[Karnaaj]

The living room in my apt is 16'x12'.  The only place to put my equip. is along the long wall.
Given these constraints would floorstanders ever work well for me?  I've been using Soliloquy bookshelf speakers (among others) and I am just not as happy with the sound as I was when I had a bigger room and floorstanders.  I have no sub at this time and have considered going that route to make improvements.  Any opinions? thanks.

P.S.  My sytem is used 50/50 Music/Home Theater. It is currently powered by an Onkyo 797 rec. bought back in 00'. Display is a recently purchased 50" Panny plasma. Also, I am thinking of upgrading my rec. to a Arcam AVR 350.

[nodiak]

My opinion for a situation like that is using a powered sub and small bookshelf mains. The sub can be adjusted below much of the room gain. The small mains can have a cutoff above much of the room gain. Anything is a compromise and this one imo keeps things simple-ish. The focus is on adjusting things with the room gain that's there, instead of asking speakers to stradle it and still have a flat response.
To answer your question, imo, sure floorstanders could work, especially if you can adjust bass by pulling them out from wall a foot or two. The sub idea gets you satisfying ht tho.
It all depends on how high quality you want to go.
Don

[bpape]

Agreed.  If it's a mix, then keep the monitors and get a good sub.  Not only will it take off the load during the HT usage, but it also allows the flexibility of moving the sub around for best bass response in the smaller room without compromising mains placement for imaging.

In a room that size you should also consider some bottom end acoustical treatment.  The decay times and ringing will cause issues if not damped properly.

Bryan

[macrojack]

You didn't provide a budget so my suggestion may be way out of bounds.

The question of floorstander or bookshelf isn't really your main concern. I would consider speakers that can be close to the front wall and which perform well nearfield. I would suggest Zu Druids, as the bass eminates from a port under the speaker, and they can be placed against the front wall without compromising performance in any way. They will provide bass down to 35 Hz. which, while not theatre depth, is adequate for most music.
These speakers are very high resolution and very efficient, leaving the door open to extensive long term upgrading options. They show up on Audiogon regularly for about $2K used but they sell VERY quickly.

[JLM]

What aspect of the sound you're getting now are you disatisfied with exactly?

Bigger rooms do sound better than smaller ones, but 16 ft x 12 ft isn't "that" small.  I feel for the guys with 12 ft x 12 ft and smaller rooms.

Just using the term "floorstanding" paints with a very wide brush.  As eluded to above, taking the bass load off the mid/bass driver will by itself help improve sound quality.

Assuming the Soliquys are in the quality range of your previous speakers, adding the sub makes a lot of sense to me too.

[duggie]

i agree w/others, who have said bookshelf vs floorstanding is not the issue.  i have used bookshelf speakers in a huge (26x38) room, w/excellent results - but i use a pair of stereo subs.  it's my opinion that using a pair of subs will help any speakers, bookshelf or floorstanding.  and, in any sized room.  when i 1st got my sub system, i was using floorstanders that were -2db at 20hz.  w/the the subs, the overall improvement in sound was not subtle - the bass was better, & the midrange also improved as the mains didn't have to strain to do the low frequencies.  for reasons noted above, adding a pair of subs in a small room will improve things drastically - it's difficult to get proper bass in a small room, & your mains will work better w/o having to do it.  having a pair of subs vs a single sub will also make it easier to properly integrate the low end - more even room loading & less distortion will result w/a pair of subs vs using only one.