Help Speakers trapped on bookshelves


Help! My "bookshelf" speakers are hopelessly trapped on bookshelves, with no hope of graduating to stands, and I need advice on how to minimize the sonic stifling of the bookshelves. The speakers are Totem Rainmakers fed mostly jazz, folk and rock through a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C cdp and a 640A integrated. Interconnects are Analysis Plus Oval One and speaker cables are XLO ER-12. My home office is in a penthouse room measuring 6ft wide by 13 feet long, and the speakers are relegated to sit in a set of built-in shelves on one of the short walls that includes a fold-out secretary desk. Given the small size of the room (it's the only room in our small apartment that my wife would give up), there is simply no room for speaker stands on either side of the desk, where I do most listening (nearfield I guess). Therefore, until we have a bigger place, the speakers must stay on the shelves, and I need advice on positioning, etc. I've heard that packing books all around them helps, and I've tried that with minimal effect. Also, the speakers are ported, making it even harder. Help! Just please don't suggest that I disregard my wife's input and put them on stands anyway: she's currently carrying our first two children (twins), which gives her three votes to my one. One day, the speakers will be free to roam on stands, but for now I need to tap A'gon members' ingenuity and experience to make the best of this temporary incarceration.

Thanks,
Roger
rogercmd
Eldartford - Well put. Thanks for leading this stubborn horse to the water. I'll let you know if I'm still thirsty after various other tweaks.
Rogercmd...I may now be "floging a dead horse", but here is another idea. As you proceed with your room tuning and other tweeks you really need a spectrum analyser to understand what your problems are, and to evaluate the effect of your efforts. The DEQ2496 fills that need, and is a good deal if only for use as a spectrum analyser. Buy it for that reason (as I did) and let the EQ features be an unexpected bonus.
Eldartford - that sounds too easy. For now I'll use the spectrum analysers on the sides of my head - much lower-tech and no user's manual, but that's what makes this fun, right? Dead horse flogged.