2. speakers
  3. 165114-2693

Anyone Successfully Go from Floor Standers to Bookshelf Monitors w/ Subs?

My system is in a Large Living room which opens to dining room & Kitchen. I figure about 6k cu ft. I have Silverline Sonata speakers now with subs. Unfortunately I did not build my addition when I should have 10-15 yrs ago. Now I'm not really up to the task. Too old & wore out. So I'd love to make the LR a prettier room for my wife. One thing we talked about was the large speakers, and possibly using Watkins Gen 4 monitors. But as good as they sound, I am concerned about the ability to fill the room, or at least my listening area. As I understand, it is about moving air. I cannot see how a 6.5 & 1 inch speaker can move as much as a 10, 7, 3 & 1 inch. So I am quite concerned about that. Right now, the system sounds very pleasing to both of us. We don't want to take a backward step but can live with a sideways step if it is more visually pleasing.

Has anyone made this kind of a step from floor standers to monitors, both with subs, in a large room, with success? Or am I thinking correctly about the small speakers inability to move the proper amount of air for the room size? Thanks for your help.

OH, FWIW, The addition may not be completely out of the picture. But it depends on whether I can get one of my previous sub contractors to do a large part of it. 
128x128artemus_5
jon_5912
605 posts
 
There's no way to duplicate a big woofer playing mid and upper bass.  I've gone back and forth and the energy isn't there without a big woofer, 8" minimum.  The only way I've heard small woofer speakers rival big ones is nearfield.  This is a good way to go in my opinion and I'm surprised more people don't do it.  If you want your small speakers to rock put them a couple of feet away and they'll do a lot better than they do across the room.  
devildog1316
6 posts
 
I have a small listening space. So I opted to go with SF Sonetto 1’s with the matching Gravis 1 subwoofer. Basically, It’s a Rel T5i with a down firing 8” woofer. Anyway, this combination works well in my room. The Sonettos’s are great at creating a good imaging sound stage and the Gravis 1 subwoofer helps the Sonetto speakers provide a good tight bass response that’s enjoyable to listen to. Granted, its not earth shattering or chest thumping bass.  But then again, I’ve never been a Bass Head.
jbl-4345
58 posts
 
NO!!!. Has anyone traded there very nice stereo equipment for a cheap shallow sound stereo. Really?
rega2
1 posts
 
In my opinion you will likely be disappointed. I purchased a pair of Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M's to replace my B&W DM6's as I thought I would be down sizing and they would be perfect in a smaller home. I loved the full size Cremona's however was told they needed a lot of room. The Auditors were beautiful to look at and the sound of voices were butter. They lacked bass though so after much investigation I purchased the suggested Rel Sub. Better though very hard to find the proper placement and unfortunately the mid bass could not be replicated I was used to with the B&W's. Luckily for me I bought both speakers and sub used and was able to re coup my expenditure on them. As I had not sold my B&W's I went about replacing caps (my brother in law gets the credit there) in the crossover and that upgraded the sound though I do miss the beautiful Auditors. Needless to say full sound of the floor standing trumped the beauties.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
No difference at all if set up correctly with tweeters at ear level. There are very few floor standers that will go as low as good subwoofers so, given the choice I would go with stand monitors and subs. But, floor standers with sub could potentially be the same. I depends on the coloration of the speaker. Digital correction and subwoofer management is an excellent idea. All my friends that have heard my system all have eventually add digital correction to their systems and nobody is complaining. It makes getting subwoofers right so much easier.
More to discover