bookshelf or floorstanding

[Davemcc]

Although perhaps technically correct in your description, this statement is very confusing and potentially very wrong. Are you saying that for any given driver, the cabinet design has nothing to do with the volume specifically? (In which case I might agree with you - since a speaker without a driving current will indeed be silent no matter what the cabinet).

Or are you saying that the cabinet has nothing to do with how loud a speaker can be - in which case I disagree completely! With any given driver, the cabinet has probably more to do with how loud that driver (at any given power level) will be than anything else. This is exactly why horn-loaded designs are so much more sensitive than sealed or ported bass-reflex designs.

Nothing so fancy. I'm saying that given two sets of speakers, one a bookshelf and one a tower, that one cannot simply assume that the tower is louder because it's a tower, even within the same line of speakers. One must check the specs.

 

[Davemcc]

Pyrrho, we actually agree on the key points of the bookshelf/tower discussion. I only used your speakers as an example because they were already mentioned. As previously mentioned, I also think that in your case you are not giving up anything by choosing the bookshelf model over the towers. Consider that a compliment for a wise decision. I say that for two reasons. 1. You are using subs so extension is not an issue. 2. The max SPL is merely a theoretical loss. It's likely that the amp in your receiver will be the limiting factor in max SPL conditions and highly unlikely that the receiver could deliver double the power necessary to achieve an extra 3dB if you had the towers instead. I think the bookshelf model was a wise choice.

The discussion on the threshold of human hearing is best left to another thread. The dB scale is not in question. The human perception of it could use more discussion in general.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Something like a pair of Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 bookshelf speaker + a 15" Rythmik F15 sub would be nice.

I like that dark cherry finish on the Sierra, but too bad the F15 sub only comes in black; they should also offer a dark cherry F15 sub.

 

[walter duque]

At times I listen to my rear surrounds in 2 channel mode with dual subs and IMO they outperform most towers in the 4k-5k range.

 

[Rickster71]

At times I listen to my rear surrounds in 2 channel mode with dual subs and IMO they outperform most speakers in the 5k range.

I've heard these and agree.
They are incredible speakers; I couldn't believe the cabinet was so small. Great speakers, as are all the speakers from Source Technologies.