Sound Stage and Imaging

  Based on some recent posts regarding sound stage and imaging many Audiogon members have wildly different ideas when defining sound stage and imaging. I recommend you look into used open baffle speakers. I’ve owned a variety of speakers including Von Schweikert, ,Zu, Tannoy, Klipsch, Genelec, JBL and Snell. None of them come close to competing with open baffle.
  You’ve got a large room which is great for a high efficiency open baffle speaker. You won’t need to worry about acoustic treatment but they do require space from the walls. Check out the reviews of the Lii audio speakers. You could build your own baffles and be very happy! 

Given that you only have 2 feet off the wall for speakers, open baffle will likely not work for you. Most open baffle speakers require 3 to 5 feet off front wall. Considering your placement limitations I encourage you to examine how “any” speaker you choose will image that close to the wall, with some exceptions exceptional imaging and soundstage require space around the speakers. You probably should of mentioned your setup limitations prior to seeking recommendations from other forum members. 

As far as conventional sealed enclosure subwoofers they can be integrated with OB speakers but it depends greatly on the quality off the sub and setting the sub/subs up correctly. Many OB speaker users do not believe that sealed subs can be integrated with OB without blurring the purity of the sound. I use a swarm setup to great effect but I’m considering selling them and buying an OB sub kit from GR Research. 

Regarding Toddalin’s comments, I politely want to point out that his condemnation of OB speakers is due to a lack of experience with them.