Big speakers, are they really the best way to get great sound?

@inna However, stand mount speakers plus two subwoofers could be considered full range system too, though a lousy one.

This is complete and total nonsense. In fact, a great 2-way speaker, placed / setup exactly where they need to be and combined with high pass filter to remove the work they don’t need to do, blended with dual subwoofers that can each be placed to their benefit and each adjusted precisely for room response... that system can and will surpass many of the best floor standing speakers in existence. A floor standing speaker with a low end that cannot be tailored for room response is inherently at a disadvantage to a system in which the low end can be tailored for room response. But, big speakers have "The Bigness" and "Jewelry" factor, so there’s that.

With large floor standing speakers, you are paying for additional low end extension. The great irony of this entire conversation is the low end extension being paid for, more often than not, is in a compromised implementation compared to dual subs with DSP control.

Please... tell me these speakers combined with dual subs are a "lousy full range" setup... 

@jim2   Member inna likes to post with absolutes. Unfortunately, this also shows his inexperience and lack of knowledge in this hobby. 
 

@daveyf,  without you describing your room treatment I searched through your many photos and only saw those 2 grey panels which I would like to point out represent broad-band absorbers and as such do not absorb down below the Schroeder frequency so have little to no effect where the bulk of room problems lie. Also bass build up happens in the corners of any room. So the vertical floor to ceiling corners or horizontally along the ceiling/wall corners or floor to wall corners, for example fabricating a bass trap to lie horizontally behind a couch This is where bass trapping will be most effective.  It takes up much more space than broad-band absorbers unfortunately but that's what it takes to deal with those long bass wavelengths.  A 40Hz wave is 28ft. long.

If those 2 grey panels form the entirety of your room treatment then I regret to inform you that more is needed if you wish to tame the acoustic character of the room. If you have not taken a measurement of your room then you do not know what you have to deal with and this then IMO should be your first line of defense. 

How did you set up the 2 subs you have so that they help with the room modes rather than make them worse?

@jim2, That is one of the best posts I've read on this, you summed it up beautifully.

There are some manufacturers of speakers who have a model or two just below their flagship full range speakers that use the identical mid range and tweeter drivers mated to a lesser performing bottom end in a smaller enclosure and at a substantially lower price. It is these that represent the best value and mated to an intelligent application of room treatment and proper installation of subs will at lower cost outperform the flagship model for the reasons you mention. Of course the dealer with an opportunity to move his overpriced 'white elephant' might suffer from selective amnesia.

Go big, or go home!