ex brickie
pfm Member
+1.........and some of us are entirely happy with bass down to just 40 Hz
Why some are stand-mount people and others floorstanders
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
+1.........and some of us are entirely happy with bass down to just 40 Hz
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
There is a technical reason for this design configuration. Bass drivers that are elevated off the floor suffer floor bounce, which effectively nullifies some part of their FR output. Coupling woofers close to the floor and other boundaries gives you a better and more even room response, all other things being equal. By the same token, mids and tweets benefit from being well away from reflective surfaces. This is a design principle used by vintage Allison and AR tower (AR9?) loudspeakers and more recently by the Naim NBL.
How good they actually sound comes down to implementation, and particularly crossover work. It is entirely possible for widely separated drivers to sound cohesive, but their optimal listening axis tends to be much narrower.
Tony L
Administrator
As ever is is all about compromise and personal taste. FWIW the NBL rates as possibly the least coherent and least integrated speaker I’ve ever heard in my life - it really does sound like three random drivers flung at a wardrobe to my ears! I’ve never heard AR9s. I do quite like the Alisons, but they are a different ‘thing’ really as they are pretty much an omni-directional speaker, i.e. they are not looking to create a stereo image/soundstage in a conventional manner. I think I just prefer coherence over frequency response, so always feel most comfortable with something approaching a point source.
James
Lord of the Erg\o/s
As do I, which is why the E-IX is my favourite little loudspeaker, despite its limited bandwidth and loudness.
darrenyeats
pfm Member
Large 3 way stand-mounts like ATC classic, Yamaha NS1000 or MEG for me. Preferably active.
When tempted to buy a sub, instead get a bigger one of the above.
When tempted to buy a sub, instead get a bigger one of the above.
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mattgbell
Help the elderly and unwell!
I note that, according to ATC's website, the standmount and floorstanding versions of the ATC SCM50 actives have the same frequency response. Is there any actual sonic difference between the SCM50 standmounts and floorstanders? Just wondering ... maybe folks who have experience of both might shed some light. (Whilst I have the floorstanders, I haven't heard the standmounts for any length of time, so I don't have an opinion.)
cjyosemite
pfm Member
I am definitely a floorstander man as they simply have a fuller sound than standmounts based on 43 years owning various speakers of various sizes. However that is ignoring the price differential. Adding a subwoofer to a pair of standmounts can reverse the fuller sound comparison but integrating them can be difficult but when successful the result can be very good indeed. I cannot agree with the comment about better midrange from standmounts as my ProAc D20Rs are excellent & whists my ProAc Tablette Anniversaries are also excellent they come second to the D20Rs - but at less than half the price that is not surprising & they do offer more for the money.
In those 43 years things have changed a lot. My first speakers, Wharfedale Linton 3s stood on the floor but their successors, the much bigger Monitor Audio MA4s were on stands as were their successors, the even bigger Spendor SP1s. The old argument for standmounts was lack of space whereas in reality their footprint & often height are just as big as many floorstanders. I think the truth is that preferences are decided on pre-conceptions rather than reality but I think it is fair to say that this is definitely a case of one size not fitting all situations.
John Phillips
pfm Member
Within the same footprint a floorstander gives a designer more cabinet volume to play with. That can be very beneficial.
However the final result actually depends on the options selected for using that extra volume. And in some cases and to some people what the designer does with the extra volume will not be pleasing. Especially if the designer tries to squeeze a quart into a pint pot.
There is sense in earlier comments about either keeping loudspeakers very small or very large and avoiding the sometimes pleasing and sometimes displeasing middle ground design compromises.
Rodney gold
Im just me...
Try as a I might with various stand mount speaker and subs , they still cant give me the grandeur and majesty of playback that large floorstanders can do..
Lee T
pfm Member
Give some examples.
Very big, very small & in between needs some context.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
Floorstanding speakers would dominate my room and I know Mrs. M. doesn’t like them.
Speakers with ‘fresh air’ under them appear to take up less space, as in my BC1s.
I suspect the increased bass of floorstanders would be excessive in my smallish room.
Many years ago I did consider Spendor SP9s, but suspect they would have been too big.
