- Floorstanding speakers vs bookshelf speakers
- Floorstanding speakers: hi-fi and home theater versatility
- 2-way, 2.5-way or 3-way floorstanding speaker?
- Which amplifier should I use with my speakers?
- Bluetooth floorstanding speakers
- Vintage speakers: the return of big drivers
- The best floorstanding speakers under €600
- The best floorstanding speakers between €600 and €1000
- The best floorstanding speakers between €1000 and €3000
- The best floorstanding speakers over €3000
- The best Bluetooth floorstanding speakers
Floorstanding speakers have many assets to convince fans of high-fidelity music: a small footprint, drivers at the ideal height, and remarkable acoustic qualities. Floorstanding speakers are well designed and generally offer an excellent compromise between size and musical qualities for home use. Follow our tips to choose a pair of floorstanding speakers and discover our comparison of the best 2024 floorstanding speakers, including Bluetooth floorstanders (based on user ratings and reviews of each model).
You will quickly see that certain speakers are missing from this comparison, which is naturally incomplete. Please don’t hold it against us if we don’t mention certain brands such as Atohm, Monitor Audio, PMC, Dynaudio, Polk, Jamo, GoldenEar, Waterfall and so many other brands that delight their owners.
Son-Vidéo.com now offers more than 100 different floorstanding speaker models. So we had to make some choices. These are of course totally debatable and necessarily subjective. The main thing is that everyone finds THE pair of speakers that will thrill them!
Why choose floorstanding speakers rather than bookshelf speakers?
Floorstanding speakers vs bookshelf speakers
Compared to bookshelf speakers or compact speakers, floorstanding speakers provide a wider soundstage and better low frequency reproduction. With generally deeper and more sustained bass, floorstanding speakers add a real physical dimension to the musical experience. You can feel the impacts more intensely than with a pair of bookshelf speakers.
Floorstanding speakers are larger than bookshelf speakers, but do not require speaker stands and their footprint is often no larger.
Floorstanding speakers: hi-fi and home theater versatility
Able to explore the lows with more depth and energy than compact speakers, floorstanding speakers are often favored for hi-fi. They are also preferred in home theater setups as they are perfectly suited to reproduce the front left and right channels. Good floorstanding speakers eliminate the need for a subwoofer, even if the latter is essential for home theater enthusiasts to reproduce the sub-bass of the .1 (LFE channel).
The main floorstanding speaker manufacturers generally extend their range to include matching center speakers and bookshelf speakers, and even surround speakers, with similar drivers to the floorstanding speakers. This makes it possible to create a 5.1, or 7.1 (or more) home theater speaker pack that is aesthetically and sonically coherent.
2-way, 2.5-way or 3-way floorstanding speaker?
In general, a 2-way floorstanding speaker is well suited for a room with an area of less than 25m². A 2.5-way or 3-way floorstanding speaker requires a room with an area greater than 30m² to deploy its full acoustic potential. It is therefore essential to consider the area of the listening room when choosing a floorstanding speaker.
2-way floorstanding speakers
A 2-way floorstanding speaker is equipped with a driver for reproducing low and medium frequencies (first channel) and a tweeter in charge of high frequencies (second channel).
2.5-way floorstanding speakers
A 2.5-way floorstanding speaker uses a tweeter for the highs and two identical drivers for the lows and mids. These are mounted in the same enclosure, but the first reproduces the medium and low frequencies while the second reproduces only the low frequencies in support of the first (specific filtering that is cut lower). This generally allows the bass level and amplitude to be increased compared to a 2-way configuration. This design also offers great articulation between the bass and the midrange, an example of this being the Jean-Marie Reynaud Lunna speakers.
3-way floorstanding speakers
When you go up in range, there are floorstanding speakers with a 3-way configuration. This is for example the case for historical French manufacturers, with Cabasse floorstanding speakers, Elipson floorstanding speakers and Focal floorstanding speakers.
3-way floorstanding speakers are equipped with separate drivers for the lows, the mids and the highs. These speakers use passive electronic filters to separate the frequencies coming from the amplifier so that each driver can reproduce a different frequency range.
