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Old thread I know, but just saw this. I really don't understand the point of bookshelves. Why sacrifice full range for sake of space and a few bucks? Most lines offer full range and bookshelves, and I'd take the full range every time. I'd think more than very little has musical info below 40Hz - dub/reggae, some jazz, classical, etc.
Most floor standers are, simply put, poor choices in speakers when hunting the maximum fidelity. The simple fact is that the longer a fulcrum (the side of the speaker case) is, the more leverage pressure places on it. A large cabinet (all else being equal) will vibrate more than a small one.
Those cabinet resonances are not accurate to the original sound (If you could block out the sound from the speaker, you would hear the cabinet and it won't sound good). So the a bookshelf will be superior to a similarly engineered floor-stander because the resonance will be reduced in the upper frequencies (the mids being in smaller enclosures and also being physically isolated from the bass drivers).
In addition to resonance issues, there are issues with passive crossovers that are reduced in a 2-way design relative to a 3-way design (also, the speakers are easier to drive). Further: a good sub will run LF better than most any floor-standing speaker for a given price-point.
If you are after the maximum fidelity (LF in stereo) you will use two subwoofers, running with an external crossover (in stereo) placed less than 1/2 wavelength (crossover wavelength, which is a few feet in this case) from the bookshelf. Compared to the floor-standers of comparable cost: you will get better range, better isolation, and less crossover interference.
There are certainly some exceptions with carefully chosen components at the very high end: but most of those are, in the end, bookshelves mounted on subwoofers (B&W 800D for example).