POLL: bookshelves vs. towers (1 Viewer)

[Eric Ha]

Listen to Jack. Towers simply have more a more full sound. I've always felt that bookshelfs are a compromise. Some sound very good, but a tower with the same components will outperform it almost every time.

Better yet, go listen for yourself.

 

[Lewis Besze]

I did compare a small VA Haydn to a large Boston Accoutics VR series[can't remember the model #]powered tower.Why? just for kicks.What I did find however was rather surprising to me. The little Haydn[small,even for a bookshelf] was simply walked all over the tower on all important SQ aspects[soundfield,tonal balance,imaging].Of course it couldn't play nearly as loud,nor had nearly the bass extension the Boston had,but if moderate level music listening is your choice then the Haydn was head and sholder above the Boston IMO.Both priced at $1k a pair.
My point is go and audition if one interested to actually listen to a speaker, both designs have merits,and compromises ,however if one is only interested "arguing" pros and cons of speaker designs and concepts then read on!

 

[Max F]

How many speakers have you looked at? Most of the towers have multiple midrange drivers.

Remember also that we are talking about towers and bookshelf speakers in a LARGE room, not in a listening room of a store. Bookshelf speakers are probably better in a small rooms.

 

[gene c]

I much prefer towers over bookshelves, especially in a large room. More so for music than movies. But towers from the same maker and same group are also much more expensive. That's why I ended up with Polk RTi6's (bookshelves which were on sale) instead of the preferred RTi8's or 10's (towers which were not on sale). In order to get towers for a simular price I would have ended up with the lower line R50's or busted the budget. I decided the better materials/parts combined with a much lower price were more important than the extended bass of the R50's. But there are times when I wish I had said "to h*ll with the budget" and picked up RTi towers anyway. Maybe next year. BTW, I see no reason why good bookshelfs matched to a good sub and a strong avr/amp can't sound great in a large room as well. But they will probably have to work a little harder.

 

[John S]

My bookshelf speakers have 8" Bass Driver, I'd put my JBL S38's up against just about anything really, given similar efficiency specs.

 

[Ryan Tsang]

I used to think bookshelves image better but I now I question why. If it is the same tweeter/midrange as the towers and if the baffle is equally wide, it should be the same. No? Unless the xover pts are different.....hmmm?

Now, I may be wrong but....
I'm thinking bookshelves get a better rep for clarity and imaging because of the lack of bass extension. Without the bass, the mids appear to come across cleaner. The tower might perform equally well in the mids when you measure it but the bass extension adds another layer to it (not in a bad way). It's like disconnecting the LCRs to just listen to surround material. Pretty difficult with all speakers pumping. I find it hard to believe that a Paradigm Studio 60 can't be as pin-pt accurate as the Studio 20.

You gotta be careful that the bookshelf doesn't have an annoying peak in the lower female vocal range. To me the Monitor Audio S2 has it and it is a deal-breaker to me. Sometimes, the designer wants to increase extension at the expense of accuracy.

Bookshelves also need stands. They cost money, unless you want particle board. At least consider the metal designs that are lead shot/sand fillable.

I prefer towers but I KNOW both are capable of excellent music reproduction. The only generalization you can make is more bass for the floorstanders. That's it.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Good point. I'd rather refer to "smaller/limited range" and "larger/extended range" speakers...no one is likely to place speakers on a shelf, right?

 

[PaulDA]

Possibly. I think it has a lot to do with placement for both imaging and bass response. If you can de-couple the two, you can maximize each one. I'm sure there are towers that image quite well, but I suspect placing them for that great imaging will often come at a bass-response price. I know towers can be, and often are, supplemented by subs anyway, but the "extra" bass that comes from running them large (unless you have a very flexible bass management system that allows a small setting with a low xover point, not that hard to find, but usually pricier) could prove problemmatic. One has to mate the speakers with the proper gear to get the best results, tower or bookshelf.

 

[John S]

"Good point. I'd rather refer to "smaller/limited range" and "larger/extended range" speakers...no one is likely to place speakers on a shelf, right? "


Well, I don't like small speakers, but I also don't like floor standign speakers al that much.

So a large bookshelf speaker was the ticket for me personally. I also tend to not like center specific speakers either. I use the s38's in every location.

Imaging is an interesting characteristic in and of itself. Lots and lots of factors involved. I tend to like a more near field design as I feel it adds greatly to the imaging characteristic.

So I would gravitate to a more near field design on preference weather it be a massive tower, a massive bookshelf, a smallish bookshelf, or a true satalite type speaker.

I sure demo'd a ton of speakers up to close to the $2k each mark, before deciding on the s38's as the perfect fit for me, where cost just wasn't a prime factor at all in the purchase.

I sure don't see much argument or discussion on it being to fruitfull. There is a reason they make so many different speakers with so many different performance strengths and that reason is owner / buyer preference.

My choice won't be your choice, won't be his / her choice.

 

[johnny..bon]

John S
I upgraded from an S-38 to the S-310 Towers and the S-310 simply blows away the S-38 when playing music with the speaker set to large and sub off. It has a much wider sound stage better depth and can play louder with cleaner bass. I have a Crown xls-402 amp (2x265 watts) connected to it. When feeding this speaker alot of power they shine. With movies I set the S-310 to small and use an SVS sub and IMHO the S-310 is the better speaker even with movies. If you have a large room you will really see a major difference.

 

[John S]

See what I mean...

The s38's I felt were more accurate and flat in response than the S-310's. I go back to any given individuals needs on this one.

There used to be a ton of pro recording studios using the S38's to master with.

It is good we both have found our speaker nervana.
I like my Velodyne 15" sub just fine with them on music. That could have a lot to do with the Jazz / Fusion I listen to as well -vs- what you may typically listen to. I could see harder rock, being better with the larger cabnet / higher efficiency / larger bass driver for sure.

Interesting you found the difference so profound for you.