By putting a speaker on the floor it only comes off as amateur.
No it doesn't. Habit and quality are not mutually inclusive. It's just as easy to call two speakers on sticks/uprights the work of a lazy DJ.
The fact is - subs are most often ON THE FOOR so there goes that theory.
I recently did a DJ gig at a very elite private country club and I put my 15" 3-way speakers on the floor in positions that would produce the best results. The room has hard surface walls and a lot of glass that exaggerates the highs and mids, while the floor couples with the 15" drivers to enhance my bass response without need for subs. The space is so live I barley have to drive them at all.
I choose the placement based on speaker type, room conditions, and the sound I want to achieve;
not how it
looks. I've also been known to use floor monitors to get sound onto dance floors that are not adjacent to my position, and even hidden them in decor, etc. Speakers on the ceiling? Why not?
Most DJs are doing a rinse-and-repeat performace using the same gear every time in pretty much the exact same setup. You can't run the exact same system everywhere you go and claim to be doing something unique or high-end with the sound. That's especially true if your decisions are rooted first and always in how something "looks."
Even when the music sounds good - DJs tend to butcher the other equally and often more important parts of an event. I've had a rash of gigs lately involving DJs as either another vendor on site or a client of one or more of my tech services. These Evox, Bose, etc. systems have become the copycat norm for many. Even when the music sounds good it's annoying how badly they handle their microphones. They all feed their mics through the subwoofers which makes their voice and everyone else's
unintelligible. These are not inexperienced or cheap DJs - they just don't truly know anything about audio beyond stereo music playback and a pair of RCA jacks. They want their voice to sound heavier than it actually is, but are clueless about how to do that. They hand off these poorly setup mics to people making a speech or toast and then blame that client or person for not holdingthe mic correctly when the low frequency hum overtakes the system.
Hey! DJs - your mic is not supposed to be sent to the subs!