Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Floorstanders vs bookshelves again

While waiting for Ian to determine if my VP150 is defective (I hope so, as the output variation within the 3 front seats of my seating area is on the order of 4 db from central seat to left and right), I've had some time to think about the fronts. I've got two very high quality subwoofers (independently measured flat +/- 1db from 24 to 200hz) and listen to ALL my music using Logic 7 (stereo hasn't done it for me since I discovered Lexicon about 5 years ago).

I cross over all my speakers at 80hz and send the bass to my subs for music and movies. The room is 2800 cubic feet (16 x 18 x 10) and is closed (no openings that can't be closed). I listen to the occasional action movie at reference level (105db peaks at the listening position). In my situation, is there any sonic benefit in going with floorstanders? Thanks for the replies.

tonygeno,
Did you not already ask this question about floorstanding speakers some time ago?
Ian answered it:
"The only advantage to the fronts being towers, assuming the 80Hz cross over is in use, would be the M80s for getting more overall achievable output."

I do not know what equipment you have at present, but i think you should note the last 3 paragraphs of a post i presented some weeks ago. Using an Onkyo 797 and a Denon 3802, distortion began around 105dB (measured) around 10 feet using M60s and Tannoy Saturn S6s (distortion at 102-103dB).
If you are listening at these high levels then i would hope you are sticking to using a solid amp section for the speakers such as the Adcom 7500 you previously mentioned in your first post. Even then, you will not be able to push that much extra dB out of those speakers at 150W/ch.
If you really want that high a SPL (106dB-112?) i would suggest you buy LARGE floorstanding speakers and an amp section that exceeds 250w/ch.

Thanks for the response, Chess. I'm using a Sherbourn 5/1500A amp (200 x 5 into 8, 300 x 5 into 4). You seemed to miss an important point in my question: if I'm filtering the bass from the mains, is there a benefit to the M60's over the M22, for example? I'm not clear in your distortion tests if you were using a subwoofer and filtering bass from the M60's. M60s, M80s or M22s, I am going to cross them over at 80hz. I have found that it's easier to get smooth in-room bass when you have the flexibility of moving the bass frequencies around (using a subwoofer).

I just found this thread:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tech&Number=28978&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1

I'll pour through it and see if I can get my question answered.

Zowie, Chess. As Paul Vitti would say, You...you're good.:) I had no idea I had already asked that question. It was what...2+ years ago? I've been through several systems since then... M&Ks, and NHT's being the most recent. Thanks for the link and sorry for my other responses. I didn't see the link originally when I asked my additional questions. Take care.

tonygeno,
It seems as though you still have the same issue/question as you did 2 years ago re volume levels and floorstanding vs bookshelves. Perhaps you are conveniently, like so many others of us, trying to persuade yourself into "upgrading" to larger speakers. I say go for it.
Our Tannoy D700s are huge compared to the M60s and volume is truly not a concern even for larger rooms. The bigger the driver, the more air pushed, the more volume produced. You will no doubt get a much larger sound from the M60/M80 compared to the M22s. I know, i've heard it.

I didn't bother going back and reading those old threads, but one thing that stands out to me is you say you listen to action movies at up to 105db. That's going to stress a little bookshelf speaker. The M60's wouldn't have a problem at all.

Hey Tony!

What didn't you like about the M&Ks. I hear so much about them. Just curious.

Very nice speakers. More home theater oriented than music, a bit grainy up top (although I upgraded my pre-pro and amps after selling them). After selling them, I didn't regret it as the NHT Evos that replaced them are better all-around speakers.

Interesting. Thanks, Tony.