You can only expect the best sound that money can buy with heavy duty floorstanding speakers. Regardless of the price, floorstanding speakers are known for their exceptional, reverberating sound that is perfect for home theaters.
To guarantee you buy the best and without being involved in a lengthy return process, our experts have reviewed the best floor standing speakers in the market.
Floor Standing Speakers Reviews
1. Klipsch 2 Pack R-610F Floorstanding Speakers
If you are looking for speakers within a lower price range, you can consider the Klipsch R-610F speakers. The speakers come in a pair and feature Klipsch’s Tractrix Horn Technology, which focuses the audio to give you maximum clarity.
On top of the Tractrix Horn Technology, the R-610F also features Klipsch’s Linear Travel Suspension tweeter. The aluminum tweeter is lightweight and designed to optimize audio clarity, detail and balance.
As for the low bass tones, the R-610F has copper spun woofers to emphasize the low rumbles. Created from IMG, or Injection Molded Graphite, you can count on the woofers to deliver amazing precision for the bass.
(For other models, we also reviewed Klipsch R-625FA here)
What We Like
- Tractrix Horn Technology
- Copper spun woofers
- Injection molded graphite
- Aluminum tweeter
- Linear Travel Suspension technology
- Affordable price point
- Comes in a pair
- Rear Tractrix port
- Low distortion
What We Don't Like
- Not 3 drivers
- Heavy
2. KEF Q550 Floorstanding Speaker (Each)
Unfortunately, the price of the KEF Q550 Floor Standing Speaker is only for a single speaker, but that’s what gives it the title of our premium choice.
It’s the smallest choice of the Q series floorstanding speakers from KEF, which also makes it a great choice for those who want the tower speakers design but are limited on space.
These high end premium speakers have a high frequency response and have the “sit anywhere” Uni-Q sound driver array. The unique design of the drivers on the Q550 bring you a more dynamic soundstage and 3D sound no matter where you are sitting in your listening room.
Other floorstanding speakers you can check are our top floorstanding speakers below 5000 here.
What We Like
- Uni-Q Driver Array
- Smallest of the Q series speaker system
- Delivers heavy bass
- 3D sound no matter your position
- Auxiliary bass radiators
- Q series woofers
- Advanced cabinets for a cleaner sound
- Comes in 3 different finishes
- Lighter weight
- Comes with feet
What We Don't Like
- The price is only for one
- No grille
3. ELAC Debut 2.0 F6.2 Floorstanding Speaker
This ELAC Debut 2.0 earns a place on our list because it’s a three-way instead of a two-way design. This means there are separate drivers to handle the high notes, midrange, and bass, which all result in more detailed sound.
The ELAC Debut 2.0 F6.2 Floorstanding Speaker does not come in a set. Our experts suggest purchasing two for the most balanced sound when listening to music and watching movies.
The soft dome tweeter will extend the frequency response and the woofer features a weave pattern that will match the high frequency response of the dome tweeter and midrange.
The rigid cabinets have internal bracing, which will greatly reduce the vibrations and the effect the equipment has on the overall audio standard.
What We Like
- Rigid cabinets
- 3 driver speakers
- Soft tweeter dome
- Mid range driver present
- Aramid fiber woofer
- Minimalistic design
- Wide dispersion waveguide
- Balanced and detailed 3D audio
What We Don't Like
- Doesn’t come in a pair
- More expensive than bookshelf speakers
4. Sony SSCS3 Floorstanding Speaker (Single)
Although this is another speaker that doesn’t come in a pair, the price point is low enough to still make this one of the more affordable options on the market. The lower price point doesn’t keep this from having a high end appearance or high quality audio.
The Sony SSCS3 Floorstanding Speaker has separate drivers for the high, mid and low sounds. With state of the art technology such as super tweeter and foamed mica-cellular diaphragm woofers, the SSCS3 outdo bookshelf speakers and other tower speakers by a mile.
The high resolution audio will bring you the best listening experience a new tower speaker can offer.
