bookshelf speakers that sound good on an enclosed bookshelf


My friend is looking to put a pair of bookshelf speakers on a bookshelf, a built-in on his living room wall with a TV and a fireplace. I’m looking for advice on brands and designs that will actually sound good when placed in the usually not so good enclosed shelf of a bookshelf. Any thoughts on this challenge?

marktomaras

I am not sure its performance in an enclosed bookshelf but at least this gentleman shows S400 can sing really well in tight space on shelf.

 

No rear ports.

I just put a restored pair of AR2ax’s horizontal seated ear level in my office. They are only 11-1/4" deep (+ spkr wire), 13-3/4" high, 24" long

Compact acoustic suspension 3 way with two level controls, and a 10" woofer. That’s a lot of speaker, very smartly designed for true bookcase use.

Sound so good I just bought a second pair for my garage/shop system. They will also be horizontal on a shelf, standing ear level height facing the stand-up height island counter where I work on projects.

When horizontal, place them with the tweeters to the center. Then, just to prove that’s best, flip the tweeters out.

Using the level controls, you can adjust the mid to the bass and the tweeter to the mid, by ear or get a test cd and inexpensive sound pressure meter (with threaded hole for tripod mount. That’s what I do for my main system, these other setups, I just go by ear. Adjusting in the space is a terrific asset.

IF your friend is handy, this would yield a great pair. Local Pickup Only. You would need to live close, or make arrangement with a UPS pack and ship near seller. Seller merely drops unwrapped items at the UPS. That’s how I got my first pair.

 

I don’t see any restored ones on hifishark today, but they pop up frequently.

If your friend is interested, send me a private message, I know all about them.

Hello group, I’m so sorry that I forgot to mention a budget. He’s looking to spend US$600 on a used pair of speakers. So hopefully that will punch at about  $1000 or $1200 for a new pair.

I was recently looked at the manual for my KEF LS50's (the one from 2012) and it stated that if placing the speaker in a bookshelf use both foam plugs. I never tried that, but KEF seems to think it is doable.

The used versions of the newer LS50 Meta or the older LS50 are in the price range the OP is looking at.