Need speaker recommendations.

Magico A1s. Can be placed close to the walls and if you don't like the you can sell them and make your money back.

KEF R series, specs say 9" off the back wall. Check out page 11.

https://www.shop.us.kef.com/pub/media/documents/rseries/r2018_manual.pdf 

I have Focal Sopra No.1 in a small office and there are close to the wall I'm certain a bigger/better room would allow them to shine even more but... they are truly amazing. I cannot live without them them anymore!

@amitb ​​@retiredfarmer - I am currently playing a set of Equation 7 and I can attest they are positively magical with tubes somewhere in one's setup. I have tubes straight through Cary, Manley, Aesthetix & Line Magnetic and they are just fabulously well rounded with eerie imaging. Tubes are the best fit for the metallic tweeters (stupidly accurate) but I will say that they have been tremendous driven with a Quad 409 amp as well. Yes, not made any more but the builder/distributor, Pascal Ravich is still around up in Montreal. He focuses on Audiomat electronics these days & Duevel speakers but he will give you hours on end about his love for Equation speakers, how the company came to be and ultimately how it ended. If you ever see a set of these for sale for $1500 or less (cabinetry is incredible) you should jump on them. Special speakers. Just my opinion.

Yes the finish is awe inspiring. Glad that you like them as well. They were a fantasy speaker of mine after I heard them on sim audio moon W3 amps. Finally got a pair of 25s set them up on mark Levinson 33h amps they were ok but never like I remembered. I had put them on a hotrodded melody h88 amp thought they were ok. Then treated myself to a new old stock set of canary ca160 monoblocks and a canary CA 801/802 preamplifier. They just come to life and sing with these amps and pre infront of them put my Krell KPS 20I player in from of them and it is just magic. Lol have to look haw I can make the big system to keep up! They do not sell for much and the fellow looking for speakers I think would do really well getting a set of them if he can find them. It makes me so happy that someone else thinks that it is a magical pairing with tunes. I looked at some line magnetic amps before I bought the canary stuff. Which one did you get? 

Regards Tom

I use a Line Magnetic tube/SS DAC, the 502CA; amazing. I just slipped in an Aesthetix, Calypso linestage and also use a Manly, Shrimp and each are fabulous for very different reasons but both are an excellent match with the 7s. For amps I have run the Quad, 409, Cary, CAD 808R & soon may be inserting a set of Antique Sound Labs, Monsoon monoblocks full time. The Equations split time with a set of Sonus Faber, Cremona Auditor "M" and I find the 7s & Cremonas equally engaging. If you’ve read all the hype around the Cremonas then know that’s a solid compliment. People gush over the Cremonas; I don’t really prefer one over the other, depends on what I’m going to be listening too. Neither are what you’d consider heavy speakers so easy to swap them in and out

Two feet four inches should be close enough. Lots of speakers mentioned here but I prefer ones that have an organic sound, that allows access to the music without the " detailed" of so many speakers. Resolution not detail is my thing, along with midrange. 

 You can save yourself 8,000 and take your family on vacation by,buy the new Polk speakers....

If you do not mind active speakers, try GoldenEar Triton Reference speakers. They are exactly within your budget and superb.

I second the recommendation for sealed/acoustic suspension speakers. The obvious choice for high-end sound is ATC (various models of differing sizes and costs). 

I have a pair of passive ATCs (SCM12 Pros) and find their sound very impressive. They're not reactive to placement to nearly the degree most ported speakers are.

In your setup you might get away with a downward firing port, in which case there are multiple models to choose from. I read rave reviews of a new Polk floorstander with downward firing bass ports:

@moto_man I've been having a really discouraging time getting any replies from Joseph Audio. Zero response to submissions of Contact Us form.

Even calling up their dealer in Chicago hasn't been much better. They acknowledged they are a dealer, and after that, when I asked about some suggestions for amps they recommend for pairing with both Pulsar and Perspective, so that I can get a rough estimate of what sort of money I would have to spend for each combo (low to high)... they went silent. Mind you, I have shared with them my email, mobile phone number and address, as well as the dates I could be in Chicago (a couple of months ahead, so they can arrange for the demo equipment to be available)! As much as even I would like to consider them, I don't know if I want to entertain them anymore.

@amitb, don't like that discourage you.  I think that either the Pulsars or Perspectives would sound great.  Take a look at all of the posts regarding those speakers here.  They are overwhelmingly favorable.

Did this post help you?

Go listen to a set of neat speakers

@ishkabibil yes. I haven't kept up with the stereo speakers market much. So now I do have a fairly long list of recommendations to check out over the next few months. Some will be harder to audition, but still... its a fair bit of info to go on.

Amit

Whatever sounds best in your room.