The Best Tower Speakers to Play Everything Loud and Clear
Floorstanding speakers are the perfect stereo centerpieces for a large listening room or home theater.
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Sound bars are great if you’re on a budget or short on space, but if you’re looking to raise your audio game, there’s nothing like the dynamics, detail, and sheer power you get from a great pair of tower speakers.
The best tower speakers, also known as floor-standing speakers, offer lifelike sound that elevates everything you play, from streaming services and record players to TV shows and movies. We’ve gathered the best models in a wide range of price points and styles to help you find the perfect pair that will take your home theater setup to the next level.
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Best Tower Speakers
- Best Overall: SVS Prime Tower Speaker
- Best Value: Sony SS-CS3 Tower Speaker
- Best Two-Way: Klipsch RP-6000F II Tower Speaker
- Best Three-Way: Focal Vestia No.2 Floorstanding Speaker
- Best Compact: Q Acoustics 5040 Tower Speaker
The Expert: With a background in audio engineering and a decade-plus career as an Audio/Video reviewer and editor, I’ve spent countless hours playing with audio gear of all kinds. As an audio specialist, I’ve auditioned dozens of speakers in different sizes and design types from brands like Klipsch, Polk, SVS, KEF, Sony, Q Acoustics, ELAC, Bowers & Wilkins, Definitive Technology, and many others.
What to Consider When Picking New Tower Speakers
Speaker Size
Before buying tower speakers, take a look around your listening room and make sure you have enough room to take proper advantage of their power. You’ll want to sit at least 6- to 8-feet from your speakers for proper sound clarity and stereo imaging. You’ll also want to make sure your ears are lined up with the tweeters–the smallest speaker drivers, usually located at the top of the speakers. They handle the upper frequencies, which are highly directional and should be level with your head when seated. If you’re buying speakers for a smaller room, you should look at smaller options such as stand-mount or bookshelf speakers instead.
Two-way or Three-way?
Most tower speakers come in two-way or three-way designs. Two-way speakers have a single electrical “crossover” point inside, which separates the speaker drivers that handle the bass frequencies from those that handle the higher midrange and treble frequencies. Two-way tower speakers may also use passive radiators (speakers that aren’t fed an electrical signal) to enhance bass through internal air compression.
Three-way speakers separate the low, midrange, and treble frequencies between woofers, midrange drivers, and tweeters respectively. Most of the time, three-way speaker systems will offer better overall definition and performance, especially in the bass. There are exceptions, but you should generally look for a three-way system when you can.
Amplification
Unless you’re buying “active,” self-powered speakers that feature internal amplification, you’ll need an amplifier or an A/V receiver to power your tower speakers. A stereo amplifier with a power rating of at least 30 watts or more per channel should be ample to power any of the speakers on our list. Basic amplifiers will give you enough power for a stereo setup. If you’re building a full home theater with surround sound, though, you’ll likely want an A/V receiver, which should be able to supply five or more speakers with enough power to put out their best sound.
If you’re shopping for an A/V receiver to go with your tower speakers, make sure it supports video formats like HDR and audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, as well as the latest connection specs like HDMI 2.1 and HDMI eARC. We recommend starting your search with well-known brands like Yamaha, Sony, Denon, and Marantz.
Specs and performance
You can get a general idea of a speaker’s baseline performance from the specifications found on most audio gear.
Frequency response tells you the span of frequencies a speaker is claimed to be able to reproduce
Sensitivity measures how efficiently a speaker can convert power into sound measured in decibels, which pertains to loudness.
Impedance refers to a speaker’s opposition to electrical current flow, measured in ohms. It can help to determine what kind of amplification you’ll need to power your speakers, as you’ll generally want an amplifier that supports your speakers’ impedance rating.
There are a lot of factors that go into these specs, and they don’t tell the full story by any means. There is no substitute for hands-on experience.
Build quality
It’s good to set some basic standards for the quality of the materials and manufacturing processes in mind when shopping for speakers. The best tower speakers start with well-crafted Medium-Density Fiber (MDF) cabinets with reinforced internal bracing to prevent unwanted vibrations. The cabinets should offer firm “feet” or pads to keep them stable and isolated from floor vibrations.
For speaker drivers, look for tweeters engineered from strong and light materials; silk dome creates a smoother sound, while elements like aluminum and luxury materials like beryllium or titanium offer tighter and more precise high frequencies. Larger speaker cones often comprise natural materials like paper and fiber blends, or rigid, heat-resistant materials like kevlar and polypropylene to minimize distortion and sonic coloration. This is just the tip of the iceberg: There are many factors that go into crafting quality speakers, but keeping an eye out for these basic signs will keep you from accidentally bringing home a lemon.
Brands
Speaker manufacturers all tout their speaker design to no end, but I find it’s usually best to stick with established, well-reviewed audio brands. Some of my favorite major brands for sheer performance for your money include Focal, KEF, Klipsch, Polk, JBL, Sony, and Bowers & Wilkins. That said, there are also great lesser-known brands including Q Acoustics and ELAC, which offer excellent sound often at lower prices.
Price
One more thing to keep in mind: Tower speakers can be an incredible upgrade to any home audio or entertainment system, but they’re a serious investment: Though they’re designed to work in pairs, these speakers are usually sold individually and cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars per tower. (Some retailers do bundle them in pairs, but with little to no discount.) Given that, tower speakers are often designed to cater to audiophiles and discerning listeners or those who are eager to build a powerful home theater experience.
For those who listen closely and care deeply about audio quality, the expense is well worth it. If this is your first foray into audiophile-grade gear, though, keep in mind that you will need to buy two speakers if you want stereo sound, as well as an AV receiver if you don’t already have one.
How We Selected The Best Tower Speakers
I picked the best tower speakers based on a mix of my own personal listening experience, brand and model recognition, and critical feedback from other reviewers.
To test speakers, I use a general playlist from both compressed and high-resolution streaming services with songs in every genre, from hip-hop to jazz, as well as selections from my vinyl collection on a high-end turntable. For the speakers I haven’t heard personally, I looked at reviews from fellow audio critics and users, and compared their specifications to other models I’ve tested. While I haven’t used every pick, I’ve listened to speakers from all the brands on our list, so I have a first-hand understanding of their general sound profiles.
This guide offers a wide array of choices to fit various budgets and listening spaces. All of them have been carefully selected after deep deliberation to provide the best performance, visual aesthetics, and sheer value in their respective categories.
Ryan Waniata is a professional writer, editor, video host, and product reviewer. A musician since childhood, his audio hardware roots go back to his days as a studio engineer in Nashville, TN in 2009. In 2011 he left the studio world to became a full-time journalist, with an emphasis on A/V, including TVs, speakers, headphones, and audio gear of all kinds. The author of hundreds of articles, Ryan has a passion for finding readers the best value on the best gear out there.
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