JM Reynaud Bliss Silvers are excellent front ported speakers. I’ve enjoyed mine for several years, in many locations that rear ported speakers have struggled in.
Looking for a great front ported bookshelp speaker recommendation
Hi everyone,
After about a 15 year hiatus from hifi, I'm looking to get back into it. I'm looking for a front ported bookshelf speaker. The reason is that it's going to go inside a cabinet and right against a back wall. My budget is up to $5,000 but the less, the better:) Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.
TIA
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I love the Sonus Faber Lumina II speakers. I have them on a built in bookshelf that has a platform over the cabinet that allows me to bring them out of the shelves and into the open. This reduces the bass resonance and cleans up the sound, but they could work in a shelf if you like the extra bass. I'm selling a "like new" pair in the classifieds section if you'd like to take a look..... |
@blackiridium re: "So the ATC and Proac models wouldn't be loud enough?" Those pesky Laws of Physics again. If you review the calculations I made, you need a speaker with a peak output capability of around 114dB. The other wise great ProAc D2R is rated at 88.5 dB sensitivity and 100-150W power handling. OK, 100W is 20 dBW, 150 about 21.5 dBW. So 88.5 plus 21.5 = 110 dB peak output. At the estimated listening position of 4M you lose 12dB of level due to the Inverse Square law. 110-12 = 98dB Peak level. allowing the 12dB Average to peak level, leaves us at 86dB max listening level before the system will sound strained. The also otherwise great ATC is described on the ATC website "The SCM20PSL is ATC’s flagship 2-way stand-mount loudspeaker and is the ideal choice in modestly sized rooms, but where performance cannot be compromised." It is rated at a peak out put of 108dB per pair from 80-20Khz, and -6dB (peak 102dB) from 55Hz so their numbers are even lower than mine. and your assessment regarding being light in the bass is correct. The point here is this: a 6" bookshelf simply can't move enough air for realistic playback levels of practically any music type in a room of your size. An 8" woofer will give about 3dB more output, and the JBLs are engineered for maybe 3dB more output than most. |
Don't think front-ported speakers or speakers without rear ports can be generally placed directly against or near a front wall. These speakers need room to breathe. However, there are high-quality speakers specifically designed to be positioned close to or against a front wall, such as the D&D 8c. https://www.stereophile.com/content/dutch-dutch-8c-active-loudspeaker-system https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j38gkS-Q8f8
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Hello blackiridium! Whatever you wind up with, pad the empty space around the speakers with blankets, towels, old sweaters - whatever, to kill resonances in the space between the speaker and the space in which they sit. If the front baffle of the actual speaker cabinet is not padded, cut up and old towel or get some felt or feece or something to stop sound from moving across the front of the cabinet (under the grille) and jumping off the edges of the "box." In the "old days" most companies paddded their front baffles. Happy listening! |
The Wharfedale Elysian 1 would be a good bookshelp speaker for you at right under 5k. This bookshelp doesn’t have a conventional front port where it is quite easy to heart port noise, etc... but, has some fairly involved engineering to deliver you a different type of base slot. You can put this bookshelp right against a backwall, in a cabinet, etc..do all kinds of funky things you wanna do with it and hope for the best. |
The basic issue is that most speakers are not designed to load into an acoustic half-space and that creates a rise in low and mid-bass most will perceive as thickness or muddiness. Proximity to the rear wall also reduces reflection time from the back wall which tends to reduce the sense of spaciousness and depth of the stereo image, AKA soundstage. The original Boston Acoustics A-100, a notably flat and wide speaker, was designed to be placed against the back wall, and used that to good effect. Predictably, they sounded thin - lacking in bass - when pulled away from the wall. Many speakers use rear ports to augment low bass, leveraging the proximity. Similarly, their rear-ported bookshelf speakers only need an inch or so of clearance function as designed. The other issue is room size. Most bookshelf speakers will have a peak output of around 106-108dB @ 1w/1m. That sounds like a lot until the inverse square law kicks in and output drops 6dB every time the distance doubles. So, at 4M (13 ft) their max loudness is 96 dB, and max average level (general rule of thumb) is 12dB below that or 84dB. Not very loud. Somehow you need to find at least 6dB of peak output or 114dB to really work in your room. All that points to JBL and the 4329P powered 8". It meets the size, placement, and out requirements for your room better than anything else available and if you haven't heard JBLs in awhile, these are not the boom/shriek JBLs of old. Checkout the reviews. |