What We Like
- High resolution audio for the best quality
- No distortion
- Mica-cellular cone woofers
- Super tweeter
- Faceplate optimized for unhindered audio production
- Wide frequency range
- Optimized speaker crossover
- Affordable price point
What We Don't Like
- Only comes with one tower speaker
- Weaker mid
5. Fluance Signature Series Hi-Fi Three-Way Floorstanding Tower Speakers
The Fluance Hi-Fi Tower Speakers are created with not only good, but the best components to ensure your music and movies are delivered to the best of its abilities. There are dual 8-inch woofers that will satisfy bass lovers with clean and deep bass hi-fi tones similar to the Bowers & Wilkins 683 S2 speakers.
To balance the bass, the neodymium tweeter will clarify the high frequencies and the midrange is taken care of by the midrange driver, straight from a woven glass fiber cone.
The cabinets are also constructed with audio precision in mid and made from high quality MDF wood to boost audio precision.
What We Like
- Comes with feet to protect your floors
- High end neodymium tweeters
- Relays bass tones well with dual 8-inch woofers
- Woven glass fiber cone mid range driver
- MDF wood cabinet
- Composed from the best materials
- Full range floorstanding speakers
- High frequency response
- Great for entry level systems
What We Don't Like
- Needs some breaking in
- Large and heavy
6. Polk Audio Signature Series S55 Floorstanding Speakers
The S55 Floorstanding Speakers is the ultimate definition of high end hi-fi sound. This pair of speakers are the perfect addition to complete your home theater system.
The S55 features Polk’s Dynamic Balance acoustic array, to make sure the speakers hit every note in the spectrum. The S55 has 2 speaker drivers with one terylene dome tweeter that are designed to deliver thumping bass and a high frequency response.
The design is stylish and created with one thing in mind – no distortion. The cable, which comes with your purchase, has a plastic jacket wrap around the tips to further reduce distortions.
What We Like
- Real hi-fi sound
- Dynamic Balance acoustic array
- Sleek and glossy design
- Tower speakers with a base
- Polk patented Port Power Technology
- Perfect for completing a home theater system surround sound setup
- Easy to use entry level
- Heavy bass
- Soft dome tweeters
- Elevates your music with dual drivers
What We Don't Like
- Very big
- Heavy
Floor Standing Speakers Buyer’s Guide
How did we determine which floorstanding speakers were good enough to make it onto our list? Our experts are here to answer that question by breaking down what to look for when buying the best floor standing speaker or even the best budget floorstanding speakers in the market today.
The excellent speakers you can buy will always be made out of the best materials, suited for a long lifespan in your living room. Aside from the construction and the design, what else should you want?
Design and Size
As said above, the quality of your new pair of speakers depends on the materials used and the overall design. You don’t need Dolby Atmos[1] to be one of the best speakers, what matters is how the floorstanding speakers were made.
For starters, the cabinet should be optimized to reduce vibrations, which will increase audio accuracy and reduce bass distortion.
Good materials to look for regarding the cabinet is rigid and has internal bracing. Also look for MDF wood, which will help improve audio precision. The design of the housing should help the audio relay and not hinder it.
A removable grille can be considered a hindrance, so looking for a design with an option that’s removable will give you the option to enjoy louder sound.
Then there is the consideration of a 2-way, 3-way or even 4-way design, but our experts will dive into more detail on that in a bit.
Another major consideration is the size of your new floorstanding speakers. You need to consider the layout of your home and the rest of your system. If you are looking to assemble a full home theater setup by adding your new tower, then you probably have the space to spare.
For those who don’t put too much thought into the amount of room available, the diversity of your new speaker options greatly increases. However, if you are short on space, our team suggests smaller designs, like the Q Acoustics 3050i and Q550 series.
Setup and Placement
Elaborating on the above point, the placement of your new speakers will depend on how much room you have. If you are considering floorstanding speakers, then it’s safe to assume that you have a mid to large-sized room. Some floorstanding speakers are bulky, while some high-quality slim floorstanding speakers can conveniently slide into your home theater setup.
If you have a small room, our experts suggest looking at bookshelf speakers, which can also be converted into tower speakers with an additional stand.
The tower speakers should go at the front of the room, on either side of your entertainment unit. To get the best sound, try angling them slightly towards your listening spot. Our team also advises purchasing a pair of floorstanding speakers rather than just a single option for more balanced audio.
Keep the speakers away from the wall and corners with a few inches of leeway. This is so the audio has enough space to travel and not be muffled by the acoustics.
