If you like the sound of your excellent monitors I’d seriously consider adding a couple good subs to fill in the bottom octaves. You’ll get down to an honest 20Hz or below, which most floorstanders can’t, and the subs will let you better integrate the bass into your room. A pair of SVS SB2000 Pro subs will cost you as little as $1700, and they offer a totally risk free, 45-day trial including shipping both ways so absolutely no risk to you. They also include an app that lets you dial in the subs from your listening chair with your phone, which is really nice, and they also offer excellent customer support should you need it. I’d highly recommend exploring this in your situation, and best of luck.
https://www.svsound.com/products/sb-2000-pro
Should I graduate to floor standers or will larger bookshelves suffice?
Hey guys,
I moved into a larger space several years ago, more of an open floor plan, and soon realized that my current speakers, Legacy Studio HD, in a surround array, might be a bit overwhelmed. It’s a weird, asymmetrical space, but it’s also significantly larger than my previous one. So the title of my post says it all…can I still get adequate coverage with bookshelf speakers, or do I now need floor standers? A friend told me to basically “sit closer to the tv” but that isn’t practical.
I thought about the Calibres from Legacy as an option, which is about my price range…up to 7k or so. I also see all these great internet only brands, like Fritz, or Philharmonic, etc, and I hear about their prodigious extension and sound stage, but can these bookshelves fill my room, or any room for that matter?
Let me also add, I have no problem graduating to floor standers, so suggestions are also welcome.
Thanks in advance.
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- 83 posts total
@celtic66 I don’t have a lot of knowledge of those. I’ll check them out. |
@carlsbad2 i think a lot of people on here would disagree with that, but I think there definitely are situations where bookshelves are out of the question. |
It is really hard to say what is the best general approach you should take, much less specific recommendations. The larger cabinets of a floorstanding speaker suggests deeper and stronger bass response, but whether that is “better” is hard to hazard a guess. I once heard a demonstration of two ProAc speakers—one a bookshelf speaker on a stand, the other a more expensive floorstanding speaker—both were good, but I preferred the smaller, cheaper, speaker. As for subwoofers, I find them to be a bit tricky to properly integrate into a system, and I don’t like having to constantly fiddle with adjustment. How deep must your bass go to be satisfying? I think most people will be surprised about what constitutes great sounding bass. I know a custom builder who makes systems that sell for as much as six figures. He now uses 18” woofers that are made to his specifications. They are designed to deliver a wide frequency range and a very fast and clear sound, which means very light cones and restricted excursion. I hear what is great bass from these gigantic woofers and was surprised to find out that went down only to around 40 hz. |
There is a middle ground between floor standers and bookshelf speakers. Stand mounts they are called. I own a pair of Reference3A DeCapo I "stand mounters". Way too big for bookshelves, but half the height of floorstanders. Surprisingly copious cabinet volume which of course helps the bass. I think they are 10 or 12" midwoofers. I tried Proac Floorstanders, they were magnificent but required too much power (this was before Class D and I am a Class A/Tube guy). The DeCapos are 90/dbw and incredibly musical... |
- 83 posts total