The bass is therefore entrusted to one or more drivers that are at least 5″ in diameter, most often 6.5″ or even more. The midrange can be reproduced by a driver of the same diameter or one that is smaller than the woofer. The high frequencies are entrusted to a dome tweeter or sometimes a ribbon or AMT model, like the tweeter of the Elipson Legacy 3230 floorstanding speakers. The efficiency of each driver is greatly improved, creating a very spacious soundstage.
- See the guide: Choosing a floorstanding speaker
Which amplifier should I use with my speakers?
The power of the amplifier must be in accordance with the recommended values for the speakers, or even slightly higher, whether it is a hi-fi stereo amplifier, WiFi/Bluetooth amplifier, DAC amplifier, receiver, tube amp, AV receiver or power amp.
In the technical specifications, many manufacturers indicate the recommended amplification power for the speaker in order to facilitate the choice of the amplifier.
- See the guide: Choosing a hi-fi amplifier
- See the guide: Choosing an AV receiver
It is also necessary to ensure that the impedance of the speakers is compatible with the characteristics of the amplifier. Speakers with a lower impedance than the amp is designed for may cause it to overheat.
Bluetooth floorstanding speakers
Long considered a pipe dream, wireless floorstanding speakers are now more commonplace in our living rooms, thanks to Bluetooth and the explosion of dematerialized music and streaming. You can now easily enjoy your favorite tracks stored on a smartphone or tablet, on a computer or even on a network server (NAS), without any connection cables thanks to audio streaming (direct wireless transmission), which offers unparalleled comfort on a daily basis. The floorstanding format also allows you to enjoy spacious and generous sound in a large room.
A pioneer of Bluetooth floorstanding speakers, Philips has produced very beautiful models such as the Philips Fidelio BM90 with CD player, FM radio tuner, Bluetooth, USB and a multi-room function.
Today, Muse is the only manufacturer in this niche with the Muse M-1280BT and Muse M-1350 BTC Bluetooth floorstanding speakers.
Thanks to the investment of a few big names in hi-fi, music enthusiasts can enjoy a high-fidelity stereo reproduction in their living room with a real pair of floorstanding speakers, without the hassle of multiple devices and cables to connect them.
Currently, models like the KEF LS60 Wireless and Q Acoustics Q Active 400 Bluetooth floorstanding speakers offer a wireless connection.
Today, the Audio Pro A38 wireless floorstanding speakers and the Dali Rubicon 6 C speakers with their Sound Hub that perpetuate the dream of a high quality hi-fi stereo system freed from the constraint of multiple cables.
Vintage speakers: the return of big drivers
It is difficult to talk about floorstanding speakers without mentioning their famous ancestors, which were equipped with very large drivers measuring 12 or even 15 inches in diameter for the lows. Almost as wide as they are tall, these legendary speakers have made the brands Tannoy, Klipsch and JBL famous.
Thanks to the vintage hi-fi revival that began a few years ago, these extraordinary speakers are once again a hit with audiophiles. Klipsch therefore continues to develop its flagship models such as the Klipsch Heresy IV and the Klipsch Forte IV, but also the very impressive Klipsch Cornwall IV, Klipsch La Scala AL5 and Klipsch Klipschorn AK6.
The iconic French manufacturer Elipson also has vintage-inspired models, notably the Elipson Heritage XLR15 equipped with a 12″ woofer, and its smaller counterpart the Elipson Heritage XLS 11 with its 8″ woofer. The Danish brand Eltax stands out with its Monitor PWR 1959 speaker equipped with a 15″ driver.
The use of such large drivers generally provides very nuanced, dry and responsive lows, without drag but with a lot of substance and amplitude. In a nutshell, the ultimate floorstanding speaker!
