Bookshefl & 10 inch sub setup?

Question

im using a small pair of KEF bookshelf's and a 10inch velodyne subwoofer and think the sound is just awesome! what do you think of setups similar to these are they good or do they not even compare to using tower speakers?

Answer 1

depending on the application bookshelf speakers have the potential to rival tower speakers given a few provisos:

1) a decent subwoofer is wired in place both passively for music and as LFE for a movie.

2) the speakers are correctly placed and not on a resonative surface.

3) as good interconnects are used in both systems.

4) the output of the speakers is matched to the room size.

5) of course the system needs to be properly tuned.

I think you have a great little system and if it is good enough for you then great. Unless you have a gazillion dollars to spend go to your comfort zone and stay there.

Answer 2

Bookshelves with a subwoofer can be a great sounding setup, especially if the bookshelves get low enough in their frequency response to blend well with the subwoofer. If they are those teensy little things that only go down to 150Hz or so, then you would be better off with larger speakers and no sub. Of course some people put visual factors above the sound. Kef and Velodyne are certainly no slouches.

Answer 3

Hi,there. Tower speakers could improve on the bookshelves only if the original signal has not changed except for gain. I have been trying to educate people the importance of keeping the original signal from the source to the speakers unaltered (except for gain)They don't seem to understand that speakers do not come first. Speakers can't correct a bad signal they can only reproduce it. If you want better speakers you have to start at the beginning which is the source .If the signal goes from the source to the preamp to the power amp to the back of the speakers and has not altered except in gain , then a more accurate speaker will give you whatever the speaker is capable of which is low colored sound.(you sound like dddd and grindkin. They both like KEF bookshelves and Velodyne subs . grindkin picked my answer a bout a month ago to do with dave matthews band but now that answer is in your name ?)Also dddd and grinkin have disappeared from answers .

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The shape ,size, power requirements no.of drivers, imaging and distortion have nothing to do with the speakers capability of producing sound.It is the sound the speaker gives which is important.Both bookshelf and tower designs can be good or bad.Selection of speakers should be made with your ears not your eyes.Home theater enthuists are not audiophiles they have been mislead by not taking the time to understand the nature of acoustics relating to high fidelity sound reproduction.I have never come across one who gets it right.This will stop me for getting the 10 points but i don't care .Some one might take notice you never know. And by the way there are plenty of web sites dealing with the correct selection and order of the hi fi sound chain but i don't think anyone is interested .People believe them because they have high scores and that is all that matters whether they are right or wrong.

Answer 4

If you're on an kind of budget or are space limited, the bookshelf/sub combo is superior.

Another pro is that bookshelfs require far less amplifier power to sound as good as they can, due of course to a single woofer and tweeter. A con of that is that they will distort quicker than a tower with multiple drivers at high volumes.

I personally think that most people are better off using bookshelfs for 2.1 and also 5.1 and 7.1 systems not only for the reasons above, but because buying a bookshelf based system gets you much higher quality speakers than trying to purchase towers on a modest budget. Not to mention the amplifier power that's needed for towers to really hear their dynamics.

The only time towers are really needed or for very large dedicated theater rooms.

Answer 5

I think 2.1 systems are better than towers in the similar price range. Bookshelfs generally have better imaging. Powered sub has better base. Together they sound better than tower - most of the time.