Best Sounding Floorstanding Speakers

The most common type of speakers of any size is known as dynamic speakers. These speakers use a unique crossover type of speaker drivers that sends the lower tones to the woofer or subwoofer, midrange tones to the midrange speaker cone, and the high notes to the tweeters. Most top quality dynamic floor speakers contain all four of the listed parts and can reproduce sounds accurately enough to make the listener feel as if he/she is present at a live performance.

Electrostatic speakers are a slightly different type that makes use of a high voltage signal to drive a membrane suspended between to conductor plates known as stators. These speakers operate without the crossover system of drivers used by dynamic speakers.

Their good point is that they reproduce sounds accurately in a linear pattern as the volume increases without a great deal of distortion. Drawbacks include the fact that they require powerful amplifiers to provide a strong enough signal to drive the membrane and their sheer physical size. These are normally huge speakers. They are not well known for being able to reproduce the deepest bass notes.

Planar speakers are popular with a small group of older listeners. These speakers are very thin in construction. Unfortunately, they are not very good matches for most home theater uses. They need a great deal of power to drive them and despite their appearance, they should not be placed right next to a wall if one wants the best quality sound they are capable of producing.