Axiom Home Page Forums Thread Like Summary - book or floor with dynamics myth

I am always wondering which one is better, bookshelf+subwoofer and floorstanding speakers. The common answer is depends. With low to medium volume in a small listening room, bookshelf+subwoofer could perform as good as the floorstanding. In a large room, especially when playing dynamic media, you are better off with the bigger boxes. Here we assume that you have the room treated for sound reflection/ absorption, enough amp power and same pre-amp/DAC/media source.

Years ago, I paired M22V4s with 80wpc NAD integrated amp. It sounded good but distortion prevent me to push higher the SPL. I was told that the amp was taxed. So I replaced it with 250wpc Bryston 4b ST and add one EP500. It sounds better at high volume but there are still times I feel harsh sound for certain music.
Few days ago I tested M3V4s. There were few findings that made me think how the different media impact the performance.
1. How come the big sound could come from the little pretty boxes? I could push the volume up without too much worry about the distortion. I could play vocal, jazz, blues, solo instrument and even pop music with deep bass without issues.
2. The bass is very noticeable even though it is not supposed be according to the specs. Then I realized that it was because the sound is so clean so the bass is clearly separated from the mid-range. Once you could clearly hear the drum and bass, I guess that mentally you feel the bass and are satisfied. This could explain why some viewers said that a sub is not necessary.
3. But, the similar issue still exist when the volume needs to be turned down to play certain music, like symphony or something very “busy”.

So the question is: why? Why the "crowd and busy" media, like symphony or action movies where multiple instruments/sound sources produce different sounds at the same, would push the speakers to the limit, especially in high volume? While at the same time “less crowd and busy” media have no issue.

Analysis:

1. The speakers need to move fast enough to reproduce the sound. When you play a music with only 3 instruments plus a vocal, the unified wave is not very complex. Even you play it in a high volume, the bookshelf speaker with only one tweeter and one woofer could handle it clearly.
2. However when you play a symphony, you would have to handle a very complex unified wave. It means that the speaker has to move very quickly in a dramatically way jumping from one frequency to another in a very short time. If at the same time you play it in a high volume, the speaker may not have enough time to jump quickly from one frequency to another while the cone is at its further position to its middle location.
3. For floorstanding speakers, the workload is spread among more drivers. That means each driver is working at a half volume if you have double number of drivers than the bookshelf speaker. At a lower volume, the speakers handle the complex wave very well.
4. I call the less crowd/busy music as less frequency-dynamic music since it has smaller amount of notes. The crowd/busy music is high frequency-dynamic music since it has larger amount to notes.
5. I call the music with dramatic changing volume as volume-dynamic music.

Conclusion:

1. Good quality bookshelf speakers (with a sub) can play as well as the floorstanding speakers in a low to medium volume most of the time for most types of music. They also work well in home theatre setup because many workload go to centre/sub/surround speakers.
2. Good quality bookshelf speakers (with a sub) can also handle volume-dynamic music in a high volume to some degree.
3. Ggood quality bookshelf speakers may still struggle to reproduce frequency-dynamic music in high volume.
4. Good quality floorstanding speakers are needed to handle frequency-dynamic music in high volume.

Just my two cents. I might made some mistakes to comment on something which I am still learning.

Thanks for more insights and great info.

I made a mistake here where I tested M2v4 not M3. A typo. Sorry for that.

I guess that the floorstanding speakers have to deal with complex issues bringing by multiple drivers sharing the same spectrum of frequency. Bookshelf doesn't have that issue to deal with so the imaging could be better.

Let's say two tweeters produce the same note at the same time. However there are no identical tweeters in the world even they are manufactured by the same factory. The supposed same sound coming from multiple speakers actually are slightly different. When they are combined into the sound we hear, slightly different frequencies of the same note will make the sound less cleaner. That maybe the reason why imaging of even a small box like M2 with only two drivers could be so good.

Thanks Rock. That’s a good answer you gave me I think.
I really enjoy learning about this stuff.

Yes , m60ti. V4 is really good...... I think I’ve conversed with mojo hundreds of times about v4, ( in a good way.) Story of my life!!!! I’m stuck with these for awhile. I bought them refurbed as a cheap way to get some reasonably good floor standers ( and to hear Axiom product ) to just have some music in the house. My ancient Sansui got blown up. I didn’t anticipate loving these m60ti and fully drank the koolaid and now I’m really into this hobby. I will upgrade at some point. I’m trying to not talk about upgrading bc I feel I plague this forum with my upgrade ideas and never buy anything!! I’m constantly looking at the b stock and refurb even though I can’t really pull trigger right now. So I’m trying to learn more and make what I have as good as I can.

So I love when these kind of topics come up that you started. Learning is free!

I think I’ll be into this hobby for quite some time. I get more enjoyment out of music than watching tv or movies.

Can’t beat goosebumps and saying out loud to myself “ my god “ when I have wow moments. So yeah m60 ti. Maybe I’m just easily impressed? Or haven’t heard enough speakers to have a “ palate “.

Thanks for the good topic starter. Interested to see what others post later on.

When you cross over a speaker to a sub, some bass still makes it through to the speaker. So if you listen very loud, IM distortion will still result from the bass. Of course it's not only bass that causes IM distortion. Mids will as well when pushed hard. v4 mids can take more than earlier versions.

Perhaps though, the tweeter is being pushed too hard. Pre-v4 tweeters can't take as much tweeting. Or, the receiver is distorting.

Just want to add one point:

The great clarity of the good quality small bookshelf speakers decreases the volume need to hear everything from the music even in a larger room. A lot of times, you feel that you have to increase the volume to hear the details. With M2V4s, low volume listening could be very satisfied in a quiet environment.