Can you get "bookshelf sound" from a floorstander?

Marty: Thanks for the thoughtful response. My system consists of a Wadia 861SE with Steve Huntley's Statement upgrade -- about as good as it gets for anything close to the money -- an ARC VS115 amp, Acoustic Zen interconnects and speaker cables and a pair of Von Schweikert VR-4Srs. I also use a REL Stadium III crossed over at about 27 hertz and have a pair of Totem Arros and Dunlavy SC-II's as backup speakers.

Incidentally, the Dunlavy SC-IV/A was infinitely better than the SC-IV. I wish I had kept mine. There's no emphasis in the bass region, which is evident by measurement and by listening.

Finally, accuracy isn't a matter of personal taste. A system is either accurate or it isn't, and not all people are qualified to judge accuracy. Granted, no system is 100 percent accurate -- meaning true to the source -- but the degrees of deviation vary considerably. To just dismiss this all as a matter of personal opinion is fine, but that's not the goal of a true audiophile.

9rw,

I tend to agree with you re: accuracy...to an extent.

I've measured the VSMs @ +/- 4db from 120hz to 15khz in my last room, and -3db at 33hz, -10db at 25hz: which is pretty good in my book. (There was some unappetizing lumpiness between 35hz and 120hz, but it's all room related).

Unfortunately, that's a static test tone, on-axis measurement. It's the best measurement we have -IMHO- for judging accuracy, but far from dispositive. By this test, the VSMs are as good as anything I've measured (except for the room corrected subs below app 80hz). I still can't say that makes them more accurate than others which do worse on this particular test because some people may prefer room response to on-axis testing. There are also tests for dynamic behavior (which I've never tried). Are small errors in the mid-range more important than somewhat larger errors above or below the key midle octaves. Small colorations vs octave to octave imbalances? How do you prioritize?

So, to be fair, accuracy is somewhat subjective - you pick your test to reflect your priorities.

Marty

Marty: Frequency response is just half of the equation. The other half is phase- and time-coherency. Bobby's latest designs may in fact be a lot better than the speakers I owned, but I wouldn't be willing to spend $10,000 or more to find out. You're still limited by the basic design in terms of dynamic capability and coherency. Like it or not, but properly designed large speaker systems simply have greater capabilities. This may not matter if you have a small room, prefer intimacy and don't care about a sense of realism.

Guys, especially Bobby, Some this debate os fine, but please remember that OP's budget is $1K. You can start another thread which does not hijack someone's else's.

... please remember that OP's budget is $1K.
Aktchi (Threads | Answers)

...I'll put the Silverline Prelude recommendation back on the table.