Floor-standing vs Book-shelf from upper line up?

[ecwl]

In my mind, until the speakers are in the room, and you’re listening in the seat, you don’t know how the bass will sound as you don’t really know what bass frequencies are going to be accentuated and what would be troughs. But yeah, in general, I think the more deep bass the better. 
 

But more importantly, I think all high end systems should have a digital way to remove the bass peaks, at least parametric EQ, if not a full convolution filter.

 

Marten Oscar Trio is a 5-figure pair of speakers. MiniDSP UMIK-1 microphone is $75. Room EQ Wizard is free. I guess playback software would range from JRiver $60 to Roon $700. That said, I know it can be tricky to learn for some people and with specific system setups, it’s harder to implement, e.g. if you mostly use AirPlay

[ecwl]

I think initially, I didn't appreciate that Parker Duo is actually a higher end line of Martens than Oscar Trio.

 

First, I agree with @firedog that if you can't hear it, you really don't know what you'd prefer. In general, within the same speaker company's line of products, the higher end line would usually have better transparency and less distortion and hence better clarity but the price jump is generally quite significant (like luxury cars). But since I hang out at my dealer's store quite a bit, I would say that most people who don't know what they're looking for would choose more bass over the higher end line bookshelf speakers. Usually, the people who prefers the bookshelves are the ones who just listen to the bookshelf and then the lower end floor standers and can immediately point out how the higher end bookshelf sounds better to them that is completely independent of the deeper bass. And I think in general, that's may be 1 out of 10 customers.

 

Second, I really don't think there is a blanket bookshelf vs floor stander answer. Having listened to other people's systems and their preferences, I find that these are the primary factors that drive people's insistence of their preferences:

1) Some people really hate low and mid-bass. They just don't like bass. So you see them preferring a lower-end bookshelf speakers over a higher-end floor standers. 

2) Low to mid-bass responses are extremely room dependent. I would say even more so than the speakers. Meaning that you can have a pair of bookshelf speakers that goes down to 40Hz but because the room resonance is around 34Hz, those pair of bookshelf speakers sound super smooth from 26Hz to 20kHz and the owner says, these bookshelf speakers are the best thing in the world. On the other hand, you can have a perfect pair of speakers that goes down to 27Hz and the small room, e.g. 13x14 has so many room resonances that it suddenly gives you large 35Hz and 70Hz peaks that are 15dB above all the other notes. As a result, the owner swears by a bookshelf speakers that only goes down to 80Hz and say that bookshelf speakers are way better than full-range speakers in his room.

 

I know @Sangbro is just looking for a simple answer. So in answer to the original question I would say:

1) I wouldn't buy Martens because I've never heard them before. I personally only like Magico speakers in your price range so I would just get Magico A3 in your price range. In fact, I'm still debating whether to upgrade my bookshelf speakers + subs system to Magico S3 Mk 2

2) If I have no means of measuring my system and I have no way to DSP the music, I would probably get the bookshelf speakers in a 13x14 room because I suspect the bass frequencies to be all over the place so I would bet that the Parker Duo with less low bass is a safer choice.

3) If I have the means to measure my system but no way to DSP the music, I would measure the current speakers I have now, and see where the bass peaks are. Based on that, I would choose or I would post the frequency response I get from my system and re-ask the forum what people think I should get.

4) If I have the means to measure my system and to DSP the music, I would buy the Martens Oscar Trio. But then truth be told, I would probably DSP the music first and see how I like it. Maybe I would no longer feel the need to upgrade my speakers. After all, nobody ever complains about having an extra $10,000 in the bank.