2 way vs 3 way / Monitors vs. Floorstanding

the fewer the crossovers the better so go with a two way or a no crossover system. Book shelf speakers have the advantage of easier placement (ceiling, wall) assuming they are not too large/heavy. Having to acquire correct speaker stands runs up the cost as opposed to floor standing.

Bookshelf: easier to package and move!

floor standing model might make a bit better bass than comparable bookshelf speakers

You really cannot make an overall generalization about if one type (bookshelf vs floor standing) is "better" as there are plenty of examples in each category from a coupla hundred bucks to over a hundred large (for the floor standers anyway).

I'd give my left cojone for a Royal Device Diana bookshelf but they go for 15 large a pair; nice little speakers. I settled for Galante Rhapsody.

Don't forget to factor in subwoofer(s) if you like bass or have a large room.

Crossovers are subtractive, in every sense. They remove signal from the speaker. Good speakers will suffer less from this, but simplicity in the signal path is of prime importance.

Another issue that cannot be over stated is matching speaker size to room size. There are basic mathematical formulas that will tell you if there is enough room volume for the low frequencies to bloom, or if they will collapse. Big, floor standing speakers need a big room (if you're wondering if your room is big enough, it's not) to sound their best. Smaller speakers with less bass will sound better in a mid to small sized room. As a rule, smaller is safer, but you loose the cool factor.

Floor standing vs monitors is less of an issue. There are good full range monitors and there are good restricted frequency speakers that are floor standing.

It doesn't matter how good the gear is, or how good the speakers are, if they are too much/big for your room THEY WILL NOT WORK. Ego is a great motivator when it comes to buying speaker, but his sister prudence is much the wiser.

2 way...standmount or floor stander.

Merlin VSM-MM owner
Chris

A key that is often overlooked is your room & proper room matching. You want to consider the room your system will be placed in. Will it be there for a few months, or many years? Then you want to consider a speaker that isn't too much for the room or it will overload the room. Also, on the other side you don't want one that is too small and needs to be almost "over driven" and sound strained... keep the room size and proper matching in mind. Go from there, including the good advice above.