
Floor standing speakers are definitely not designed to blend into the decor, but they are perfect when you want to make sure you have the best audio system! In addition, the best floor standing speakers feature an elegant and modern look that fits nicely with gaming consoles, flat screen TVs or other speakers you have around.
So, if you’re ready to bring out the big guns (tall speakers in this scenario), let’s have a look at some reviews and a few guidelines to follow.
How To Choose The Best Floor Standing Speakers
The main advantage floor standing speakers have over bookshelf speakers is their size. Because there’s more room inside the cabinets, these speakers feature more powerful elements and are capable of greater authority and bass.
Still, in order to find the right ones for your needs, you need to know a bit more about the features that make them so great.
Good Bass Representation
A good floor standing speaker must have the right elements for outstanding bass production. This usually means a combination of drivers and high-end woofer cone construction with dedicated crossover circuitry that controls where each sound is going to be delivered (the tweeter or the woofer).
Power & Balance
A good tower speaker must be able to fill a room with sound while featuring a small floor footprint. Also, the sound must be clear and well-balanced, creating a fantastic home theater experience.
Footing & Weight
Since they sit directly on the floor, the cabinets have a support system that keeps them balanced. But you need to choose the cabinets with the right footing for your floors. For instance, if you have a carpeted floor you should look for a cabinet with spikes, but if you have hard floors it’s best to choose a cabinet with rubber footing.
Lastly, the weight of the speaker is important. Since they are rather big, these cabinets can also be heavy, which means they’re not that easy to move around. So, if you want something more portable, you should go for a lightweight option.
Best Floor Standing Speakers
Pioneer SP-FS52
The Best Budget Floor Standing Speakers
With the SP-FS52 speakers, Pioneer proves that you don’t have to spend a fortune in order to enjoy audio quality. Featuring a simple and elegant design, the speakers are easy to integrate into any room, which makes them perfect for home theater systems.
Of course, the SP-FS52 Floor Standing Speakers also manage to deliver an impeccable audio quality whether you use them for movies, music, or gaming. The bass is powerful due to the three 5-1/4-inch woofers with oversized magnets and the sound is balanced by the 1″ high-efficiency soft dome tweeter. Furthermore, to reduce internal standing waves, these speakers use an RF molded curved cabinet design which delivers exceptional sound quality.
Lastly, the audio between the woofer and the tweeter is perfectly blended over by an 8-element complex crossover system designed for greater accuracy. Overall, the SP-FS52 Floor Standing Speakers are the perfect choice when the budget is tight, but you don’t want to compromise your audio experience.
- Simple and elegant design
- Powerful bass and deep, beautiful sound
- Good audio accuracy regardless of source
- The perfect choice for home theater systems
- They need a bit of time to get better
- Not for audiophile
ELAC Debut 2.0 F6.2 Speaker
The Best Floor Standing Speakers Under $500
The ELAC Debut 2.0 F6.2 floor standing speaker is a masterpiece and the embodiment of innovation in the world of audio experiences! First, the entire ELAC Debut 2.0 series is professionally tuned. This means that all the speakers and audio systems are designed with audiophiles in mind.
So, if you’re looking for the best home theater speakers and have the budget for it, the F6.2 speaker is a wonderful choice. They are designed with three 6.5” Aramid Fiber woofers with a vented pole piece and a new 1” soft dome tweeter with wide-dispersion waveguide for better surround sound. Furthermore, everything is fitted in a larger, internally braced cabinet, which creates the best accuracy, regardless of the audio source (movies, music, or games).
- High-quality audio experience
- Impressive design with improved cabinets
- Professionally tuned for audiophiles
- The ideal option for a high-end audio studio
- A bit pricey
- They need a breaking in period
Polk T50 Floor Standing Speakers
For a Versatile & Affordable Audio System
With a slim shape and a design that’s simple and classy, the T50 standing speakers from Polk can be integrated anywhere. In addition, they don’t need any accessories (such as stands or shelves) and can be used with the grille on or off, according to your preferences.
The T50 speakers were designed to enhance your music, so you can use them for parties, events, or just for afternoon/evening relaxation. Each speaker features one 1” tweeter, one 6.5” driver, and two 6.5” bass radiators. As a result, the sound is natural, warm, and well-balanced.
The speakers are compatible with most home theater AV receivers, so you can set them up as you like. Regardless, the result will be impressive whether you’re watching a movie or playing a game.
- Great audio quality at an affordable price
- Impressive minimalist design
- Easy to set up with most AV receivers
- Perfect for small to medium rooms
- They need a subwoofer for large rooms
- Speaker doesn’t deliver audiophile quality
Klipsch RP-8000F
The Best Floor Standing Speakers for Music
Impressive and towering, the RP-8000F is designed to deliver an incredible cinematic experience due to the proprietary Hybrid Tractrix horn-loaded technology and dual 8″ copper-spun cerametallic woofers supported by the 1” titanium LTS vented Tweeter.
In addition, the speaker features bass-reflex via rear-firing Tractrix port and dual binding posts for bi-wire/bi-amp.
Overall, the entire speaker is built to reduce sound vibrations and bouncing from the walls or surrounding objects. The sound is aimed directly at the listener, and it remains pure and unencumbered by the environment. Furthermore, the Klipsch RP-8000F is fantastic at delivering lower frequencies without any distortions, allowing the listener to feel the music in a very raw and vivid way.
Lastly, the speaker looks great with and without the front grille which is magnetic and can be easily removed.
