Can you get "bookshelf sound" from a floorstander?

You might want to audition a pair of Vandersteen 3A Signatures. They are full range, floor-standers cost about $4K new. You will be surprised how pure and coherent vocal sounds.

Why would you want to?

OK, I'm old fashioned but I still think of "bookshelf" speakers as the ARs and KLHs of the '60s and '70s, often shown in ads actually placed in bookshelves.

But I believe you are actually asking about stand mounted (monitor style) compared to floorstanders.

Last point first, you mention expense but many of the stand mounts can be very expensive too, and even more-so once the cost of appropriate stands is added in. Just price the Magicos!

Considering sonics, to me the advantage of better stand mounted speakers is the openness from good dispersion and minimized cabinet colorations. But they either lack the warmth of musical foundations in the lowest two octaves or they include a "false" bass from a designed-in peak, usually between 60 and 180 Hz.

With proper design, good floor standing speakers can avoid the boxy, closed-in sounds and cabinet colorations to which you may be objecting. A few options have been suggested above and I would agree with Vandersteen, Audio Physics, Proac, and Merlin. I would add Duntech/DAL, Thiel, Totem, and Gallo. I'm sure there are others that I'm not so familiar with.

I own a Proac Studio 110 and it is rated 33 hz to 30 khz.Very nice high/mid...a little tiny shy on the low end but can live with it...i am not a bass freak anyway.
Very musical and lots of fun to listen to especially biamping...tube amp on hf and s/s on mid/bass.

Thanks for all of your responses guys (or gals).

I think the issue I'm having is likely a combination of all of the factors mentioned above (speaker choice, driver configuration, cabinet resonances, room acoustics...)

Sadly, most of the speakers mentioned are out of my price range at this time. I'm hoping to spend around 1K or less used.

Pryso: Yes, I should refer to them as monitor or standmount. Thanks for that.

Mapman: Can you make a recommendation for a speaker that has "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."?

I plan on going into specifics about speakers I've heard and asking for recommendations but I'd prefer to do that in a seperate post.

What I'm hearing so far, is that most of you believe you CAN in fact get that "monitor magic" I've been experiencing in a floorstanding speaker.

Eyediver: If you go with Merlin, you will need to replace your entire system. Bobby insists on Cardas cables, it used to be Joule electronics, etc. It seems as though his speakers are voiced in such a way that they only sound "right" with certain -- and expensive -- equipment. That always struck me as odd, but that's the reality. They're also lacking in coherence. I think you can do a lot better for less money. (Bobby certainly doesn't skimp on the quality of the stuff he puts into the boxes, and that is reflected in the price.)

You might want to check out Von Schweikert, Spendor and Totem's The One. There are lots of good choices out there.