Aside from the placement of your speakers, another aspect that factors into the placement is your home furniture. The furnishings you have in your listening room can affect the music and movies in a good or bad way.
Anything such as large couches and armchairs can absorb the sound while flat surfaces, tiled floors and bare walls can bounce the sound around too much.
Do you need an amp? If you go for a passive speaker option, then you need to connect an external amplifier to your passive speakers properly, or amp for short. Active or powered speakers come with their own amp built-in.
Having an external amp will affect your placement and the amount of space you have to work with. Therefore, a good solution for those who have small rooms is to go for an active speaker option.
Our experts remind you that active speakers are often heavier than passive ones because of the included amp. You can play around with the placement because floorstanding tower speakers are often portable, even though they are quite large and heavy, they are not fixed in place like the best in-ceiling speakers in the market.
Sound Quality
Some tower speakers include advanced audio technologies like Atmos and DTS. Others rely on brand specific technology such as Linear Suspension, horn loaded drivers and Tractrix Horn. Whether you have the help of these proprietary bonuses, the good news is that’s not the only thing you should look for.
The construction and build of your full-range speaker will have influence over the audio as well. For example, copper spun cerametallic woofers will have even better bass sound than regular ones. The silk dome tweeter will push out the high frequencies with more precision.
The drivers should have the right amount of rigidity and flexibility along with the cabinets to balance the sound relays. To get the best audio, you need overall quality construction. Look into speakers with added features to help with the audio quality.
The cable you use will also affect the bass and audio standards. If you need long wires, our team suggests the thick 12 or 14 gauge speaker wires. They are also the best to support high-powered speakers and low impedance options
If the quality and performance are the most important to you, our list of exceptional Rockville speakers here is good choice, as well.
Power Rating
Many people think the power rating is directly related to how loud the speaker is, while that is correct, there is more to consider. The power rating of speakers are identified in two different categories: the RMS and the peak power.
Both refer to how much wattage one speaker can push out, but one refers to the continuous output and the other is what the speaker can support in short bursts. You will find that one figure is higher than the other, sometimes doubling in amount.
The RMS is the continuous power and the one you should pay more attention to. This number will reveal how much power your speakers can put out when you pay at average volume. The peak power is the maximum power output of your speakers.
If you don’t intend on damaging them anytime soon, our audio team does not recommend blasting your speakers at peak power over a long period.
Sensitivity of Speakers
Now that you understand the speaker wattage, we will move on to more statistics like the sensitivity. In short, the sensitivity is the efficacy of your speakers.
Remember when we said the power rating is somewhat responsible for how loud your speakers are but there is more involved? The figure to really pay attention to for loudness is the sensitivity.
The speaker sensitivity is measured in decibels, or dB for short. It pertains to how loud your speakers are and how well they process signals with a certain amount of power.
There is no standard for the sensitivity of speakers, so our experts will give you a suggested range: anywhere between 88 to 90 dB is a good place to start.
Do not go lower than that figure if you want to get top quality audio. The higher the dB rating, the louder your speakers will be. With that logic, you will need a higher dB rating in your system if you have a larger room.
Frequency Response
The frequency response is how well your speakers can produce the highs and lows. The measurements for frequency response are Hertz or Hz and kiloHertz kHz. The wider the frequency spectrum is for your speaker, the better it is at producing more detailed sound.
Drivers
Our experts will touch on what drivers are before we go into the different types of floorstanding speakers. The driver is basically the point of sound emission on your sound equipment. Go for full upward firing speakers for the highs and low firing for the lows.
As our experts have said, to ensure great sound and understand how well your speakers can produce audio, you have to review the materials used for construction. Only the best materials can produce great music and movie audio.
Three-Way Floor Standing Speakers
Remember we talked about the kind of speakers that can rage from 2, 3 or even 4-way speakers? Three way design floorstanding speakers are common and are also considered the standard of tower speakers. They are a step above the two-way speakers, which we will elaborate on later.
3 drivers floor speakers, also considered full spectrum speakers, have a dedicated tweeter for the high notes, one for the mids and a woofer for the bass. If you like a balanced and dynamic soundstage, then you need this speakers.
Four-way speakers are less common but are also available. In theory, they produce even more accurate sound, thanks presence of a super tweeter which takes care of the highest pitched notes and also its bass components. However, a poorly constructed 4-way speaker will have nothing on a well-built 3-way.
