Recent Floorstanding Speaker Reviews

Yamaha gives a nod to the past while pushing sound reproduction further into the future with their NS-5000 loudspeaker. This state-of-the-art speaker uses a vintage design as a platform for some very modern audio engineering that uses cutting edge technology to solve problems with ingenuity that have traditionally been solved with brute force. At $15k/pair, they ain't cheap, but if you want the latest in speaker science in a gorgeous package that is built to last, the NS-5000 speaker might be the bargain you are looking for.

New speakers from Revel and JBL stole the spotlight at the 2019 CEDIA Expo. Revel added three models to its Performa Beryllium range, including a large flagship tower with an all-new beryllium tweeter. Meanwhile, JBL announced a completely new line of speakers called the HDI Series, featuring stylish curved cabinets and a new compression driver based on JBL’s professional gear. Read on to learn more and be sure to watch our detailed YouTube overview video.

MartinLogan’s updated Motion Series loudspeakers sport a fresh new design while leaving the “proven performance” of the previous generation largely unchanged. There are three floor-standers, two stand-mount speakers, and two center channel speakers in the range, all featuring MartinLogan’s Folded Motion (AMT) tweeters and custom aluminum cone woofers. With prices ranging from $800/pair to $3,200/pair, will these redesigned speakers be the more affordable jewel in MartinLogan’s crown? Read on and be sure to watch our CEDIA 2019 Youtube video interview to learn more.

Monoprice has announced new products that expand their Monolith THX speaker lineup, and do they look to be absolute beasts for the home theater market. The Monolith tower speaker features four 6.5" bass drivers, a 2" silk dome midrange, and a 1" silk dome tweeter that also includes an optional 5.25" upfiring coaxial driver for Dolby Atmos. We absolutely loved the mini-tower Monoliths but they lacked bass by design. These Monolith towers appear to address that concern and promise to be real bruisers.

Polk Audio has announced an all-new flagship line of speakers called the Legend Series. There are six models in the series: two bookshelf speakers, two floor-standers, a center-channel speaker, and a height/elevation speaker for home theater use. The range-topping L800 SDA sells for $6k/pair and features a unique “Stereo Dimensional Array” to cancel out stereo interaural crosstalk and deliver immersive sound with precise imaging. Read on and watch our CEDIA 2019 Youtube interview video to learn how Polk has brought back legendary SDA technology.

Pro Audio Technology has introduced three new multipurpose loudspeakers designed for “ultimate accuracy, resolution, and unrestricted dynamics.” PRO claims that its new S and SR Series speakers can produce surprisingly full-range, visceral sound, despite their relatively modest cabinet sizes. The speakers all feature unique elliptical horns and wide-bandwidth “Ultra-Purity” high-frequency compression drivers, mated with 12-inch woofers. They promise BIG sound, and full performance metrics for better integration.

The price range between $1.5k and $2k seems to be a sweet spot for tower speakers from many of the major speaker manufacturers. There are hundreds if not thousands of choices in this range. Recently, Audioholics reviewed five of what we consider to be some of the better speakers in this category. In this article, we take an overview of these five speakers and look at what each one brings to the table. Read our round-up of tower speakers in this range and watch our related YouTube video discussion to see if one of these makes a good fit for you.

SVS has launched a new flagship of their Prime series in the new Prime Pinnacle tower speaker. The Prime Pinnacle is a beefy-looking three-way tower speaker that uses three 6.5" woofers and a glass fiber 5.25" midrange driver, and a 1" aluminum dome tweeter. This new speaker isn't just simply a more powerful version of the Prime towers; there is also some new innovations in the basic design that sets it apart from any other speaker SVS has released. Read our full review to see what surprises SVS's newest creation has in store.

Dayton Audio has followed up their enormously popular MK402 bookshelf speaker with a floor-standing speaker version: the MK442T. The MK442T is more than just the MK402 with an extra woofer and larger cabinet. Dayton Audio decided to try something different and has used a transmission line enclosure to shore up bass frequencies instead of the standard vented design used by virtually every other speaker in this category. Transmission line designs are not very common, and at Dayton Audio's asking price of $228/pair, totally unheard of. Read our full review of the MK442T to see how Dayton Audio managed to pull this off.

Bowers & Wilkins 603 floor-standing speaker is a culmination of trickle-down technology and ideas from their cutting-edge flagship designs. The 603s are their least-expensive floor-standing speaker at $1,800/pr, but don't let its entry-level status fool you; there is some intensive R&D invested in these things that come from decades of engineering refinement. Read our full review of the 603 loudspeakers to see what Bowers & Wilkins can do at such an accessible price bracket.

Monoprice is at it again: trying to see how affordably they can produce a speaker that sounds legitimately good. In this review, we look at the MP-T65RT floor-standing speakers, a marvel of cost-conscious sound reproduction. This are floor-standing speakers that manage some really cool tricks at an astonishingly low-price of $140 per pair shipped. Read our full review of this intriguing speaker to see what high-fidelity sound looks like at such a modest cost.

The AXPONA show for 2019 was bigger and better than ever, and Audioholics was there to see and hear much of the best that was on display. In this segment of our coverage, we take a look at the more over-the-top speakers on exhibit, the 'dream speakers' that comes to mind when we purchase a lotto ticket. They may not be affordable, they might not be at all practical, but these are some of the most unrestrained, dramatic, and mind-blowing speakers that AXPONA had to offer.

The 2019 AXPONA show had more to offer than just king-size luxury speakers. In this segment of our AXPONA coverage, we look at a selection of the more affordable loudspeakers that were on display. While the massive high-end speakers seem to get most of the attention, there were a multitude of outstanding lower cost speakers that deserve as much attention as any six-figure behemoth. This year's AXPONA proves that you don't have to be rich to get good sound.

Those who want the big sound of a tower speaker but don't have the big bucks that tower speakers normally cost are in luck, because Dayton Audio and Monoprice have just released two new tower speakers at price points that will considerably stiffen the competition for entry-level floor-standing speakers. The Dayton Audio MK442T and Monoprice MP-T65RT both use their well-received low-cost bookshelf models as platforms to create low-cost tower speakers, but they each take some different design turns that may grant them a step up on sound quality along with more sound quantity. Read our preview of the MK442T and MP-T65RT to see what Dayton Audio and Monoprice have done to raise the bar on low-cost tower speakers.