The best floorstanding speakers under €600
- Eltax Monitor IX: 2-way, 3 drivers, 140W, 8 ohms, 92dB
- Highland Aingel 3205: 2-way, 3 speakers, 90W, 6 ohms, 87 dB
- Highland Oran 4305: 2-way, 3 drivers, 90W, 6 ohms, 87 dB
- Cabasse MT32 Jersey: 2-way, 3 drivers, 100W, 8 ohms, 89 dB
- Tangent Spectrum X6: 3-way, 3 drivers, 200W, 6 ohms, 90 dB
The best floorstanding speakers between €600 and €1000
- Cabasse MC170 Jersey: 3-way, 3 drivers, 100W, 8 ohms, 90 db
- Elipson Horus 11F: 3-way, 2 drivers, 120W, 6 ohms, 90 dB
- Focal Chorus 726: 3-way, 4 drivers, 250W, 8 ohms, 91.5 dB
- Dali Spektor 6 Noyer: 2-way, 3 drivers, 150W, 6 ohms, 88.5 dB
- Q Acoustics 3050i: 2-way, 3 drivers, 75W, 6 ohms, 91 dB
- Klipsch RP-8000F: 2-way, 3 drivers, 150W, 8 ohms, 98 dB
- Dali Oberon 5: 2-way, 3 drivers, 150W, 6 ohms, 88 dB
- Eltax Monitor PWR 1959: 3-way, 4 drivers, 250W, 8 ohms, 96 dB
The best floorstanding speakers between €1000 and €3000
- Elipson Prestige Facet 14F: 2.5-way, 3 drivers, 150W, 6 ohms, 92 dB
- Klipsch R-800F Édition 2022: 2-way, 3 drivers, 150W, 8 ohms, 98 dB
- B&W 603 S3: 3-way, 4 drivers, 200W, 8 ohms, 90 dB
- Focal Aria 926: 3-way, 4 drivers, 250W, 8 ohms, 91.5 dB
- Jean-Marie Reynaud Lunna: 2.5-way, 3 drivers, 120W, 4 ohms, 91.6 dB
- Elipson Prestige Facet 24F: 3.5-way, 4 drivers, 250W, 6 ohms, 93 dB
- Sonus Faber Lumina III: 3-way, 4 drivers, 250W, 4 ohms, 89 dB
- Davis Acoustics Courbet N°4: 2 channels, 2 drivers, 90W, 8 ohms, 90 dB
The best floorstanding speakers over €3000
- Focal Aria Evo X N°3: 3-way, 5 drivers, 300W, 8 ohms, 92 dB
- Klipsch RF-7 MKIII: 2-way, 3 drivers, 250W, 8 ohms, 100 dB
- Klipsch Heresy IV: 3-way, 3 drivers, 100W, 8 ohms, 99 dB
- Jean-Marie Reynaud Euterpe Jubilé: 2-way, 2 drivers, 80W, 4 ohms, 89 dB
- Elipson Legacy 3230: 3-way, 4 drivers, 200W, 4 ohms, 91 dB
- Klipsch Cornwall IV: 3-way, 3 drivers, 100W, 8 ohms, 102 dB
The best Bluetooth floorstanding speakers
- Muse M-1280BT: 80W, FM, USB, Bluetooth, RCA & mini-jack
- Muse M-1350 BTC: 180W, CD, FM, USB, Bluetooth, RCA & mini-jack
- Audio Pro A38: 2×75W, Bluetooth aptX, WiFi, HDMI ARC, SPDIF and RCA, Sub output
- Dali Rubicon 6 C: 2×250W, Bluetooth aptX, WiFi, RCA, mini-jack and SPDIF, Sub output
- KEF LS60 Wireless: 2×700W, Bluetooth, WiFi, HDMI eARC, SPDIF and RCA, Sub output
As you can see, some speakers are missing in this comparison, which is not exhaustive. Son-Vidéo.com currently offers a large variety of different floorstanding speakers. Not all of them can be included here, and we have chosen those that have received the best user reviews. This approach is of course debatable and necessarily subjective. To complete this comparison and find your perfect pair of speakers, don’t hesitate to visit one of our 16 stores to compare brands, sizes and, above all, listen to each model.
Want to go further with a portable Bluetooth speaker that follows you into the garden? Need an even more discreet solution with architectural speakers or a soundbar? Check out our comparisons of the best speakers for every purpose:
