the only problem i see with those is they are bookshelf style and not loudpseakers. so id assume they arent going to have the range of a tower speaker.
Fixed that for you.
Right
Loudspeaker designates 'speakers'. Floorstanders vs bookshelves is what you were hinting at...
Speakers all have compromises, and this is especially true at entry/mid levels. Large floorstanders will proabably have more drivers, but these will be cheaper drivers, the enclosure, again, will be cheaper than a similarly priced bookshelf. To keep things short, at $1000, imho, bookshelf vs floorstander is quality vs quantity. Generalizing, a bookshelf will be smaller, have less bass extension and lower max SPL, but will have better quality components and so should have better sound quality.
In this case, Sierra vs 836, they have both about the same extension, which is around 40hz, but I don't doubt the Chorus will play louder than the Sierras. (Not a problem if you don't want to damage your hearing...) Anyhow, they're not the same price, Sierra is 1/2 the price... But to go back to what I said earlier, I haven't heard a $1000 speaker I preferred to Sierras, and those other I liked all were bookshelves. To get the same sound quality in floorstanders you have to spend quite a bit more than $1000 in my experience.
Take the chorus you mentioned, 836 is around $1500, 807, bookshelf, 600$. If you go the line down, it's like 300 for their bookshelf and 600 for the floorstanders. Getting the higher end model should give you better quality components, and at a fixed price low/mid fi, a bookshelf will be higher quality than a floorstander. Quality vs quantity...
Do you prefer smaller and better quality or larger and bigger cabinet/drivers of lower quality?
But anyhow, that's all generalizations, adding multiple drivers can reduce distortion and in the end better a smaller higher quality driver... You really have to go speaker vs speaker... I'd agree that the Chorus at 1200$ should be a good deal. I like JMLabs myself, Utopias are VERY good, if only they cost much less... Not much experience with the Chorus line though.
Not too long ago heard Dynaudio Excite bookshelves (<$1000) and Focus 220 floorstanders (>$2000)... I was not impressed in the least... Could always check out Era speakers, Paradigm, Monitor Audio, etc etc etc... There's a long list of B&M brands. Make sure you listen to higher end products, even bookshelves, just to get an idea of what high end sounds like, what you could strive for in your $1000 purchase...
