What's the objection to Floor Standing Speakers?

Just to offer a counterpoint from one representative of the fairer sex. When my (then girlfriend, now) wife first saw my listening room, there were 3 pairs of tubed mono amps as well as a bigass ARC stereo amp, a Krell KSA 50s and an Atmasphere S-30 sitting out on amp stands covering the floor. Two 'tables and assorted other electronics sat in a large rack. I sort of apopologized and offered that I'd probably "streamline" down the road. She respondeded that the room looked amazing, the amps looked like art pieces (probably mostly referreing to the Atmasphere, Cary 805s and Cary 300B monos) and that it shouldn't be touched.

You never know WHAT they'll say....

Marty

I agree that Tvad's answer is practically self-evident. Schipo also makes a good point about cost. I only have bookshelf speakers right now: Sony SS M3's. I'm waiting on stands. My Tannoy C-8's are gathering dust in a closet. I'm glad my wife was able to grudgingly accept the Sony's for their beauty. Still, the first thing she said was, "Hmm, they're bigger than I thought they would be." I thought the side of my head would explode when she said that.

Looks to me like Larry(Lrsky) is looking more for "Tim the Tool Man" responses, and less for reasoned answers. I could hint that men with big speakers are compensating for something. Or quote Judge Reinhold's sales pitch from "Ruthless People" suggesting that if you die, you can be buried in them. Funny movie.
But a real answer might have to do with how women, or non audiofreaks look at a room. My first thought looking at an empty space is "where do the speakers go?". A woman with a furnished room might think "do we have to put those things in here?". Or, "how can I put them into this space?". "Which ones are attractive and/or least obtrusive?".
If it is your dedicated listening room, by all means, man up and put in Voice of the Theaters if you want!

My first thought looking at an empty space is "where do the speakers go?".

Yes! I am truly an audiofreek! My partner and I recently toured new homes around our area during an open house weekend, just for fun. My thoughts were exactly that _ where are the speakers going to go, then the tv, then where can we put the furniture so as to be in the sweet spot. So many of today's new homes have tiny living rooms - only one builder in 8 we saw had two great rooms that would accommodate both people and stereo beautifully....Maybe I have too much testosterone?

From my perspective, there are a couple reasons why people might like stand mounted, instead of floor standing. The visual impact, as stated earlier, IS very important to most people. I bought Mirage OMD-28s because I love the sound AND the look of them. They are quite lovely...even thought they are big blocks. As an art lover I require beauty, as well as function. Luckily, I found that. But it IS important. I made special stands for my desktop speakers, which make the visual impact dramatic, as well as raising them off the desk.

Music is an art that we love...so it only makes sense that art lovers also tend to love visual art, and floor standing speakers aren't as visually interesting as stand mounted, with their differing shapes. For instance, this winter I'm going to build speaker stands for running 2 pair of Gallo A'Divas in tandem, and I am going to design/build a wood stand that looks similar to the Gradient Helsinki 1.5 speakers. Not because it will improve the sound in any way...but because it will look beautiful. Art matters.

From a technical perspective, I know many people that prefer the stand mounted speakers because they can relocate the bass to a location that better suits their room acoustics. This offers more flexibility in placement as the bass won't get out of hand if too close to a wall, etc. My Mirage's are very bass heavy, and my speaker placement isn't optimal close to walls....so I've had to send the low bass to subs that are placed more appropriately.

Anyways, just my 2 pesos. :-)
Mot