- Gorgeous & towering design
- Can be combined with other Klipsch speakers
- Powerful and clear sound quality
- Designed for sound purity without interferences
- It is a bit on the heavy side, so it’s difficult to move
- The corners are veneer, which peels off easily
KEF Q950 Floorstanding Speaker
The Best Floor Standing Speakers Under $1000
The KEF Q950 are by no means cheap, but boy, do they pack a punch? The point being, if you’re shopping for a pair of accurate and articulate home speakers, these ones will give you a run for your money. To begin with, the Q950 are the biggest speakers in the series, and weigh 20 kg each, while measuring 1116 x 357 x 328 mm.
The point being, if you want to squeeze the last drop of performance out of these KEFs, you’ll require some breathing space so to speak. As in, these speakers are not suitable for small rooms, it would make no sense to cram them in a tiny space.
The Q950 benefit from KEF’s latest design, more specifically the signature Uni-Q driver is placed inside a sealed cabinet for reducing the load on the cone and to improve detail and clarity, including delivering cleaner bass. Driver improvements also enhanced mid-range clarity via a larger DC blocking capacitor.
What makes these speakers to stand out from the crowd is precision, and if you’re a music aficionado, you’ll appreciate the way the Uni-Q driver is taking care of the mids and highs. However, keep in mind that the Q950 is a beast of a speaker, and you will be able to hear sounds and instruments that you never knew existed. The soundstage is incredibly wide when used in a stereo setup and you’ll experience zero distortion, no matter how high you crank up the volume, on any type of music.
Finally, we must tell you that these speakers punch way above their price, and they would make for an excellent addition to your music rig, that provided you pair them with a strong enough amplifier.
- Impressive sound quality
- Work great in big rooms
- Premium cabinets
- Uni-Q array driver
- Q Series Woofers
- 3D sound image
- Grills sold separately
MartinLogan Motion 40
The Ideal Speakers for High-Quality Sound in Large Rooms
The Motion 40 from MartinLogan comes with a series of improvements over the other speakers we reviewed. First, each speaker has a folded motion tweeter designed to squeeze the air and minimize distortion in order to produce a faster response than the standard 1” dome tweeter. In addition, the new type of tweeter is 8 times larger and manages to deliver a dynamic and precise sound.
The quality of the sound and how it is delivered is controlled by a precision-built advanced topology Vojtko crossover and there are high-performance aluminum cone woofers for low-frequency notes.
So, if you have the budget to get four of these (to set them up in a 5.1 system), you’ll have the best floor standing speakers under $5000 for home theater, music, and even audio recording. Not to mention, the cabinets are elegant, glossy, and very aesthetically pleasing.
- New and improved tweeters and cones
- Designed for audiophile-grade sound quality
- Impressive cabinets that stand out
- Can be used with or without the front grille
- You may need to set them up with an EQ for specific sounds
- A bit on the expensive side
Polk Audio TSi300
The Best Option for Audiophiles on a Budget
Simple, elegant, and affordable, the TSI300 is a nice floor standing speaker for various casual audio activities. Furthermore, if you pair it with a high-quality subwoofer, it will get punchier, which will feel like a high-end speaker.
Furthermore, this is a rather compact tower with a small footprint and a big heart which makes it ideal for all sorts of at-home combinations. It can be used as the front or main speakers in a home theater system, and it performs nicely for music and gaming as well.
The 1” silk/polymer composite Dynamic Balance dome tweeter works well with the two 5.25” diameter bi-laminate organic fiber cone woofers and delivers a frequency response between 35 and 25KHz.
- Small footprint with a powerful sound
- Fits well with modern flat screens
- Ideal for music, movies, and gaming
- Can be easily combined with other speakers and subwoofers
- They need a bit of time to break-in
- The bass response is not great without a subwoofer
Rockville TM80B
The Best Floor Standing Speakers Under $300
Designed for the modern listener, the TM80B floor standing speakers feature a wide range of high-end features. First, there is the built-in Bluetooth connectivity that gives you about 150ft of freedom from any wires without interference. Second, the speakers support USB and SDcards, which extends their usefulness.
In terms of performance, the TM80B is equipped with two 8″ subwoofers for loud and deep bass response, two 4″ full-range drivers with polypropylene cones, rubber surrounds, and bullet dust cap for loud and clear sound, and one silk dome tweeter for incredible highs.
There’s also a built-in 8-band equalizer with preset equalizer curves, an FM radio, and a class A/B amplifier.
- Impressive performance and materials
- Crystal clear audio for lows, mids, and highs
- Powerful sound delivery
- Bluetooth connectivity
- USB and SDcard slots
- The cable that connects the two speakers is really short
- Volume goes high every time you turn them on
Summary
There are plenty of options when it comes to the best floor standing speakers, but you also must make sure the ones you choose fit into your budget. For this, follow our guidelines, check our reviews, and only choose when you’re sure you know exactly what you want.
What everyone seems to ignore is the Acoustech line of speakers by BIC america.
As an audio engineer I had some of the best electronics and speakers including some
that won best of show at CES.
I had Legacy Focus ( I lived close to the factory and got a great discount from a friend that worked there), VMPS RM50 series 2 and Tower II SE, and now have Acoustech PL-980s which have replaced the Tower II SEs.
I got tired of moving 325 & 125 pound speakers , Adcom amps, electronic xover’s, etc around and brought the Acoustech’s back to Mexico where I now live.
At 98db efficiency the quickness and dynamics have to be heard to be believed.
Imaging, frequency response and overall sound are as good as anything on the list above.
At $660 a pair they are a steal.
I use a NOBsound/ Douk Audio 5 input (AptX BT, Aux, Coax, Optical, USB ) digital amp with 55 w RMS continuous/ 70/ch peak which is more than enough to fill my 4 X 5 X 3.3 m tall listening room to dangerous levels.
Since you can get them from Amazon with return privileges why not give them a listen?
I firmly believe you will choose them if you set them up the way BIC advises.
(Front of the speakers 18-24″ from the back wall, speakers pointed to cross 2-3 feet in front of your listening position.)