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Why "bookshelf" sspeakers?

This is not a rhetorical question. I’m asking because I don’t know.

The question is this: What is the point of "bookshelf" style speakers if they are not going on a bookshelf or table? In other words they are on speaker stands.

Here is the reason I’m asking. For a short time I had a pair of Aerial Acoustics 5T speakers along with a pair of Aerial Acoustics 6T towers (which I still have).

I listened to each set of speakers through a Bryston AV amp. I felt like the 6Ts sounded much better. More bass. Fuller sound. (I think a subwoofer would have resolved that easily for the 5Ts.)

The 5Ts are not exactly small and would barely fit on most bookshelves (although they are front ported and recommended for bookshelves by AE). The ones I listened to were on heavy metal stands which made them almost as big and heavy as the 6Ts.

So why buy smaller speakers which need to go on large heavy stands that make them as big as a floor standing speaker and not sound as good? Space saving does not seem to be the answer and I see some ’bookshelf’ speakers that are a good bit bigger than the AE 5ts.

I’m sure there must be a good reason since I see many people with them. And of course my assumption that a floor stander sounds better than a bookshelf might be wrong.

I guess cost comes into play somewhere in the equation as well.

Interested in people’s thoughts on this.

n80
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,481 posts
 

Bigger floor-mounted boxes may have coloration from cabinet vibrations and resonance which can impact the coherence and detail of the midband.

whart's avatar
whart
2,972 posts
 

I think you have to go back in history, at least in the U.S., hi-fi was larger speakers, often adapted from large high efficiency speakers--think of JBL or Altec, Bozak, EV, or kits of drivers/crossovers that required the end-user to build a cabinet. Ed Villchur developed the acoustic suspension speaker, which was meant to deliver bass in a smaller cabinet (with the drawback of lower efficiency), but the design allowed for ease of placement in the "living room" without dominating the space.

I have not researched the first use of the term "bookshelf" for speakers but suspect it coincides with this development. Obviously, there are also ported speakers that are smaller, but the acoustic suspension speaker, originated by AR, followed by KLH and then Advent (Henry Kloss being part of all this) set the pattern in the U.S. Most people did not want the intrusiveness of big hi-fi in their home. I base this on my experience slinging hi-fi back in the era, circa 1969-72.

Once the "high end" took hold, which was really a small segment-- KLH 9, Infinity Servo-Statik, the Wilson Wamm (original), the early Magneplanar,  all concerns about size seemed to be irrelevant. AR even got into the act with the LST, which was a pretty cool speaker, but a beast--and notoriously inefficient.

My perspective. What was going on in the UK may be a different story. I bought my first pair of Quads in 1974. Sort of British industrial-- not exactly something that blended into the decor of the "lounge" but there it is. The BBC monitors have a different origin, don’t they?

grislybutter
2,306 posts
 

fun fact: here is a list of speakers that are too tall to be bookshelf and too short to be floorstanding:

 
brand model height mm
MoFi SourcePoint 10 560
Wharfedale Linton 565
Devore Fidelity FIDELITY ORANGUTAN O/BABY 580
Klipsch Heritage Heresy IV 630
Wilson TuneTot 635
Harbeth Super HL5 XD 635
PSB Passif 50 660
Wharfedale Dovedale 660
Wharfedale Elysian 2 701
Revival Atalante 5 710
ATC SCM50ASL 717
Harbeth M40.3 XD 750
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,465 posts
 

I have in the past switched it up from floorstanders to bookshelves due problems with the room.  It was easy to get really good performance with a pair of stand mounts and a sub

I now have floorstanders in a different setting and would never go back.    Most small speakers can't really deliver in that region where the sub should roll off , 50- 60Hz leaving out a lot of info

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,465 posts
 

I just picked up a pair of Omega Super Alnico Monitors, a  rear ported single driver speaker for my bedroom.   Perfect with a 10" REL sub.    

There are no rules....  trial and error

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