Recommended Speaker Design for Corner / Near-Wall Placement?

TANNOY AUTOGRAPH MINI

https://6moons.com/audioreviews/tannoy4/autographmini.html
https://www.analogueseduction.net/all-speakers/tannoy-prestige-autograph-mini-gr-speakers-pair.html

Any LS3/5A designed type speaker ( two way sealed ) will work. Spendor, Harbeth, Stirling, Falcon, etc. make many modern versions of this type of speaker!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LS3/5A

Ack-chew-ally, the Rogers LS35a and similar speakers require placement far from any walls or corners.

Gesundheit...

The Charney Audio Maestro with Voxativ drivers are made to be placed close to front wall and in corners. Large engaging soundstage with bass. That will fit well for your room size and restrictions.
http://charneyaudio.com/the-maestro.html

Vivid Audio folks told me that their speakers can be placed rather close to the back wall because of the back wave cancelling tube they use (my layman's explanation). There is a new Vivid monitor (S12?) that is coming out from them very soon which should be interesting.

Reportedly, the Devore Fidelity range is designed for near-wall placement. Another small speaker is actually designed for against the wall placement -- unpronounceable name: SJOFN ("the clue" in Swedish, apparently)

@geoffkait
I own both Harbeth and Spendors and they have no problem placed close to a rear wall.

Spendor A1

Specification. The compact Spendor A1. Perfect for small rooms and ideal for use close to the rear wall. Spendor’s new A-Line loudspeakers prove that you don’t need a big space, or budget, to enjoy dynamic, open and exhilarating sound.

@yogiboy I was referring to the LS35a, the speaker you mentioned, that should never be placed close to a room boundary. I had two pairs of LS35a. The reason is LS35a have a hump in mid bass that is accentuated when placed near room boundary. They should be at least 3 feet from room boundaries.

@geoffkait
I was suggesting the modern versions of the LS3/5A. I own the Harbeth P3ESR and The Spendor A1s. Both are placed about a foot from the rear wall of my listening room with great results!

I doubt those Spendors are copies of the LS35a even though they look like them externally. The LS35a was a specification. The crossover was very complex and looked like an amplifier. At their price the Spendors A1S may look like LS35a but almost certainly aren’t same inside. I have seen Sterling modern versions of LS35a but they’re $2500 or whatever. And they are placed very far from room boundaries like the original LS35a.

Gradient Revolutions are made to accommodate different speaker locations, particularly those close to walls.  To me, they sound very good.  I like Audio Note speakers in close to the wall locations too (I see you have already looked into that brand).

Rodge827 menioned the Charney Maestro.  I heard their larger model, the Companion in a small room.  It is a serious challenger to almost ANY speaker, regardless of price.  The Companion is somewhat deeper than the Maestro, so it might not be as suited for a near wall setup.  I believe you can get the Maestro with different drivers; the Voxativ is a very nice driver, but, for my taste, the AER drivers offered by Charney are even better (better extension on top).

Scansonic HD made modifications to their designs and the new MBX-B Line of speakers will do well and still give you decent imaging.  Side wall has never been a problem and they redesign allows them to work better near the back wall.  

They have a nice pair of standmounts and some smallish floorstanders that could work well in your room.  PM me if you want to discuss.  I am an authorised dealer.  

Nobody's mentioned Larsen yet.

If you can find a mint, used pair of NHT 3.3s, they would work great. Had a pair. with a monster ss amp, quite the reproduction. Still liked horns better, so, like so many others, I sold them. I am a Khorn fan, so..........

These little guys are purportedly designed exactly for your situation -  https://echohifi.com/details/14950/Linn_Majik-109

Check out Totem Acoustics. Designed for corners, near wall.

Walls and corners reinforce the lower end of the spectrum, which may or may not be beneficial, depending on the specifics of the speaker design.

Corner placement means that there is a side wall very near by, and reflections off that nearby side wall will arrive at the listening position after a relatively short time delay. This can be detrimental to clarity and/or image depth and/or tonality.

Different designers approach wall and/or corner placement in different ways, but imo a speaker which at least takes such placements into account makes sense. Many such brands have already been mentioned.

Sjofn, Larsen (wall) and Audio Note (corner) come to mind, among speakers that use fairly conventional drivers. Speakers which use a fairly large (or otherwise directional) midwoofer section, along with a controlled-pattern top end (horn or waveguide or coaxial) are also often candidates, as their patterns can be aimed to avoid strong same-side-wall reflections. This category includes Tannoy, Gradient, Klipsch, Kii, Dutch & Dutch, Gradient, Pi Speakers, and others (including mine).

Finally it can be helpful if the bottom end is "voiced" with wall and/or corner placement in mind, or can be adjusted accordingly.

Imo against-the-wall and (even morso) corner placement differ enough from "normal" speaker placement that it’s worth seeking out designs specifically intended to work well there.

Duke

Duke, I linked to one of your speakers but was looking for a different model. Sort of triangular cross section (actually pentagonal, I think). Two way with horn loaded compression driver on top. Is that still made?

Hi Hedwigstheme,

I saw that and appreciate the mention. The model you linked to isn’t idea for up-against-the wall or in-the-corner in my opinion, as it has a rear-firing tweeter which likes a bit of breathing room.

The model you are thinking of was either the Rhythm Prism or its predecessor, the Prisma. I suppose they can still be made, if someone wants the quasi-triangular footprint. Must admit the unorthodox shape did not find a lot of success in the marketplace. 

At this link are photos of the discontinued Rhythm Prism, so people can see what you are talking about:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=78557.0

A more conventional-looking (and imo more room-friendly, but also more expensive) successor is in the pipeline.

Duke

Thanks for all your thoughtful responses, very helpful, lots to dig into... I suppose there is no way to avoid trying out several of these myself to find out.  The journey continues...

I was reading today that the Magico A1 monitor is a sealed design without a port. Thus this speaker can be placed close to a back wall or even put on a bookshelf.

I have never owned any speaker with such a design. I am curious if such speakers would sound the same in the bookshelf or on stands away from the back wall? That is they  sound the same regardless of placement?

Hi @ edvardmonk
I have a small media corner just as yours. I used to have KEF (Q900 and then LS50). But the ported design always bring in issues like bass distortion for me. I was advised to look into sealed speakers for the close placement to front wall. I used ATC SCM19 (please read up on this company and their lineup) and never looked back.

Janszen Valentina zA2.1, maybe the only electrostat you can put against the wall with no problem.