Are Monitor/Subs More Room Flexible?

Might not be nearly as "flexible" as you think. Don't forget to include a stand for the monitors.

I think if you ask little speaker guys they will say yes. and the big speaker guys will say they are problematic.

I don't know if "flexible" is the right term, but I've certainly found my monitor/sub combo to be far more suitable for my listening environment, especially as my rooms have gotten smaller. Since I can only do minimal room treatment, I found any speakers approaching full range would completely overload my rooms. Sub placement, along with the ability to adjust the sub level independently of the monitors, has produced a far more integrated whole for me.

In larger rooms, I'd guess the advantages of monitor/sub are less or non-existent, and that full range speakers might be better. At present, I have no way to test that theory for myself. :-)

David

David -- yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. I now have a very large room, and I antipicipate getting smaller also.

I would agree with your statement generally speaking with two comments:
- more flexible yes but not necessarily better sounding due to the need for quasi-perfect integration that is often under-estimated
- if you can bi-amp and modify the power delivered to the woofers vs. the power going to medium and tweeter (e.g. Linar 10 5.1ch integrated), you can have a very flexible solution without a sub (although you virtually mess with the "cross-over" and may affect the integration as well)