Floor Standing Speakers Review

For most people, the image of a home theater system is centered on a big high-definition TV or even a projector and movie screen. But the sound system associated with the setup is every bit as important to creating a great theater experience.

Consumers have many options when it comes to speaker selection. Home theater-in-a-box systems are popular largely because they're easy to buy and set up and are generally rather economical. Complete home theater speaker systems are also available.

The speakers featured on this site are the next step up. While they excel as the main left-right speakers in a surround sound setup, they’re also made to perform on their own to create great stereo music. Top-quality music reproduction is beyond the capabilities of most speakers that are included in a home theater system. This guide will assist you in choosing entry level floor standing speakers that will enhance your home theater experience while satisfying your hunger for great music.

At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

What to Look for in Floor Standing Speakers

Frequency Response
Though it varies between individuals, the range of human hearing is generally considered to be from 20Hz to 20,000Hz, or 20kHz. The abbreviation Hz stands for hertz, which means cycles per second. A kHz, or kilohertz, refers to one thousand cycles per second.

To understand how this applies to music, it’s helpful to know how many hertz produce some reference musical notes. The lowest A on a piano keyboard produces 27.5Hz. The low E, which is the lowest note that a bass guitar or double bass can produce comes in at about 41Hz. Moving up the scale, middle C, the note which falls right between the bass and treble staffs and is at just about the middle of the piano keyboard, produces approximately 261Hz. The C note that comes an octave higher at 523Hz defines the tenor range of male singer, and up an additional octave at 1046Hz defines the soprano voice. The tiny sound of a small cymbal can range up to about 15kHz.

All of the products featured on this review site can be considered to be full-range speakers. That means that they can reproduce nearly the entire spectrum of sound frequencies that a human can typically hear. They all reach at least 20kHz on the top end, and 55Hz or lower at the bottom. Those relatively few sounds that occur below that level require the addition of a subwoofer to reproduce them.

The frequency response is generally represented by a figure that shows a variance limit, most commonly of ±3dB. That’s because the response isn’t flat across the entire range.

Sensitivity
Speakers convert electrical energy into sound waves. The sensitivity measurement describes how efficiently they accomplish the task. The conventional way to take the measurement is by inputting a test tone with 1W of power into a speaker and measuring the output sound with a microphone placed 1 meter in front of it. The resulting measurement of the Sound Pressure Level, SPL, is in decibels (dB). The higher the figure, the more efficient, or sensitive, the speaker is. As an aside, it’s fairly common to see the 1W input signal expressed as 2.83 volts but the two values are identical.

If you’re left with the impression that more efficient speakers are louder, you’re partially right. It’s more important, though, to know that higher sensitivity speakers challenge both themselves and the receiver or amplifier less. Audio components create the clearest, most precise music when they are not approaching their performance limits, but rather, are operating at their "optimal" or "nominal" level, a balance of just the right input wattage and output efficiency.

All of the speakers rated on this site are fairly efficient, ranging from 86dB up to 96dB. That may not seem like much variation but a little variation makes a big difference. A reduction of just 3dB in sensitivity requires double the input power to produce the same output result.

Drivers
As noted above, speakers turn electrical energy into sound. They do that by creating vibrations that, in turn, move air in pressure waves that our ears hear and our brains perceive as sound. No single driver, or individual speaker, is capable of creating the entire range of hearing by itself. As a result, speaker enclosures contain more than one driver, each of which specializes in creating a given range of frequencies.

Tweeters produce the highest frequency sounds. That means that they oscillate incredibly fast but their movements are very miniscule compared to the larger drivers.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the woofers which produce the bass tones. They’re several times larger than the tweeters and they move far greater distance and much slower speeds. Indeed, that range of motion, known as excursion, is often visible to the naked eye. The slower motion is responsible for the low frequencies that we hear as bass.

Between tweeters and woofers are mid-range drivers. As the name implies, they produce the sound frequencies that occur between the woofers and the tweeters. They’re important because most sonic information is included in this range. Some speakers combine the roll of woofer and mid-range into a single hybrid driver. Because these hybrid drivers are notably smaller than dedicated woofers, there are often two, three or more within the speaker enclosure. This is necessary because their limited excursion must be multiplied in order to create good bass.

Cabinet Characteristics
The drivers of a speaker are all contained within a cabinet, or enclosure. Simple though it may seem, there’s much more to a quality cabinet that just holding the drivers and looking nice. Their construction must be solid so that unwanted vibrations that interfere with the music aren’t created.

The speakers in this survey are all of the bass reflex design. Drivers create sound energy both with their forward and backward movement. The design enhances the excursion of the woofers and releases the rearward energy though a port that augments bass response. There are also baffles inside the enclosures that are tuned in a way to improve sonic performance.

We’ve assembled a collection of some of the best floor standing speakers available for a moderate price. For our favorites, we suggest reading the reviews of the Polk Audio TSi400, the Klipsch Reference Series RF-52 and the JBL ES80. For some additional perspective on how and why larger speakers can enhance your musical experience, check out our learning center for articles on floor standing speakers.