Conventional and bookshelf loudspeakers are engineered for free-standing placement

Evidence

In general, conventional loudspeakers should be used “free-standing”, away from walls. So-called bookshelf loudspeakers, presumably so named because they can fit a (sometimes large) bookshelf, are as often as not used on stands to bring the tweeters to seated ear level. The engineers designing these products cannot anticipate the details of any other manner of use, and so such loudspeakers are generally optimized to sound good in a free-standing mode. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1476

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what ‘bookshelf loudspeaker’ means in practice versus design intent - the term is misleading since they’re optimized for free-standing use.
• XREF: connects to: Loudspeakers perform best only free-standing or flush-mounted in a boundary
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Loudspeakers perform best only free-standing or flush-mounted in a boundary