Can a monitor sound like a floorstander??


Don't know if I should put on a flame suit before I ask such a question..but is there? Classical music is my preference and I'm currently using Focus Audio FS688 monitors- they're very good at what they do--obviously better for chamber music than orchestral. I've heard that the Harbeth monitor 40's are great, but they are about the size of a floorstader. Can one get full sounding classical music through a speaker like Sonus Faber Guarneri, Dynaudio C1, or is a floorstander really the only way to go with classical music. I can really only bring my speakers out @ 3feet from the wall. My equipment is:
Ayre V-5xe
BAT VK51-SE
Ayre C-5xe
Running Springs Jaco power conditioner

Thank for your help and suggestions!


classical1
As I tried to point out earlier, the Summits have, in my room at least, a dynamic range very similar to that of the prior speaker I owned, the Paradigm Studio 100 V3. I think the bass is actually BETTER on the Summits. When I first listened to the Summits in the store, I had no idea that they were so small, with the bottom part being the stand.

Goatwuss, I agree that no monitor will reproduce the extreme low frequencies of a gargantuan floorstander, but some such units actually seem to be monitors themselves, except that they have the monitor stacked on top of the bass unit. At this point, the two configurations begin to overlap.

A better question might be this one: Can a floorstander without a subwoofer sound as good as a monitor with one or two subwoofers (IF the subwoofer(s) is/are set up optimally)? This is a particularly important question with respect to the speakers' agility and soundstaging characteristics. In my subjective experience, most floorstanders (except for the Audio Physic Caldera, retail ~20K or more) simply do not image as well as most GOOD monitors I've heard, even within the same product line. For example, I thought that the Totem Tabu imaged much, much better than the Totem Shaman, although I did hear those at two different stores. Nrchy's post would seem to generally agree with this, although Avguygeorge appears to have had a very different experience, and he has changed only one component.

So, opinions on this topic vary, but are not (generally) diametrically opposed. I switched from floorstanders to "monitors" and Avguygeorge (if I'm interpreting his thread response correctly) switched from monitors to floorstanders. Both of us are happy (I'm ecstatic, actually) with the result. Bottom line: Your ears will decide for you.

Let us know what you decide to do if you get a chance. We'd like to "monitor" your progress.
looking at the Goldmund Epilogue and Wilson Watt/Puppy, these great designs are very similar to integrating monitors with separate woofer units. separating drivers in different cabinets definitely has some advantage: less cross-talk, less vibrations from different drivers affecting each other,...

just more work and expensive to implement.
You're on the right track by looking at Monitor 40s. You might also look at similar speakers- Spendor 1/2s, Spendor SP2/3s, Harbeth HP5s, ATCs, etc. Speakers of these designs can provide the weight of floorstanders and the imaging and air of monitors.