Best speaker firing across short dimension of room

Bob The Dynaudio MKII/Signature are the second gen C1's and they sound a lot better at lower listening levels than the originals. I upgraded from the originals to the Signatures. As far as the cost of the Raidho D1's you could get a pair Dyn C4 MKII AND a pair of C1 MKII for the same price. Magico is right there too.

I have a similar arrangement, but put my Zu Def 4s close to the back wall. One alternative is to look for speakers that work close to the back wall (British speakers in general, Zu, VS 33 or 35) and/or have tunable bass.

I have a similar situation and I auditioned a ton of speakers. I found that bass response was the most difficult to get set up properly. I think most people always have to compromise their set up due to bass in this situation. I decided to go a different set up in my room because I was able to and it made it easier for me. If I had to stay with your set up, I'd look very strongly at the Vandersteen 4 or 5 as their subwoofers allow you to find the best staging and imaging first and they it's easy to dial in the bass. it's a simple set up and you don't need two external subs. I have yet to hear another speaker that you don't have to compromise, but I haven't hear the Magico's yet. The Proacs also are very easy to set up in this situation. That's what I'm using now until I sell them off (I have proac monitors and floorstanders) They image so well that it's not difficult to get the bass right as you have plenty of wiggle room if you would. Other speakers that image and stage well would work too I bet.

Bob, The Shelby+Kroll Nano Monitors and (2) Woofer Monitors
would work very well in your space. There is a very positive review of them at Stereo Mojo. The speaker have life like imaging that is spooky real and near perfect tonal balance.

Good luck,
Chris Rodgers

I have Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grand. I might recommend these or the Beethoven Baby Grand. I have a similar space, 12'x22'. What I like is I can have my speakers separated wide, now 14' and I still get some of the best centerfill of any speaker I have heard. If you use CD, which I think robs centerfill a little and where analog doesn't and this makes analog in this important area superior to me, this is a great speaker. The center sound is where it all starts and for me that has to be very good. If not what is built out from there wanes. Also it is a fantastic all around speaker. By that I mean it does imaging, tone, timbre, density, 3d, prat, expression, transparency,micro and macro dynamics all in a very well rounded out fashion, not really lacking much in any of those areas. It is very well balanced. It will let you boogie and sing you in the the finest fashion a lullaby. Works very well with both solid state and medium to higher power tube amps. Good speakers to be on the list to listen to. Give them some time, at first they may not seem the most exciting of the bunch to hear but as time goes by that will probably change. Have fun on your search.

Thanks for the great responses - keep 'em coming! From my limited knowledge, the Raidho D1 and Magico Q1 are both pretty steeply priced - aren't they?

Xti16 - Are the Dyn C1 Sigs the second generation of C1s? I heard that they sound better now at low volumes, which is also one of my priorities...

My room is pretty similar to yours (approx 12' X 26.5') and I have the speakers on the long wall. I just traded my Dyn C1 Sig's which IMO worked best at 6-7' apart with almost no toe in. Great sound stage - imaging and very impressive bass for a 7" driver (I do use a Rel B3 sub for the lowest octave). Nice wide sweet spot for listening. Very musical sounding.

That being said I traded them in for Raidho D1's. Completely different. Much more detail with a great tonal balance (much blacker background). Per the Raidho setup they need to be 9' apart and aimed at your shoulders. The D1's don't go as low as the Dyn C1's (but I do have the sub). The sweet spot is very focused and narrow. Like one reviewer wrote "Outside the sweet spot they sound good, in the sweet spot all I can say is Good God". Best imaging and sound stage I've ever heard in the sweet spot.

I'm driving them with an Octave V110 with a Naim music server and Naim Dac which replaced my Meridian G08.

MAGICO Q1 great sound.

Avalon have good polar response which you may benefit from.