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@blackiridium If you used to be an Aerial 10t owner, you need to audition the 5t. My son has a pair in a built-in wall unit with his equipment and tv. By toeing in the speakers the imaging is excellent and the sound beats the Harbeths, Spendors and similar British monitors. The ATC speakers are the only ones we auditioned that were even close. Passed on B&Ws because they were too bright. The Aerial does best with an amp with some power. Its sensitivity is only 87db and it is a 4 ohm speaker. Give it 100 watts per channel and it sounds great. Btw, my son’s room is 25’ deep, has a high ceiling sloping down to the windows on one side and is open on the other side to the kitchen. https://www.audioadvice.com/aerial-5t-bookshelf-speakers-pair+color-Black Good luck! |
If you’re open to used here’s a pair of Wilson Duettes that were designed to work in compromised placement situations. |
There are, of course, many great bookshelf speakers. However, some of those great speakers will never perform well in a cabinet. Some, however, do seem to excel in this suboptimal location. THAT is where you need to focus your research. I do recall reading about several speakers years ago that do exactly that. The Madisound Loki Mk3 is one such speaker. Check it out. All kind of upgrade options. Another kit they carry that might perform well in your large room and still fit on a bookshelf in their Seas A26 kit. |
You didn’t state the interior dimensions of your cabinet. Just be sure to get the dimensions of any prospective front ported or non-ported bookshelf speakers to ensure they will fit inside your cabinet. Obviously, think about setting them on some rubber feet (at least) if not something better to isolate them from the cabinet. And if possible, keep the front baffle a bit outside of the cabinet so the edges of the cabinet don't cause acoustic diffraction. As others have suggested, in such a large room, eventually getting them on proper stands will improve everything an order of magnitude and let you position the tweeters at ear height. |
Pro AC Response D2 or D2 R should fit the bill https://www.stereophile.com/content/proac-response-d2r-loudspeaker |
I have very good experience with Harbeth SHL5 plus, acording to your description, I would suggest you to try polk audio back ported. I have a pair discountinued RTI A1, hang on the wall and right behind a hanged tv, very short space to the left and right, wall to the left and fire place to the right. But they still sound amazing. This bookshelf comes with a guided port with a hanging hold, and seems polk audiohave some special research and design on the guided port. Chek out their website to see if you can find anyone meet your require https://www.polkaudio.com/en-ca/category/home-speakers/bookshelf/ And the link below to see their guided port tech |
Space inside the cabinet will be a big determining factor for what speakers will fit in your allotted space. I will add Ascend Acoustics Luna or Ascend Acoustics Duo V2 Both have a RAAL ribbon tweeter and are front ported. The ribbon tweeter limits vertical dispersion somewhat, so standing versus sitting will vary. The Duo will likely fill the space better, but are taller, or wider depending on how you orient them. Best of luck. |
Have a close look at the new EPOS ES-7N - great small speaker designed by Karl Heinz Fink of Fink Team. Front ported and offers the ability to work in a bookshelf or close to the wall or free standing. $2195 pair. Check with Aaron at Now Listen Here : aaron@nowlistenhere.net |
@blackiridium if you are stuck with a bookshelf cabinet for placement, dealing with resonance and sound reflection - are you able to place the speakers where the front slightly overhangs the shelf (about an inch) and angle them toward your listening position? And, if possible leaving empty space on each side of the speakers?
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Real Bookshelf Speakers, I encourage you to get a pair of Acoustic Research AR-2ax’s. 3 way: tweeter, mid, 10" woofer 11.5" deep x 13-3/4" x 24", no ports, level controls for tweeter and mid. I got a pair for my garage/shop system, restored them, so darn good I put them in my office, and restored a 2nd pair for my garage/shop system. parts and knowledge aplenty, find local to avoid shipping, find restored, restore yourself, I used UPS pack and ship to get my second pair from a ’local pickup only’ seller. I tried a few modern speakers in my office with 6-1/2" woofers, added a single sub, just enough to keep them from sounding small, but the 3 way with a 10" woofer is far better, no sub needed. Having level controls makes sense anywhere, it certainly helps with speakers in cabinets, particularly for me with one speaker nearer a side wall.
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I have a pair of Jean Marie Reynaud (JMR) Trente bookshelves for my office set up and they are awesome front ported speakers, so smooth and non fatiguing and very musical. They are a French company that has been around a long time.
The Trente's I have are no longer in production, the current model which is similar is called the Lucia, I think they are under $2k, but great speakers and very well made. |
