Book shelf vs. Floor / tower speakers?

[neos_peace]

I have a question. I do plan upgrading my 5.0 speakers that I have. I curretnly have bookshelf style speakers. I am thinking when I have the money I wan to get floor speakers. What i want to know is this, beside tower/floor speakers having a fuller sound (which is what the guy at Best Buy told me). what are some key differnce between the two and whcih is better for Blu-ray movie watching.

[JasonR]

What is the budget you would be working with? You could find a set of 500-600 dollar bookshelves that would show up most towers in the same price range.

[Driver_King]

It all depends. Can you go massive tower size or compact tower size?

[rded]

Generally speaking, floor standing speakers play louder and have bigger sound stage. They have more bass and dynamic sonic characteristics vs bookshelves and satellites.OTOH, some of the best speakers in the world are bookshelf speakers. Dynaudio c1s or Majico anyone?Its really up to 1. Your personal taste 2. Budget 3. What works best for your home/ listening space. Good luck!

[mdabb]

Budget is gonna be a huge factor in this. I've heard some pretty great sounding bookshelf speakers including the pair I use for surround channels......, but more often than not, towers are gonna have the edge over bookshelf speakers. Size can really be a limiting factor when it comes to speakers.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

It all depends. Can you go massive tower size or compact tower size?

compact tower size ! IS there such A thing .

[CasualKiller]

Tannoy DC4T's come to mind, they are a whopping 33" high, 6 1/2" wide and weigh in around 20 pounds each.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

compact tower size ! IS there such A thing .

Yes. Your T90e's for example I would call compact. I'm talking about those "compact" towers vs. say these massive towers.

[Jwilly019]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

I don't even know where to begin, that is insane!

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Yes. Your T90e's for example I would call compact. I'm talking about those "compact" towers vs. say these massive towers.

KNOW THIS IS A HOME THEATER !!!!!
I could not even begin to guess how much money there is in speakers & tube amps there is in this room!

SIMPLY AMAZING DK !!

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Yes. Your T90e's for example I would call compact. I'm talking about those "compact" towers vs. say these massive towers.

Talk about surround sound.....what is that.... a 24.8 set-up or something?

[Grevlin]

What the hell is that dog listening to!



And they need to drape a towel over the coffee table to get rid of the sound reflections.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Grevlin

What the hell is that dog listening to!



And they need to drape a towel over the coffee table to get rid of the sound reflections.

[mr.hidef]

Originally Posted by JasonR

What is the budget you would be working with? You could find a set of 500-600 dollar bookshelves that would show up most towers in the same price range.

Like these: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3D54%26um%3D1

[neos_peace]

um no one has answered my question though. I just want to know which is best for sound dynamic and such, Like I said I know tower happen to have a fuller sound. Other then that, is it 100% just up to personal taiste or is there some other reason.

[blu_world]

i blast the crap out of my music,if you enjoy music.....get the towers and enjoy..
if not...enjoy the little book shelf's on minor listening & not throwing a nice house party


i managed to pop a Book shelf speaker before from hitting the volume too loud on my music (and the bass level wasn't even jacked up yet)..So I ended up burning my finger touching the speaker basket where the magnet was located,ouch!...

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by neos_peace

um no one has answered my question though. I just want to know which is best for sound dynamic and such, Like I said I know tower happen to have a fuller sound. Other then that, is it 100% just up to personal taiste or is there some other reason.

I don't think your question can really be answered. There are many bookshelf speakers that will blow some towers out of the water, but they don't come cheap. Speaker auditioning is subjective and what sounds wonderful to me may sound mediocre to you. Bookshelf speakers of good quality can make for an outstanding experience and I wouldn't out and out dismiss them because of their size.

If you are going to use Bookshelf speakers as your fronts, I would suggest looking at $1,000 range and up. Anything less and "upgraditis" will set in pretty quickly.

John

[Grevlin]

I hate to say it, but I believe most of the benefit of towers is the height, and not having to have speakers on stands. If you look at bookshelf speakers and towers, the are very alike (besides the bottom sections.)

There are some towers, like Polk 70's that have tweeters and mids etc. going all the way down- so you couldn't get that from a bookshelf.

However, in the business of vibrating air, there is something to say for bookshelf's. It's a tighter space inside the box, and I would imagine the good companies have designed them to sound amazing. I've seen some REALLY nice systems with huge everything and then 2 little bookshelf's for left and right.

I'm gonna say it- you get what you pay for- if it looks expensive and actually is expensive, it will most likely sound great. (Exception: Polk's: affordable but great)
:runs away:

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

KNOW THIS IS A HOME THEATER !!!!!
I could not even begin to guess how much money there is in speakers & tube amps there is in this room!

SIMPLY AMAZING DK !!

Oh that's nothing. That was a mere six million dollars. No big deal.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by neos_peace

um no one has answered my question though. I just want to know which is best for sound dynamic and such, Like I said I know tower happen to have a fuller sound. Other then that, is it 100% just up to personal taiste or is there some other reason.

To put this in better perspective, it's like asking which is better; plasma or LCD. It really depends on you. Ideally, you would be able to A/B all of your options in one stop. Since that really isn't possible, you may want to try some ID companies like Axiom, SVS, Elemental Designs, ect. Some have 30 day demos and some even have free return shipping. If you're looking for loud, full-range speakers that can handle high volumes, produce a lot of bass, and are going to be used a lot for home theater, you may want to shift your attention towards tower speakers. I have no doubts that bookshelves can be just as capable as most towers and if not even better so it is a difficult question. If you want to be putting your speakers on the wall so they are out of the way, then bookshelves would probably be the way to go for you, especially if the WAF is a big issue.