Floorstanding Speakers

Finding the Right Floorstanding Speakers for Your System

A few questions settle most of the decision before you look at a single spec sheet:

• How big is the room, really? Floorstanders are built to move more air than a bookshelf pair, and that only pays off once the room is large enough to use it.
• How far will you be sitting? Nearfield listening rarely benefits from a full-range tower; a few metres back is where they start to make sense.
• What amplifier are you running, or planning to buy? A tower's sensitivity and impedance determine how much power it actually needs to sound right, not just to play loud.
• Do you already have a subwoofer, or are you hoping to avoid one? Many floorstanders are designed to cover bass extension on their own.

The biggest mistake we see is a customer buying speakers that overwhelm the room rather than the amplifier. A tower that's too large for the space rarely sounds better than a well-placed smaller pair, it just sounds like too much speaker for the room.

What We Ask Before Recommending Speakers

• How large is the room, and where would the speakers sit in it?
• What amplifier are you running, and how much power does it put out?
• How far back will you be listening from?
• Are you working with or without a subwoofer?
• Is this replacing an existing pair, or a first floorstanding purchase?

Room and amplifier answer most of the question before we even get to comparing models.

Room Size and Listening Distance

This matters more here than with any other speaker category we stock. A floorstander's larger cabinet and multiple drivers are built to fill a bigger space and move more air than a compact speaker can, which is exactly what makes them the wrong choice in a room that's too small for them: the bass can overwhelm the space rather than fill it evenly. In a dedicated listening room or larger living area, that same trait becomes the main advantage, letting the speakers deliver a wider frequency range and higher output without strain.

If your room is on the smaller side or your setup is space-limited, a bookshelf pair is often the better starting point, more on that below.

Floorstanding Speakers vs Bookshelf Speakers

The honest answer is that floorstanders aren't a straightforward upgrade from bookshelf speakers, they're a different tool for a different room.

Choose floorstanding if the room is large enough to use the extra output, you want full-range sound from two speakers without adding a subwoofer, or you're building a dedicated listening space rather than working around furniture and desk space.

Choose bookshelf instead if the room is small to medium, you're working with limited placement options, or you'd rather keep the system compact and pair it with a subwoofer if you want more bass later. Our Bookshelf Speakers category covers that ground in more depth.

Matching an Amplifier to Floorstanding Speakers

Sensitivity and impedance decide how easily a given amplifier can drive a tower speaker, not just how loud it can go. A speaker with lower sensitivity needs more amplifier power to reach the same volume as a more sensitive design, and mismatching the two is a common reason a system sounds thin or strained even when the speakers themselves are well regarded.

Check the Sensitivity and Impedance filters on this page against what your amplifier can comfortably deliver before choosing a model, particularly if you're already committed to a specific amplifier rather than buying the whole system at once.

Do You Need a Subwoofer Too?

Most of the floorstanders in this range are built to reproduce bass extension on their own, using a three-way design that separates bass, midrange and high frequencies across dedicated drivers. Many floorstanding speakers are capable of full-range reproduction in a two-channel system, reducing or eliminating the need for a subwoofer in many rooms. That's the main appeal over a bookshelf-plus-subwoofer setup for a lot of customers: one less box, one less crossover point to get right.

That said, a subwoofer can still add extension below what any two-channel tower comfortably reaches, particularly in a larger room. If you're chasing the last octave of bass rather than general fullness, a subwoofer alongside your floorstanders is worth considering rather than assuming a bigger tower alone will get you there.

Where We'd Start

Moving up from bookshelf speakers? The Chartwell LS6f is the natural entry point into this range, the floorstanding counterpart to Graham Audio's more accessible monitor line.

Want more scale without jumping straight to the flagship models? The LS5/9f and LS3/1 sit in that middle ground, and the choice between them comes down to comparing the two directly rather than one being a clear step above the other.

Building a dedicated listening room? The LS5/1 and LS5/5f are where that conversation goes, and the choice between them is a question of system fit rather than one simply outperforming the other.

Why We'd Recommend Each Speaker

(Grouped by type so it's easier to compare similar speakers. Pricing appears on the product cards.)

Chartwell Range

Graham Audio Chartwell LS6f Floorstanding Monitor Loudspeakers The floorstanding version of the Chartwell LS6, built for a customer who wants that studio-monitor lineage with the extra bass extension a floor-standing cabinet allows. It's the entry point into this range rather than a step down from the reference models.

Reference Range

Graham Audio LS5/9f Floorstanding Monitor Loudspeakers A step up from the Chartwell range for a customer who's outgrown it but isn't ready for the top-tier reference models. Worth comparing directly against the LS3/1 if you're deciding between the two rather than assuming one simply replaces the other.

Graham Audio LS3/1 Loudspeaker Sits close to the LS5/9f in this range but is a distinct design within Graham Audio's line, not a variant of it. Compare the two on their own merits rather than treating either as the automatic upgrade path.

Graham Audio LS5/1 Loudspeaker A genuine step into reference territory, suited to a room and amplifier that can already show what a speaker at this level is capable of, rather than a first floorstanding purchase.

Graham Audio LS5/5f Floorstanding Monitor Loudspeaker The top of the range on this page. This is best approached as the final piece of an already high-performing system, since it needs a room and amplification capable of resolving what it offers rather than being the thing that elevates a modest setup on its own.

Compare Our Speakers

Use the filters on this page (System Type, Finish, Sensitivity, Impedance, Brand and Price) to compare models side by side against your room and amplifier rather than by price alone.

Quick match, by starting point:

• Moving up from bookshelf speakers: Graham Audio Chartwell LS6f.
• Mid-range step up, comparing two options: Graham Audio LS5/9f or LS3/1.
• Building a reference-level room: Graham Audio LS5/1 or LS5/5f.
• Avoiding a separate subwoofer: any model in this range, all are built for full-range reproduction without one.

Talk to Us

Customers across Australia work with The Groove Man to match floorstanding speakers to a specific room, amplifier and listening distance, or to work out whether a floorstanding or bookshelf setup is the better starting point. Get in touch if you'd like help narrowing the range to what will actually suit your space.