full range or mini's and a sub

If you plan on speakers where you think you might add a sub, now or future:

make it Plural, plan on two subs, plan space so they can be forward facing adjacent to the main speakers, I say no port for the mains or subs, but if port, forward facing.

Low bass may start Mono, but the overtones become directional. 40/80/160/320/ ....There is a lot to be said for Stereo Bass. I listen to a pair of 15" woofers (1/side), the imaging of bass players is important and enjoyable..

I agree with most of what has been aforementioned. It would be nice to see responses  to the questions asked. I have truly enjoyed stand mount speakers with or without subs (yes, 2 better than 1) in smaller rooms. 

I think it's generally cheaper to put together a quality system with small/under 25" speakers and sub(s), more flexibility with the placement, swapping components in and out, etc. I am a big fan of small speakers with big sound.... 

Full size speakers WITH subs is the correct answer. There needs to be a sound power hand-off between the sub and speaker. Most subs are far more dynamic than stand mount speakers, so the speaker will still be the limiting factor. There are exceptions of course, TAD comes to mind.

@james633 , Much truth here...Comments like these tend to get buried under the constant misinformation barrage on this forum.

Small speakers like that TAD, Borresen, etc that can manage the ’hand-off’ get rather expensive, much cheaper to go big...makes you wonder why a guy is trying to go with dinky li’l speakers in the first place...i.e., Is he really living in a closet sized room, or is it purely psychological or some other heavy WAF restriction....

IMHO the mini monitor + sub only matches full range speakers if an active crossover is included, or, at least, some high-pass on the main amp.

Otherwise, you will still be limited by power handling and distortion from your 5inch main "woofers", and dynamic capabilities / max SPL will be limited.

Such an active crossover could introduce noise and distortion (may I advise Sublime Acoustic’s K231 crossover or the brand new K235 currently at reduced launch price?)

I was recently forced to switch from my huge 4 ways active horn system to a pair of tiny Dali Zensor 1 mini monitors and I have to admit, there are a few things that the cheap and tiny Dalis do better than my monsters (out in the room on stands, they really disappear and throw a deeeeep soundstage) but ultimately I was really missing the scale, the slam, and the flow of my big system.