Bookshelf or floorstander?

Bookshelf speakers? I've yet to see or hear a bookshelf speaker on a shelf. I will say this: there is no better way to kill the dynamics, soundstage, the whole nine, of a speaker, then to put it on a bookshelf. If they are monitor type speakers or bookshelf, they, inorder to sound best, should be placed on stands. Killer speakers, require killer stands. Many of us, falsely think, we're going to save money with little monitor speakers and a subwoofer, rather than a floorstander. Forgeddabout it. The cost of the STANDS. Many forget the importance of the stands and the true extension of the speaker that is inherent in them. There is no better (well there are, but...)way to kill your speaker than place it on a crappy stand. Bookshelf? Nah. Just means they're small enough to put there, but why would you? peace, warren

Great question...most of the advantages of a bookshelf design are due to improved imaging(how accurately instruments and vocals are presented)...that is the smaller enclosure does not "smear" the sound as much...(difraction)...that being said...the added bass extension of a floorstander can have a more "seamless" intergration with a sub...however...in near field listening...this is less of an issue...but your right...the hidden costs of stands...which are pricey (for good ones)...can inflate the cost of a bookshelf substantially....hope this helps....

Warren, if I'm not mistaken, Eeerie1 acknowledges the need for stands in his question. Regardless, to try to 'answer' (ha!) the darn thing, I'm going to waffle - I think in some situations, it can be easier to integrate a sub when the speakers are not strong in the lower ranges, and the reverse can be true in other situations.

But I will say this: I wouldn't choose my speakers based on any theorizing about the sub factor - I'd try to get the speakers that sound the best in my room for my budget, a criteria that could wind up pointing towards either type of speaker, and then worry about integrating a sub afterwards. If the sub is for movies, and it's not seamlessly integrated, it often won't matter all that much; OTOH, it it's for music and it can't be seamlessly integrated, then you're better off without it anyway, providing you've already chosen the speakers that sound best to you in your application.

My own personal preference is: If you mostly listen to full-range, dynamic music, or in a larger room or at higher volumes, then try to get a full-range speaker if you can fit it into the room and the budget; if you listen mostly to small-scale, quieter music, or in a smaller room, you might well be able to take advantage of better quality for the same price (excepting those pesky stands), and quite possibly better imaging, with a stand-mounted speaker. In other words, everything I've said basically = saying the sub is not the determining factor when it comes to deciding which or what kind of speakers to get, but rather that the sub should follow the lead of the speakers (and therefore by extension [Sorry!] also the room and the source material used).

Complicating the matter some more is the fact that not all floor-standers qualify (or try to) as 'full-range' speakers in the first place, so simply dividing your choices into groups based on configuration is somewhat of a false distinction. Also, if you are using an amp the isn't a great choice for trying to control the woofers of a larger speaker design, you may be better off relegating more of this duty over to a sub with its own internal amp, so speaker/amp matching, as always, can come into play. Hope that made sense...I have my doubts...but anyway it may not be of much practical help... ;^)

http://www.birotechnology.com/FAQ/boxsize.html#floorstand

This article talks some about bookshelf/monitor v. floorstanding design.

"I'm wondering if it is easier to integrate a sub with a more full range speaker, than with a bookshelf that may only go to 40 or 50 Hz"

The deeper down low you can cross, the phase and directionality issues become easier to integrate to a certain extent--longer wavelengths. The question is still to tough to answer given all the variables.