On the market today, there are so many types of speaker designs available for customers to choose from. Among these speakers include bookshelf speakers, sound bars and floor-standing/tower speakers.
Unlike in the past, where people would purchase speakers without considering the size of their homes, today the size of your apartment is among the key aspects you have to consider when choosing home theater speakers.
While most apartments are highly congested with items such as coaches, chairs, tables and bookshelves, music enthusiasts have opted to go for floor-standing speakers to save space while experiencing high-quality explosive sound.
The main reason why tower speakers are perfect for small apartments is their ability to pack multiple speaker drivers in a small space (cabinet) resulting in a powerful surround sound.
When floor-standing speakers are powered by a strong AV receiver, they have the capacity to produce high-quality sound which is enough for an average home. This is because most woofers from tower speakers cover a wide frequency range from 40Hz to as high as 20 kHz.
According to experts, to ensure that you enjoy quality audio and cinema sound, it’s perfect if you combine your floor-standing speakers with your home theater system and a digital HD television.
How to choose the best floor-standing speakers
What are floor-standing speakers? Floor-standing speakers, also known as tower speakers, are tall and stylish speakers usually seen in most home theater setups. These drivers are mostly preferred by music lovers living in moderately sized apartments due to their sleek designs and ability to produce quality sounds.
Most of them are designed with state-of-the-art technology where powerful tweeters, mids, and coned woofers converge in a small and compact cabinet to produce wide ranges and deep bass. When choosing the best floor-standing speakers, there are a number of technical aspects you’ll need to consider such as:
- Frequency response—Frequency response is a term you’ll be likely to meet when choosing the best tower speakers. This is the audio range a speaker is capable of producing when connected to an AV receiver. Most floor-standing speakers are designed with a wide frequency response ranging from 40Hz to 20 KHz making them perfect for home use
- Sensitivity—This is another key term you’ll need to understand when choosing a perfect floor-standing speaker. Sensitivity is the ability of a speaker to convert power into sound. Sensitivity is mostly measured in decibels meaning for a speaker to be perfect, it must have sensitivity of 91dB and above. Note that, the higher the decibels, the less power a speaker consumes, the clearer the sound becomes, and the longer the speaker is likely to last
- Impedance—This is the ability of a speaker to resist electric current. When choosing a speaker, you must ensure that the power rating and the impedance of both the speaker and the amp you wish to pair your system with match. If a speaker is powered by a stronger amp, it’s likely to blow, and when it’s powered by a weaker amp, both the speaker and the amp are likely to be damaged. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, the amp and the floor-standing speaker being powered must have equal power ratings
- Driver size—Another important aspect you’ll need to consider when choosing a tower speaker is the size of the drivers. Working with large drivers is an advantage to people who enjoy listening to explosive music because the woofers produce quality low-frequency sounds. A driver with a diameter of 8” is perfect as compared to multiple small drivers because the sound generated by a large driver is strong
What to look out for in the best floor-Standing Speakers
With the manufacture of smart 5.1 home theater systems, it becomes very difficult to choose the right speakers for your apartment. According to most music enthusiasts, choosing a set of powerful tower speakers is the best idea as compared to bookshelf speakers or sound bars.
However, before purchasing these speakers, you should first ask yourself whether they will fit in your living room, match your interior décor, as well as produce quality surround sound.
If you feel that the speakers are a perfect match for you, then you can progress to the next step of researching key features of each of the floor-standing speakers. Among the things you should look out for include:
- The drivers—The first thing you need to look at when selecting a floor-standing speaker is the number of drivers. The types and number of drivers in a particular speaker varies from model to model. The best tower speakers usually come with four types of drivers which are responsible for the different frequency ranges. Among these drivers are tweeters (may be horn, coned or dome tweeters), mid-range drivers, woofers and sub-woofers
- Cabinet Construction—Another thing you need to look at in a floor-standing speaker is the cabinet construction. Always look for a solid cabinet that doesn’t vibrate and distort the sound produced by powerful drivers. Also check the cabinet’s footing and the type of wood used in the design of the speakers. If your apartment has hard floors (tiles, wood, or linoleum), choose rubber or padded feet. If your floor is carpeted, then you can go for speakers with spiked feet
- The size of the Cabinets—Before you buy a speaker, it’s wise to consider the size of the cabinet and the drivers as well. Normally, the bigger the speaker is, the louder the sound it’s able to produce. Due to this reason, it’s paramount that you first consider the size of your apartment before you determine the size of the speakers you’ll purchase
Review of the Best Floor-standing Speakers
Now that we’ve highlighted some of the most basic things you need to consider when choosing a floor-standing loudspeaker, we will review some of the best speakers in the market today.