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Should I get floorstanding or bookshelf speakers for my 16'x11' room?


chaddjohnson

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Hello! First post here. I am setting up my first 5.1 system. I’ve been using the same computer speakers and subwoofer since high school 15 years ago, and it's time to upgrade.

 

Klipsch seems great, so I will probably will go with this brand; although I am open to other brands and also to mixing brands (e.g. use a non-Klipsch subwoofer).

 

My room is 11’x16’ with 8’ ceilings and 1408 cubic square feet. It is on the second story of an older home. I have a projector with a 100” screen mounted in the middle of one of the 16’ walls. A cloth-covered couch is along the other wall facing the projector. Here are some photos of the room (it's a mess because I just moved): imgur.com/a/Ncd155u. When seated on the couch, the viewer's head will be 10' from the projector screen/wall.

 

The center speaker and receiver will sit on top of a cube shelf I bought from IKEA.

 

I am trying to decide what speakers to buy. Considering the 11’x16’ room size, I am unsure whether I should buy floor speakers or bookshelf speakers (on 24” stands). I will use this sound system for movie-watching and for listening to music (streamed from Spotify over Bluetooth or WiFi to the receiver) throughout the day.

I have been eyeballing the following:

 

  • Klipsch RP-250F Tower/Floorstanding Speakers
  • Klipsch RP-440C Center Channel Speaker
  • Klipsch RP-240S Surround Speakers
  • Klipsch R-112SW Subwoofer

 

But I wonder if this is too much for the room. Maybe not?

 

And of course I am very open to other alternatives and suggestions for different Klipsch/other speaker models (e.g. Bookshelf).

 

What do you all think?

Edited by chaddjohnson
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Hello, and welcome to the forum. There is nothing at all wrong with your choice of Floorstanding for that size room. You could lose some bass efficiency by placing bookshelves on a pedestal, however you are covered by the sub for your bass response. Either way but, not as familiar from the forum as to the newer bookshelves by Klipsch. Have heard on pair though that sounded just fine. If your budget if any allows, I would consider what you are thinking now, with the floorstanders by Klipsch. It may be good to go with the floorstanding as, you may want to listen to even higher volume. The volume control will assist you for when you need less or more, of course. Also, Keep in mind if not familiar with the Klipsch bookshelves, they are efficient and would fill your space with decent sound for 2 channel listening for music or, for HT. The somewhat legacy RB-75 are abit sought after yet, there are other recc. like the RB-5, etc...others will have super ideas.  What are you going to power the system with?

Welcome again...

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56 minutes ago, billybob said:

Hello, and welcome to the forum. There is nothing at all wrong with your choice of Floorstanding for that size room. You could lose some bass efficiency by placing bookshelves on a pedestal, however you are covered by the sub for your bass response. Either way but, not as familiar from the forum as to the newer bookshelves by Klipsch. Have heard on pair though that sounded just fine. If your budget if any allows, I would consider what you are thinking now, with the floorstanders by Klipsch. It may be good to go with the floorstanding as, you may want to listen to even higher volume. The volume control will assist you for when you need less or more, of course. Also, Keep in mind if not familiar with the Klipsch bookshelves, they are efficient and would fill your space with decent sound for 2 channel listening for music or, for HT. The somewhat legacy RB-75 are abit sought after yet, there are other recc. like the RB-5, etc...others will have super ideas.  What are you going to power the system with?

Welcome again...

 

Hi! Thanks for your response.

 

Good point about bass efficiency with bookshelves.

 

For the receiver, I am looking at one of the following:

  • Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A870BL
  • Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A780
  • Yamaha RX-V685BL
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Floorstanding!  Select as good as you can afford.  Not too big for a small room!

 

I once had Klipschorns in a slightly smaller room.  From the sweetspot, they sounded great!   People off axis didn't get good imaging, but tonality was still great.   In their current > 4,000 cu.ft. room they sound only a bit better.

 

Get an AVR or a preamp/processor (AVP) with Audyssey.  That would be either Marantz or Denon.  Make sure the Audyssey is XT32.

 

Getting Klipsch speakers of high sensitivity will save you from buying a very powerful amp.  "high" efficiency would be = or > 94 dB at 2.83v at 1 M

 

 

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The previous poster makes some good technical sense that I would trust.

Otherwise you should be good to go with the Yamaha choices, in my

limited opinion on the models. Others may chime in. Typically but not

always then, bookshelves in a HT are most often accompanied by a sub.

Have had bookshelves that satisfied my bass drive. For a HT a sub is

most time considered a prerequisite. Please excuse if already hip to my

opinion.

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A nice choice. If there are budgetary concerns go with standmounts (six inch drivers). If you are using an AVR and a sub you will have your speakers set to small anyways. That way you are just paying for your tweeters and midrange. Another great model for fronts in this configuration are the (discontinued but still available if you look),  RB 61IIs. Fantastic for movies and more importantly music.

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Okay! I think I am going to get the following:

  • Klipsch RP-160M Bookshelf Speakers
  • Klipsch RP-250C Center Channel Speaker
  • Klipsch RP-240S Surround Speakers
  • VTF-2 MK5 Subwoofer

I will place the bookshelf speakers on 30" stands (which should place the tweeters a tiny bit above ear level).

 

And I will probably mount the surround speakers on the ceiling on the sides of the couch, facing the couch, angled downward toward the MLP.

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