Two-Way Floor Standing Speakers
As you can imagine, two-way floorstanding speakers are lacking in diversity. The 2-way option such as the Klipsch RF 7 II lacks midrange drivers for the middle of the sound spectrum. How do 2-way design speakers portray the mid-tones you ask? The 2-way speakers need a subwoofer and tweeter to work together to compensate for it.
As you can imagine, this creates lower precision for your music and movie content. The bass from the woofer will also be less accurate because part of the woofer’s role is to deliver on the mids.
The same can be said about the tweeter, the accuracy is diluted because the tweeter also needs to accommodate for the lack of mids.
Our experts suggest getting the 3 driver speakers any day of the week. However, your choice should still be contingent on the quality of the build. Similar to what we said above, a well-built 2-way speaker can surpass the performance of a lower end 3 drivers.
Price
Our experts always consider people with different budgets when selecting one of the best floorstanding speakers. We have options that are suited for small to large rooms and also have compact options like the Q550.
The price hinges on many things including the type of speaker, the materials, the acoustic technologies and of course, the brand. Our experts will never suggest sacrificing the quality for the price, as there are many high end options that are still affordable like the Q Acoustics 3050i and SVS Prime Pinnacle speakers.
Another thing to pay attention to is whether the speakers come in a dual combo or as a single. Many consumers don’t read the label carefully enough and end up with only one single expensive speaker. Just because the price is expensive doesn’t mean it’s only one speaker and vice versa, so it pays off to read the description in detail.
If your budget permits, our team always recommends going for two speakers rather than one. This will allow you to assemble a full home theater system and create stereo sound. Two speakers doesn’t always mean a higher price, as there are some options that are very affordable.
Warranty
Whether or not you go for an affordable option, floor standing tower speakers will still cost hundreds of dollars. For something of this price, you would expect some sort of guarantee or warranty. In fact, it’s one of the factors our experts suggest you have.
With so many components and parts in a system, the entire setup could break down if one small thing goes wrong. A good way to ensure your equipment runs smoothly and efficiently is with a warranty.
The longer the warranty the better, and we suggest you make sure it covers all the parts that are more likely to break down such as the drivers.
One-year warranties are the industry standard, but our team has seen some brands offer warranties for a lifetime. We are the last people to suggest purchasing a product just for the brand, but there is something to be said about renowned brands and their ability to stand behind their products.
Manufacturers that can offer extended warranties also show consumers that they stand behind their product 100%, thus increasing the reliability of the speakers.
Don’t be discouraged if you have your eyes set on a set of two tower loudspeakers that do not have a lifetime warranty. There is plenty you can do to prolong the life of your speakers.
For one thing, you can play it within the suggested power output and remember that the peak power is for short bursts and not consistent playing.
FAQ
What is the best floor standing speakers?
These are the Polk Series S55. They have an ergonomic and high end design that redefines hi-fi sound. The Dynamic Balance Acoustic Array consists of drivers that will work together to bring you a wide soundstage. Combine that with Polk’s patented Power Port Technology for a higher bass response and you will get great sound for your home theater.
How do I choose a floor standing speaker?
You choose a floor standing speaker by paying attention to the construction, materials, audio quality and design. Go for 3 drivers speakers over 2-way if you like more accurate sound. The copper spun woofer and silk dome tweeter along with proprietary technology will not only give you good sound, but match your expectations in other areas such as longevity.
Can you put floor standing speakers on stands?
Yes, you can put floor standing speakers on stands. Some come with a base that elevates the whole speaker, which will help the tweeter, mid range and woofer hit the notes without vibrations. It’s best to keep your floor standing speakers a few inches away from the walls as well, which will affect the boundary gain.
Our Top Pick For a Floor Standing Speaker: Polk Audio Signature Series S55
Our team’s pick for is the Polk Audio S55. Not only is the set of 2 relatively affordable, it is also capable of delivering surround audio. The speaker pair has a removable grille for those who like it off. Polk’s patented Power Port Technology will help with the deep bass tones if you like heavy rumbles and vibrations.
The S55 has virtually no distortion and only brings you complete full-range audio for all your content. The rounded design and metal feet will protect its surrounding fixtures and the setup is easy with the included 14-gauge speaker cable.
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