Floorstanding speakers under $2,000 give you full-range sound without needing a subwoofer. That's the main advantage over bookshelves at this price: dedicated woofers in a larger cabinet move enough air to produce real bass in a living room. Most models here are two-and-a-half or three-way designs, so each driver handles a narrower frequency band and does it better. If you want music to fill a room rather than just a listening chair, towers at this price are the most practical way to get there.