My other speakers are stand mount ( small Harbeths ) as nothing bigger seemed to work in my
Conservatory.
If I had a big/separate listening room I would certainly try floorstanders.
Speakers with ‘fresh air’ under them appear to take up less space, as in my BC1s.
I suspect the increased bass of floorstanders would be excessive in my smallish room.
Many years ago I did consider Spendor SP9s, but suspect they would have been too big.
My other speakers are stand mount ( small Harbeths ) as nothing bigger seemed to work in my
Conservatory.
If I had a big/separate listening room I would certainly try floorstanders.
hifinutt
hifinutt
at the bristol show the falcon l3/5a sounded very big and many entering room thought it was the big ram floorstanders . my current standmounts would also probably sound similar if not better than a good many floorstanders in terms of bass and imaging . tremendous bass response . because they are smaller than floorstanders they get me more brownie points so i can sneak in a monster pair of speakers elswhere !!
Lee T
pfm Member
I have found similar, with one exception, having purchased lots of speakers over the years, I have found the tiny models to suit me most, that is until I purchased a pair of Neat Critique 2 speakers, 6.5 inch driver, something that usually has me clicking the Ebay button, these are superbly designed speakers, quality drive units with a port tuned to act as a sealed box design according to Neat, they do have that immediate midrange with an uncoloured free from boxiness bass, unlike some B&W 's I have tried, awful things.
radamel
Music Fiend
In my experience, comparing same brand, same series speakers:
Floorstanders have not only more extended bass but also more impact and scale;
Standmounts have a more cohesive sound, are easier to integrate in a room and easier to drive.
I have found that standmounts plus a couple of good subs works best for my taste.
Floorstanders have not only more extended bass but also more impact and scale;
Standmounts have a more cohesive sound, are easier to integrate in a room and easier to drive.
I have found that standmounts plus a couple of good subs works best for my taste.
cooky1257
pfm Member
Small speakers are physically incapable of doing scale, I've heard wallowy sluggish bass and vague stereo from some floor standers and the most common trump trump 60hz tuned fartbox bass from many-too many, stand mounters. LS3/5's were never designed to fill a room they are near-fields and excellent in that area as do loads of mini-monitors, when used as designed they are very capable but for me the compromises in terms of over extending the capabilities of a small bass mid all all too common experience to my ears. The elephant in the room(!) is domineering partners who will cut your balls off if you want decent sized speakers. Large room, floorstander all the way, JBL or Tannoy DC or in smaller box room I enjoy my Mission 770 stand-mounts
Chris81
pfm Member
Then you have the wrong partner.
Chaps
Don't forget about Shahinians which you could argue are a bit of a cross breed but they do have something that other speakers lack. Mine are keepers.
I heard some ATC stand mounts when I was looking to replace my Briks and they did sound bloody good, almost equal to the Briks.
Everyone has different ears and your ears are peculiar to you and what suits you may not suit those next door, we just need to learn to live with the fact that there is no definitive answer.
Regards
Mick
Don't forget about Shahinians which you could argue are a bit of a cross breed but they do have something that other speakers lack. Mine are keepers.
I heard some ATC stand mounts when I was looking to replace my Briks and they did sound bloody good, almost equal to the Briks.
Everyone has different ears and your ears are peculiar to you and what suits you may not suit those next door, we just need to learn to live with the fact that there is no definitive answer.
Regards
Mick
Some standmounts do scale, like Amphion Argon speakers, that sound like floorstanders in this regard. My Royd RR3s are strange in that they are placed very very wide apart in comparison to all speakers I have used, yet get the room highly energised with a huge soundstage.
However, they do not give you the physical, visceral impact, I agree, this just won’t happen unless you get some subs involved.
Fake ported bass is just as much of an issue, if not more of an issue, with floorstanders.
cooky1257
pfm Member
Then you may misunderstand what I mean by scale, I'm referring to the ability to give physical size and presence to say a bass drum, guitar amp etc, you need large drivers to do this in a room. It is connected to your visceral impact point not separate from it.
I have to say my experience tends toward the opposite but I steer clear of those multi driver slim lifestyle floor standers but you are probably right in their case.