TAKE TO THE FLOOR

From pumping dance music to grand orchestral heft, these pillars of strength will deliver in spades

Part of growing up, so we are told, involves learning to stand on your own two feet - both physically and (later) practically. By that measure, the average floorstanding loudspeaker is a very grown-up specimen indeed.

For starters, most, by definition, provide their own means of support. Of course, most stand on four feet rather than two but, unlike their mounted cousins, none of them requires the addition of stands to function at their best. And the very nature of their large-cabinet design means that, regardless of their driver arrangement, they already have an advantage over their smaller cousins when it comes to delivering great sound.

The big plus here is weightier bass reproduction - something that standmounter speakers, with their smaller internal volume, find much more of a challenge. In addition, floorstanders are able to produce a sound of greater power and scale, and are therefore well suited to larger rooms, which most can comfortably fill - even at higher volumes.

For this round-up, we have entered premium floorstander territory, where prices fall between £1000 and £2000. In this price bracket, the hardware offers a big step up in quality and performance from the sub-£1000 arena. That is because manufacturers have that crucial amount more cash in their budgets to spend on highquality drive units, crossovers and other components. They can also pay more attention to the cabinet materials and all-round quality of build - all of which pays significant dividends for the buyer. In fact, this is arguably the sector that offers the best balance between performance and price.