Why You Should Buy Tower Speakers
Before you buy more speakers, learn how to get the best audio out of the equipment you own. Even budget speakers sound better when used properly.
Say you want a high-end audio system, not a portable speaker, 360-degree speaker, mono speaker, smart speaker or computer speakers1. High-end systems come with tradeoffs: they took up more space, they created a rat’s nest of cables, they required me to get a stool made by a carpentry shop, and the resulting system is user-unfriendly. If you’re not okay with these tradeoffs, you should buy one of the aforementioned speakers and stop reading this guide.
If you care about audio quality, then you have two choices: floorstanding speakers, also called tower speakers:
And bookshelf speakers:
Bookshelf speakers need to be mounted on speaker stands:
Among these two options, you should buy floorstanders.
Why?
‣ The quality is noticeably better. I compared two similar speakers, the Q Acoustics 5040 floorstanders and the Q Acoustics 5020 bookshelf speakers. These are priced similarly, within 30%2, and the floorstanders sound noticeably better. If you replaced mine with bookshelf speakers, I’d be unhappy.
‣ Bookshelf speakers require a subwoofer, while floorstanders, thanks to their large size, don’t3.
‣ Bookshelf speakers require a stand, which looks less sleek than all-in-one floorstanders.
‣ If you’re concerned about space, floorstanders don’t take up any more space than bookshelf speakers. Floorstanders can actually be thinner than the width of my outstretched palm:
‣ Floorstanders are 30% costlier than bookshelf speakers, but bookshelf speakers need a speaker stand that costs ₹9K, and a subwoofer, at which point they cost as much as or more than a floorstander. So floorstanders are not just better in terms of quality, but also in bang for the buck.
These suggestions are applicable independent of whether you’re going for a stereo or a 5.1 system. In the latter case, you’d want your front left and front right speakers to be floorstanders. Building a 5.1 system out of mediocre speakers isn’t going to give you great results.
In summary, buy floorstanders.
By which I mean speakers that are small enough to fit on your desk, even if they aren’t necessarily billed as computer speakers.
Obviously, you can’t compare the cheapest tower speakers with the best bookshelf speakers.
Some bookshelf speakers have been designed to have good bass without a subwoofer, but more often than not, they do require one, while floorstanders don’t.