[JohnR]

My bookshelf says 25x28 cm (Depth x Height). Allow for some room at the back for connections, and some wiggle room, and in practice we end up with say 20x25 cm or 8" x 10".

Yours?

[mikeeastman]

Mine are 13 1/2'' x 14". Their not on a bookshelf but hung from brackets off the top of a closet.

[JohnR]

Hi thanks... if a bookshelf speaker doesn't actually fit on a bookshelf, then is it really a bookshelf speaker?

[Big Red Machine]

So would it be a monitor speaker? Computer speakers, bookshelf speakers, monitors, floorstanders? Not sure we give in-walls a step in there.

[Bemopti123]

I feel that the definition of "bookshelf" speaker is being used loosely by several manufacturers.  A pair of bookshelf speakers I have are quite small....My Neat Motives are smaller than the dimension of medium size sneaker boxes.  My Harbeth P3ESRs are also quite small...and sealed.  None of the two pairs are recommended to be shoved on bookshelves.  They need to breathe.  Ideally they have to be placed on 26" speaker stands....But then, the Gershman X-1s that I have are quite large, heavy and especially deep.  They easily occupy as much volume as the other two speakers combined.

Also, bookshelf speakers and their sizing depend much on the woofers used.  I think the Neat Motives and the Harbeths use woofers that barely break the 5.5" size while the Gershmans use 6-6.5" woofers. 

Another "bookshelf" speaker I have are large 24" tall boxes that use Fostex 206 fullrange drivers with a helper tweeter on top.  Those speakers are more like "floostanders" in a large bookshelf format. 

True bookshelf speakers, I think about old, quite old acoustic suspension designs from the UK...that could have been shoved in shelves when space was a premium....but the only think about those designs that are left are their names and none of its physical and primarily acoustic qualities. 

 

[Wind Chaser]

My bookshelf says 25x28 cm (Depth x Height). Allow for some room at the back for connections, and some wiggle room, and in practice we end up with say 20x25 cm or 8" x 10".

So the height of the shelves cannot be adjusted for bigger books?

[JohnR]

So the height of the shelves cannot be adjusted for bigger books?

Not on these bookshelves. If a book is taller than 28cm, you would have to put it on the top shelf. (Which, I assume, most people would consider too high for speakers.)

[JohnR]

So would it be a monitor speaker? Computer speakers, bookshelf speakers, monitors, floorstanders? Not sure we give in-walls a step in there.

I'm seriously asking, what size speaker fits on/in your bookshelf.

Like, your actual bookshelf. The one next to you.

[roscoe65]

I own a number of speakers, most of which would traditionally be referred to as "Bookshelf" speakers.

The smallest I own is a pair of Audioengine P4's.  They use a 4" midbass and are about 10" tall.

The largest speaker that is actually called a bookshelf speaker is a pair of Yamaha NS 690's.  They are about two feet tall and 60 pounds.  That would require one beefy bookcase.

[EdRo]

So would 12"x26"x15" fit on your bookshelf?

[EdRo]

These would sit on my built ins, but I built them. Just saying!

[JohnR]

So would 12"x26"x15" fit on your bookshelf?

Nup. It/they would not.

(I already gave the dimensions).

[Letitroll98]

My bookshelves are 13" high and 10" deep, and my only real bookshelf speakers are 11" high by 7" deep, old KLH's, so they would fit my shelves but not yours.  And these are tiny speakers.  My "monitor" speakers are 15" high by 14" deep, so I guess they aren't bookshelf speakers, although I've always thought of them as such.  Perhaps standmount is a better term for largish bookshelf speakers. 

[Wind Chaser]

All my shelves are adjustable and can be eliminated, so I can go 110 cm tall. Depth is limited at 30 cm.

[Armaegis]

I personally view speakers shoved into two broad categories of "floorstander" or "not a floorstander".

Within Floorstander, there's the modest "what I was expecting" and then the larger "I can't afford that".

Within Not-A-Floorstander, from largest to smallest there's "standmount", "monitor/desktop/bookshelf", and "mini/cube/acoustimasshahaha".

[Wind Chaser]

Perhaps standmount is a better term for largish bookshelf speakers.

I think stand mount is better term altogether. Bookshelves are for books. 

[JLM]

I think stand mount is better term altogether. Bookshelves are for books. 

+1

Few speakers are designed to perform well in a bookshelf or on a shelf.  So the whole term should be dumped except for the rare speakers designed for such use.

Speakers should be named by their intended use such as:  desktop, stand-mount, or floor-standing. 

[ArthurDent]

My bookcases/shelves vary depth-wise, and are adjustable height-wise like Wind Chaser's. Both pair of 'bookshelf' speakers I have are roughly 8" deep (with connections), the Pioneer BS23 are roughly 11 3/4" tall, the JBL 500 are 10 3/4" tall. That said they are both 7" or less in width. Given a fixed height, and the need for use in your given space I'd think the option to lay them on their side, with tweeters in could address the height limitation. Both pair are rear ported so not sure how they would sound, but it might make for a viable option depending on the width of the speakers you have/are considering. Of course it also depends on how much horizontal space you have to devote to the speakers in that case.

Not sure, but hopefully that speaks to your question somewhat. I doubt there is a standard for defining them by size.

[Phil A]

I personally view speakers shoved into two broad categories of "floorstander" or "not a floorstander".

Within Floorstander, there's the modest "what I was expecting" and then the larger "I can't afford that".

Within Not-A-Floorstander, from largest to smallest there's "standmount", "monitor/desktop/bookshelf", and "mini/cube/acoustimasshahaha".

I guess I think of that the same way.  I'd call a really big speaker that is made to be on a stand a standmount as well.  Right now I have bookshelves on the desktop system (Selah Audio SA2s), two pair of old Thiel SCS2s for side and back surrounds (which are big bookshelves on stands - I believe about 19 inches high), a pair of small (JBL) bookshelves on my secondary computer and a Thiel MCS1 as a center channel sideways on a shelf, which when they made an upright stand for it I'd term a standmount:

[zoom25]

Something like the LS50 is what I imagine as a bookshelf.

Floorstanders don't need stands.

However, something like the ATC SCM50 and above on stands I don't consider bookshelf. We're talking 100-300+ pounds per speakers. No bookshelf is going to be able to support that.

The LS50 at the max or smaller like Audioengine A2 can fit on bookshelves. It's all made up.