My listening room is 12 m square , how would a bookshelf cope
12m x 12m, or 12m2?
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12 m square
I certainly wouldn’t put on a bookshelf, but use standmount speakers on matching stands, and pull into the room a bit. You will likely need larger standmount speakers for that size of room, I wouldn’t go below 11 litres, and you will likely find 19/20 litres or larger is the optimum size.
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Thank Simon … never used bookshelves before and not 100% sure of the range
Yes steer clear of bookshelves, use dedicated stand mounts.
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My listening room is 4 x 4.5m. I use stands and don’t need lots of bass. Tried various stand mount speakers over time and most work very well for my taste. Generally, the bigger, the more bass as I’m sure you know.
You’ll get bass reinforcement by putting them on a sideboard/cabinet and if they have some space around them then can sound very good, say 1ft to the rear wall depending upon model. We’ve used stand mount speakers like that in a largish room to good effect, about 5 x 10m.
An actual bookshelf is tricky but hopefully you’re not planning to do that.
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A square room can be acoustically problematic. Luckily, if yours is so then it seems large enough that you can probably get around the worst effects, especially with judicious use of furnishings
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3x4? 6x2? Square? L shaped? Actual dimensions can make a big difference…
You can get speakers specifically designed for on- or in- wall mounting (e.g. ATC do a range). If specifically on a bookshelf, might be best when literally that, in a wall of books with front faces of speakers flush with the book spines. Or do you mean standmount? (Some standmounts effectively occupy the same room space as some floorstanders.) Other considerations include how low you want to go in the bass and whether you will be using subwoofer(s)
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how tall is your ceiling?
It rather depends on where the listening position will be as well. will you be sitting against the back wall opposite the speakers or somewhere nearer in front of the speakers?
On the whole I would say unless they are large a true bookshelf speaker may be asking too much of them. However speakers on stands may be OK.
It is a broad question and really there until one starts putting sound into the room and try it out no one is going to be able to answer other than some very general advice
If it is truly square then some room treatment for walls may be needed.
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I am a great believer in speakers with simple cross overs especially with two drivers. Ok my current speakers have 3 drivers but mid-range is connected directly with no crossover.
You may not get all the bass you could get with large diameter cones but a reasonable size stand mounter may well be fine.
Do make sure speakers are well into room and away from corners though!
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Hi @erchie84, you have a very large room (by U.K. standards at least) and you have a fine set of electronics, so I’m wondering why you’re looking at bookshelf speakers. If you really plan to use them on bookshelves, I think you’re highly like to compromise the high SQ you should be expecting. If you really mean stand-mount speakers, the footprint of the stands you’ll need is going to be around the same as floor-standers. People often choose stand-mounts to avoid boomy bass in small rooms, but that hardly applies in your case.
Unless there’s other constraints on your choice, I’d be looking for a pair of efficient floor-standers in your situation.
Roger
Hi
Tbh I have always fancied a set on stands but primarily to listen to at low volumes if that makes sense… sometimes floorstanders are too loud on a chill night
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It’s a very large room indeed, and something small will get lost. Have you considered getting some active speakers? Something like the ATC SCM50A might be really good, though they may not be so great when playing quietly. As for floorstanders being too loud, surely it’s just a matter of turning down the volume? Which speakers do you have currently?
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How about the Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2? These look pretty intriguing on paper.
Erin’s Audio Corner loved them for what it’s worth and they measure well.
Or the new Buchardt E50?
A more mainstream option might be the new Neat Momentum Jet JS?
What about second hand from a dealer (with limited warranty) and minimise the loss if you decide they are not working for you after all?
My listening room is not much smaller which is considered small to medium. Something to take in consideration is width of your listening room speaker positioning. For example speaker positioned on the long wall or short wall. Idealy the width if on the short wall would 12’ in terms of cross the pond measurements.
I read the reply from @erchie84 to mean 12 square meters, in which case it would be quite small and of as yet unknown proportions.
Ah, like HH I interpreted
as 12m x 12m. It would be really helpful to clear that up.
Roger
I asked in my first post, and the answer was 12m square, rather than 12 square m. But who knows?