Given your placement options, I think 10k is too much to spend.
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I am extremely happy with my Larsen speakers. I originally purchased a pair or Larsen 6s and later upgraded to the larger 8s. These speakers are designed to be placed right smack against the wall and sound great. The 8s extend down to 23Hz and list for under $7K (I think). The smallest Larsen speaker, the 4, lists for less than $2K. |
So 12" wide and 12" deep, up against the wall. Hmmm. Soundstage depth will be limited, but you will have generous boundary reinforcement, which can be beneficial if the speakers are designed to take advantage of it. Can you tell us the approximate room dimensions? How close to the corners will the speakers be? Is this room open into other rooms (open floorplan)? Tubes or solid state? Thanks. Duke |
Gradient makes speaker designed to be placed against the back wall. The Revolution may be a little to large given your stated dimensions, but the Evidence and 6.0 fall within the specs you have provided. That said, I would probably bet that the Wilson Audio Duette would give you a higher level of performance (albeit at a much higher cost) |
With those constraints, I would look for a 2nd hand pair of Marten Coltrane Alto's. They are large 3-way stand mount speakers which have a 9" down-firing Accuton woofer, 5" Accuton midrange & 1" Accuton tweeter. The Alto's have a beautiful elyptical-shaped carbon sandwich construction monocoque cabinet which lends marvelous purity to the sound. The are not the most efficient speakers (87db, 6 ohm). My Alto's struggled with a Classe Cap-2100 integrated, but really sang paired with a Boulder 1060 & Ayon tube linestage. The great thing about these speakers is they were designed to be placed close to rear, and relatively close to side walls thanks to their tuned down-firing port which are innovate my ported through the insulated polished SS stands, thus not disrupting the bass output. The curved carbon sandwich construction cabinets also help minimize room issues. The Alto's are WAY underrated due to their short production run. Owner and Chief Designer of Marten told me the Alto's were very expensive to manufacture & they weren't making money on them. Also apparently buyers didn't like their look, so Dealers had trouble selling them (I think they're gorgeous). As a result, 2nd hand prices are soft & those who own them tend to keep them and enjoy them, rather than lose money. Thus these speakers rarely appear on the 2nd hand market. None the less, if put up a 'wanted' ad, you might attract some interest as generally genuine and motivated buyers are not bottom feeders. Here is a link to the 6 moons review. |
What a day and eye opener yesterday. YES Virginia there ARE some choices for against the wall speakers. Many have been mentioned in this thread. NOLA has some small ones that are also built to go up against the wall or even a book case. Very impressive. I have a Linn Kiko system in my BR that I'm listening to right now and it's up against the wall and sounding nice (Fleetwood Mac concert). I heard the Vandy's yesterday and I can PROMISE you that you need to look at the inexpensive LVR speakers they put out. If set up properly, they don't sound like a sub 1300 speaker (I think that's the range). Then I go listen to the Quatro's as I'm in the market and will be getting them as soon as I sell my Treo's as I stated. I've listened to so many speakers in the last few weeks as well as couple of years, that I'm almost worn out, lol. (not really). That high pass filter and adjustable bass is just unreal. You can put these things directly up against the sheetrock and adjust the bass and you are off to the races with a GREAT system using an NAD set of separates to save money or a top zero feedback amp like the Ayre integrated or the new Aesthetix gear. I've put my Treo's up against my wall to see how they sound and I was able to get the staging and imaging that I love. I don't have major bass problems so that worked fine, in fact we all know it's reenforced up against the wall and it still kept it's tonality and slam. Stayed very tight and tuneful. You probably have more than a few speakers to look at and I hope that you keep us updated. Thanks. |
Thanks for all the replies. I'm sure everyone will throw up but I have Revel 208's on order. Cavernous room plus I have Salon 2's and they are awesome. Won't be selling them. I'll get the 208's out a foot or so after negotiations w spouse and they have some bass adjustment. I think Revel just a great product always providing more product per dollar. Very musical. |
If you don't mind stand-mounted speakers, the Audio Note AN-E are good candidates for near wall placement. These have the advantage of being reasonably efficient and easy to drive, so they can be used with a wide variety of lower powered amps. The Audio Note line of speakers is quite lively sounding and very musically engaging. The sound is on the warm, full and rich side, not on the more analytical and technically flat and neutral side--if that is your taste, they will sound overblown in the mid-bass and deficient in genuine deep bass. Another speaker that I heard placed very close to the back wall that sounded very good is the Gradient Revolution. Is is specifically designed to be very flexible in where it is placed and how it is used. I heard a pair in a small room, with the speakers only about two inches from the wall, it still delivered the goods. This one looks good too, and is narrow enough to fit your requirements. |