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Can you get "bookshelf sound" from a floorstander?

Listened to B&W's 6 series and much prefered the 686 and 685 to the more expensive floorstanders. I'm a junkie for clear and coherent vocals and the floorstanders seemed to muddy the sound.
Listened to Dynaudio Focus 110s and loved them. Compared them to the Contour 5.4s and I loved the top end of them even more than the Focus' but was again bothered by what I want to call an incoherence... lack of focus... integration... with the low end.

Owned Totem Arros and Dreamcatcher monitors with Dreamcatcher sub and prefered the dreamcatcher monitors over the Arros and without the sub, too.

Am I just a bookshelf guy? Was it my choice of floorstanders? Setup? Anyone have better words to describe what I'm trying to say? I certainly love the low end and dynamic grunt of the big ones but not at such expense.
128x128eyediver
rakuennow
81 posts
 
That's an interesting dilemma. Could it be the room?
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,180 posts
 
Certainly, if they are good florrstanders that are set up properly, just as you might similarly with monitors on good stands.

For coherent sound top to bottom, I like as few transducers as possible and for the configuration of those drivers present to approximate a point or line source and a neutral timbre overall.

Small 2-way monitors tend to approximate a point source better than most floorstanders, though not always, so I tend to prefer those monitors over floorstanders in general in most rooms.

In larger rooms listening from a greater distance, I can get on better with some well designed and constructed floor-standers otherwise in that the sonic radiation pattern of these in larger rooms is more like that of 2-way monitors in a smaller room.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Tvad,

I own VSMs and concur.

I also have Preludes in my gym. That one's a bit of a stretch. A good speaker and great value, but not a substitute for a top shelf monitor.

Marty
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biznus97
8 posts
 
In my experience, bookshelves are sometimes able to "fit" in rooms that may cause bass/imaging balance issues for more full range floorstanders/speakers. I just went through this in my place. In my situation bookshelf speakers are working better against some of my room's challenges. I've had my floorstanders in other rooms and they've performed great (so I'm not getting rid of them ;) ). But for right now I am going to bookshelves until I'm in rooms better suited for my floorstanders.
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