tiny little speakers are unreal! The imaging is incredible, and I simply cannot believe the range of music they can reproduce. These things are the size of PC speakers! Of course they won't move your chest with dynamics or make your ears bleed, but they are punchy, detailed and reproduce a soundstage that even my vaunted Von Schweikert VR-4's couldn't manage. I can't imagine how good they might be if set up properly! Voices, piano, triangles, cymbals, etc. are ridiculously realistic sounding. So good, I'm tempted to get some nice stands and buy my wife a shelf system for the family room!

Funny thing is, I've now come to realize that this obsession with "full range" is waaaay over-rated. Aside from the ultimate in extension, these little speakers aren't missing much, so I can't imagine how a monitor with wider range credentials might sound!

I'm going to give this monitor idea some heavy consideration while looking for a pair of speakers. If these little Energy speakers are 90% satisfying with bass response to only 80HZ, I have to think that a larger system just might be the cat's meow!

Any recommendations on monitors to check out?
seadweller
mdhoover
695 posts
 
You may want to consider the magnificent Intuitive Design Summits.

In the November issue of the Pacific Northwest Audio Society's newsletter (starting on page 14 of the pdf document) the Summits were awarded "Best of Show" at the 2006 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. The author is Dick Mueller.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
You might also be interested in the input on this thread.

My personal recommendations for outstanding monitor speakers: Silverline SR17's, Reference 3a DeCapo i, and for much less money, Era Design 5 and Dali Menuet II. The later two are mini monitors and would require more current, but are a whole bunch of fun if fed the right diet. Much like what the original poster describes; amazing to hear that kind of boogie coming from such a small box. I would add a bit of qualifier to the comment about the actual dynamic range being a necessary component of the illusion of 'presence'. It can be a vital component, but it can certainly be the downfall if poorly implemented. Without an actual reference to compare it to, though it may not be entirely convincing, those little monitors can still be a hair raising illusion that penetrates all your fibers, even if they roll off at much higher frequencies than an instrument is capable of. OK, scale will suffer, and ultimately you may not believe it if you give it any thought, but it can be mighty fun if you let go and let it take you away. It's not about 'thinking' anyway! My further input on the subject of monitors vs. floorstanders is covered in the thread linked above, as well as some helpful input from others.

Marco
seadweller OP
55 posts
 
Thanks everyone.....

Indeed, you can tell that something's missing, but what's there is very revealing and satisfying. The lower registers of a piano might be light, but the registers the speakers are capable of reproducing are eerily realistic sounding. What shocked me most was the quality of voice, and the pin-point imaging.

I'll try to check out the speakers mentioned above....
hens
173 posts
 
Also worth having a listen to the Mark & Daniels Maximus Ruby which has stunning bass extension allied to a very transparent and open ribbon tweeter crossing over at around 900Hz. The best bass I've heard in a small monitor by a mile! But needs powerful amplification (at least 100w/8Ohms) and some room to breath (at least a metre from all walls). At under $2000, they are the new mini-monitor benchmark IMHO. Only reason I don't have a pair is my small second system listening room wouldn't allow them the space they need.
mingles
797 posts
 
If you haven't heard the Totem Mani-2, you owe it to yourself to hear them. These little guys not only disappear, but have a powerful low end. With dual 6.5 inch woofers configured in a push/pull Isobaric fashion, extension gets down to 30 Hz. They have incredible bass, but they're inefficient at 85 dB and are a difficult load to drive -- not unlike many floorstanders, but in a petite package.
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