Floorstanders or Bookshelf for small living room area?

[Louis]

I am looking for speakers for my living room system and I have been going back and forth between bookshelves and floorstanders, or a combination of both.
Initially i thought about getting bookshelfs all over since they are smaller and I have a small living room, but then when you add the stands they almost come up to the price of floor standers.
My living room is 11 by 17 but it is not completely wall enclosed since it has two open areas leading to the hallway and dining room.
I heard that floorstanders in a small room are not good because there's not enough space for the sound to spread well. if this is the case, given my room measurements, am I better off with all bookshelfs or would floorstanders be ok?
Just an idea, the bookshelfs I am considering are:
av123 x-ls
Ascend Acoustics 170 Se's
Polk Rti 4 or 6 with CS 1/ 2 center
As far as Towers, looking into Polk R-50/30 and av123 x-sls

 

[j_garcia]

I would probably skip the Polk towers, as they are the lowest line. The RTi bookshelf speakers should be OK. The Ascends and X-LSs would be good choices as well, and any of those bookshelf speakers should be plenty for that room. Sub choice might be a little more difficult though.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

My room is about the same size as yours (also partly open on one side), and bookshelf speakers fill it with sound quite nicely.

 

[allsop4now]

I have small floorstanders (Canton Ergo 702 DC) as fronts in a 5.1 setup in a room same size as yours, and that works well for me. The subwoofer has crossover at 80 Hz.

My floorstanders are less likely to topple over compared to my surrounds that are on stands, and they do go lower than the bookshelves. On the other hand, I always use the subwoofer, even for stereo listening.

 

[j_garcia]

I have my surrounds on stands and there is no way they are going anywhere (they weigh 40lbs each). There is also Blu-Tack which will help keep them on there.

 

[jsantos615]

I'm wrestling with the same dilemna! I'd prefer smallish floorstanders and have my eye on the PSB Alpha Ts as well as the Canton LE207. I've demoed Boston VR-M60s and still have Aperion Audio 422Cs set up in an LCR configuration. I used to be a HUGE Boston fan, so I thought that the Aperion 422cs would not have stood a chance, but I was very surprised. I went through great pains to properly set the level and phase of my Sunfire Truesub jr and The Aperions beat the Bostons in overall sound, though the Bostons had a more spacious sound stage. I then compared them to the PSBs and the Aperions and again, the Aperions won, becuase my ears told me that the rear-firing port on the PSB towers fired straight into the wall, since the room is so small and they have to be a few inches away. In addition to the Cantons, I'm considering trying the Monitor Audio Bronze B2. The Cantons are a petite floorstander, while the Aperions and Monitor Audios are bookshelf speakers. I share the same concern with others: A bookshelf on a stand won't be as stable as most of the floorstanders out there, while decent stands bring the cost of bookshelves close to that of a discounted floorstander.

If the Aperions came in Maple, I'd be totally sold, but WAF is a pretty big consideration for me as well as sound.

My speakers sit in an area with decent amount of traffic as well, if one fell off of a stand, it would not only damage the speaker, but my new hardwood floor as well.

 

[robot]

The B&W 602.5 is a nice sounding and fairly small tower. If you haven't listened to it check it out. Then listen to the 603 and buy that because it sounds better. They both look nice with the grilles off.

 

[jcPanny]

X-series

The X-series florstander, X-sls is basically the floorstanding version of the X-ls speaker and should start shipping in the next couple months.. Same drivers with a larger enclosure and tuned a little lower. If max volume is a concern, the X-CS have a slightly higher sensitivity due to the dual woofers.

 

[3db]

Is $750 within your budget?

I am looking for speakers for my living room system and I have been going back and forth between bookshelves and floorstanders, or a combination of both.
Initially i thought about getting bookshelfs all over since they are smaller and I have a small living room, but then when you add the stands they almost come up to the price of floor standers.
My living room is 11 by 17 but it is not completely wall enclosed since it has two open areas leading to the hallway and dining room.
I heard that floorstanders in a small room are not good because there's not enough space for the sound to spread well. if this is the case, given my room measurements, am I better off with all bookshelfs or would floorstanders be ok?
Just an idea, the bookshelfs I am considering are:
av123 x-ls
Ascend Acoustics 170 Se's
Polk Rti 4 or 6 with CS 1/ 2 center
As far as Towers, looking into Polk R-50/30 and av123 x-sls

If so, I would audition a pair of PSB Image T45s as they are front ported vs the rear ports of the Alpha Towers. My HT room is 12x16 closed room. I can understand not wantign to use rear ported speakers so close to a wall. These towers are failrly deep but not very wide. They are a phenomenal speaker amd I', very happy with them.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

The B&W 602.5 is a nice sounding and fairly small tower. If you haven't listened to it check it out. Then listen to the 603 and buy that because it sounds better. They both look nice with the grilles off.

Unfotunately, 602.5 is a bit of a misnomer. The name implies that it is a floorstanding 602, when it is really a floorstanding 601. The 602 has a larger woofer (and sounds better to me overall than the 602.5)

 

[Nick250]

Unfotunately, 602.5 is a bit of a misnomer. The name implies that it is a floorstanding 602, when it is really a floorstanding 601. The 602 has a larger woofer (and sounds better to me overall than the 602.5)

When I demoed them both I was quite surprised how much better the 602 sounded to me as contrasted to the 602.5. The 602 has a fuller more dynamic sound to my ears, and it was not a subtle distinction.

Nick