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nice articule on Bookshelf vs Floor standing
#399824 01/08/14 01:18 PM
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TroyD Offline OP
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For Home Theatre purposes only.
And why does one always assume a person is going to put the speakers on a stand ? I firgure find the sweet spot and wall mount eliminating the need for a stand.

Larger enclosures make for more resonant cabinet panels. It is another law of physics which suggests larger panels will be less stiff overall than will smaller panels made of the same material(s). Additionally, the larger panel will have a resonant frequency which is more typically intrusive to the music by way of being placed closer to the range of human sensitivity to sound. In other words, larger floorstanding speaker panels are more likely to resonate within the frequency range where voices and primary instruments exist. Additionally, a larger, more massive panel structure would tend to hold onto its resonance for a longer period of time than would a smaller panel which might resonate at a much higher and, therefore, less intrusive frequency plus having the capacity to disipate the vibration sooner.

This one rule is typically why small bookshelf systems more easily disappear from the soundscape and tend not to draw attention to themself in a high quality consumer audio system. On the other hand, the larger panels on floorstanding systems have a more problematic tendency to have certain sounds "stick" to the cabinet. There are more reasons for this peculiar behavior of floorstanders than just panel resoannce but the florstander will often have to be designed with the physically larger diameter and/or multiple drivers used in such towers. The physical dimensions of the baffle on which the drivers will be mounted will ultimately contribute more to the system's final sound qualities than just panel resonance.


Last edited by troyd; 01/08/14 01:19 PM.

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Re: nice articule on Bookshelf vs Floor standing
TroyD #399825 01/08/14 01:20 PM
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Re: nice articule on Bookshelf vs Floor standing
TroyD #399828 01/08/14 05:07 PM
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I find the second comment on that page that bookshelf speakers "sound" better than floorstanders just ludicrous. There is no doubt speaker selection is a very subjective process, however, it has been written about many times before by people who know much more about this than I do is that whether it be music or movies, the bulk of sound comes in that midrange area of 500-4000HZ in which case with the multiple drivers of a floor standing speaker it allows one or more of those drivers to be assigned specifically to handle that particular frequency range, whereas, bookshelf speakers, aside from their limited enclosure size and number of drivers and types, in many cases, are essentially a rather large trade-off in that area of sound. If, by chance, the midrange sounds goods it is usually at the sacrifice of bass extension. Generally speaking and from my experience, with bookshelf speakers, you can't have it both ways and we are not even talking about the difference in efficiency and SPL capability.

I also just can't get my head around that some manufacturers will offer bookshelf speakers that cost $5000 or more a pair. I am sure some of them sound very good, however, the laws of physics still prevail and they are still limited in their sound capabilities, regardless of the manufacturer and/or its reputation. In my case, I have owned many speakers over the years both bookshelf and floorstanders culminating in my present M80s, whether it be movies or music, for the time being anyway, my quest has ended.

Last edited by casey01; 01/08/14 05:09 PM.
Re: Nice article on bookshelf vs floor standing
TroyD #399831 01/08/14 07:51 PM
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If you go by the point that the larger the enclosure, the more that certain frequencies get "stuck" on the larger surfaces (what?), then these would be awesome for quality, right?



OK. So I am adding a big healthy helping of sarcasm.


Farewell - June 4, 2020
Re: Nice article on bookshelf vs floor standing
TroyD #399837 01/08/14 10:22 PM
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Without getting into both the physics and engineering - both areas of expertise for me - I can tell you that the "bookshelf" sized Totem Mani 2 is perhaps one of the finest speakers I have ever heard.

Expensive? Yes
Quality? Absolutely
Everyone's Choice? Absolutely not

I would say that they far outshine my M80's and previous AX3's in sound quality, but are far more expensive than either.

Re: Nice article on bookshelf vs floor standing
BBIBH #399839 01/09/14 03:04 AM
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Originally Posted By: BBIBH
Without getting into both the physics and engineering - both areas of expertise for me - I can tell you that the "bookshelf" sized Totem Mani 2 is perhaps one of the finest speakers I have ever heard.

Expensive? Yes
Quality? Absolutely
Everyone's Choice? Absolutely not

I would say that they far outshine my M80's and previous AX3's in sound quality, but are far more expensive than either.


Here again, and as I was trying to point out above, speaker choices and their assessment are very subjective, i.e "beauty(and audio) is in the eye of the beholder".

Unfortunately, and especially considering their price point, my experience with Totem is quite the opposite. Because I was never really satisfied with what I was hearing, in the past few years I have purchased and eventually sold a number of centre channel speakers at various price points including the second from the top of the line Totem "Rainmaker" which sells for around $1000, yet is quite small in size. Totem offers no large centre channel models in their line.

