I've owned several of both small and large speakers over the years...stands, no stands, filled with sand or lead shot...spikes or dampening pods...blah blah, and I think the term "compete" is key here...a "large floor stander" is large, and uses its largeness to give the bass some room to function, and a stand mounted small "monitor" can take up exactly the same (or more) space, use more speaker cable since you have to reach up to the speaker with the cable (most floorstanders have posts near the floor), and requires a stand. So much for smallness. I found, through a friend's diligent research (i.e. he bought 'em first after reading reviews), a pair of Silverline Prelude speakers a few years ago...no stand required, narrow baffle so it has that in common with small monitors (maybe a big reason for them sounding great). An older model (meaning bought used el-cheapo) REL sub completes this rig, and it kills. There are lots of these sorts of things around, and to my mind they're a better idea unless you want something to sit on top of a recording rig for nearfield listening/mixing, or you really are going to put them on a shelf in your restored Airstream. The bottom line is how these things sound to you, but if you're buying stands for them and like the sound of floorstanders, get lighter floorstanders and rebel against the insidious speaker stand cabal.