Frankly, of all the speakers that I owned and tried in this centre channel group, it was the most expensive, yet, in my opinion, the most disappointing of the bunch. It has excellent build quality, yet, I had hoped for considerably better performance. Totem has made a lot of claims about this particular model, yet, in the end, it sounded just like any other $200-300 small unit many of which are made by the normal mainstream manufacturers. It is sitting in my basement collecting dust, eventually replaced by a VP180, in my mind anyway, just reinforcing the idea that even with a centre channel speaker, nothing beats a full range model.

Re: nice articule on Bookshelf vs Floor standing
TroyD #399840 01/09/14 03:19 AM
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Troy, after reading that thread I'm in general agreement with most of the points made in the post by Jan Vigne. My own listening is probably about 99/1 music/movie and getting the mid-range "right" is especially crucial for music. The M22s are outstanding in this respect and it should be kept in mind that they have two 5 1/4" drivers handling it, as does the M80. The M60, with the larger enclosure, has one of the 5 1/4" drivers. As a result, the M22 has the capacity to "play louder" than the M60 in this key range and has slightly higher sensitivity there. Sensitivity is generally measured in the mid-range(the NRC spec is typical and is from 300Hz to 3000Hz)and the Axiom spec is 87dB for the M60 and 89dB for the M22. Since the size of the enclosure in itself has no direct effect on mid-range efficiency, as expected the two drivers vs one which the M22 has give it the edge there.

So yes, a larger enclosure can be tuned for lower and louder bass response, but has no advantage in the mid-range and treble with other drivers being the same, and may be at some disadvantage, as was pointed out by Vigne.


-----------------------------------

Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: nice articule on Bookshelf vs Floor standing
TroyD #399842 01/09/14 04:17 AM
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Casey, you seem to be forgetting the fact that the bookshelf are not reproducing the bottom end. Only need them for the 80hz and up, where they excel. The subs will take care of the bottom end.
I don't need the book shelfs to go into the lower frequencies at all.
I just want them to work where they are suppose too midrange and highs.


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Re: nice articule on Bookshelf vs Floor standing
TroyD #399843 01/09/14 04:24 AM
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Now, if Axiom can make a high end bookshelf, like they have up graded the M80/100. I think I would probably take a great M22 plus for my movie room over my M80's.

currently the M22 are what $522. the M80's $1500

why not redesign or improve the M22'2 into a $1500 bookshelf. Give it kick a$$ mid's

I know the M22 will fill my movie room easily, pair it with a Axiom 1200 amp


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Re: nice articule on Bookshelf vs Floor standing
TroyD #399847 01/09/14 05:46 PM
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Originally Posted By: troyd
Casey, you seem to be forgetting the fact that the bookshelf are not reproducing the bottom end. Only need them for the 80hz and up, where they excel. The subs will take care of the bottom end.
I don't need the book shelfs to go into the lower frequencies at all.
I just want them to work where they are suppose too midrange and highs.


Not to belabour a point and this is an interesting discussion, theoretically you are correct in your assessment, however, from a practical standpoint, that is another matter. I own M22's which, at one point, I used in a L/R configuration in conjunction with Subs(I have FOUR in my A/V system). The problem I found, even setting the crossover to 80HZ, at relatively higher volumes(movies or music), the M22's strained somewhat in the lower midrange. Normal volumes were fine. In an HT capacity it was only after moving to the M60's, then later to the M80's, to my ears anyway, was this problem eliminated.

Over the years I have noticed two interesting things about the subject of bookshelf speakers. The vast majority of manufacturers(including this one), regardless of their reputation and price point, do include small speakers in their lineup, however, they usually only make up a relatively small portion of their total model package. With this in mind and considering speaker design technology at this point is quite mature, I would surmise the manufacturers here are indicating there are technological limitations in sound reproduction compared to what they can do with floor standers. Secondly, if you ever go in to a retailer that sells mid-high end speakers, particularly in this category, they generally don't present them to the customer with the idea of a nice mid-range and adding a complimentary sub. They invariably take the "Bose" approach promoting lots of bass in a small package, especially when they are asking $3-4000 for the pair. I have seen it countless times regardless of the speaker or its price. Not arguing here, just some long time observation.

It is not a new subject, however, considering the vast experience in speaker design Ian and the guys at Axiom have, it would be interesting if they chimed in on this discussion.

Last edited by casey01; 01/09/14 05:58 PM.
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