Speaker Recommendation Help Please.

Paul - congrats on your choice of Wilson SabrinaX.  Regarding placement, your dealer will set them up (otherwise you will not get warranty).  You may find that they don't need that much space away from the wall behind them. That was a major concern of mine, but my dealer thinks (my order hasn't shipped yet) they will not have to be "out into the room".  Regarding electronics, you can use a wide variety of gear --- from integrateds like the Hegel, to more expensive separates.   I'm using a Boulder 866.

@bigfatpaulie

First of all…Congrats on your choice! Great speakers!!!

My suggestion would be to have your dealer set them up for you since you bought them new, assuming you bought them from the dealer.
I’m still experimenting with the speaker placement in my room (15x14) and I can tell you the Sabrinas can sound like several completely different speakers depending on how you position them and how they interact with your room depending on how far from the front wall and side walls they are, toe in, etc.

So having a trained dealer perform the set up for you is essential. Take advantage of if it if there’ an option.

Secondly…I drive my Sabrinas with Pass Labs XA30.8 and I can’t detect any signs of amplifier straining. I hear synergy between the Pass amp and the speakers. They sound amazing.

Let is know your thoughts once you’re up and running.

As a Wilson Sabrina X owner, first I congratulate you on your choice.  Second, I have to respectfully disagree with those who say that the Sabrina X's are bright speakers or that they are "hard to drive."  That has definitely not been my experience.  I find them to be wonderfully voiced and definitely not bright or fatiguing at all.  I also have no desire for more bass, although they are near corners so maybe that brings out more bass.  As for being hard to drive, I use a Pass Labs 250.8, which into 4 ohms is obviously a bruiser anyway, but is a fantastic match.  On the other hand, I can easily drive them with my PrimaLuna Dialogue Premier HP tube amp as well, so I think that those who believe that they are hard to drive are just relying on the impedance curve from Stereophile rather than actually trying them in the real world.  Congratulations on your purchase.  Oh, and just a word about placement.  The same Stereophile review states that a Wilson dealer moved the speakers .25 inches and got more noticeably more bass and focus.  I call total BS on that.  Unless the reviewer's head was in a vice, in the real world, we sit in our listening chair, move around, bend our heads to read, sit slightly differently in the chair, etc., all of which move your head more than .25 inches to one side or the other or forward or back.  So the idea that changing the placement of the speakers by 1/4 inch does anything significant in the real world is just illogical, unless, as I said, you like to sit and listen to music with your head in a vice so that you can't move.  Enjoy them.  they are beautifully made, look great (IMHO) and sound great!

Lii Audio has come out with a new model now called Silver-10 Reference that uses speaker cabinets made out of Marine Wood that sounds even better. The older Crystal-10 Reference model used common plywood for their speaker cabinets.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVez8PTTeAI&t

The more I listen to my friends Lii Audio Crystal 10 Reference Single Driver Loudspeakers the more I love them. These could be my End-Game speakers. 

Why can't I stop thinking how good Piega's Coax 511's would look in the space you have available?

Op - your dilemma was mine also.  I have had two brand new modern houses in the last three years.  Both houses were a combination Kitchen / Great Room.  My wife could not understand why I could not just get in-wall speakers.  I also had to place the speakers against the wall.  My room size was 25'W x 45'L with 20-foot ceilings. 

I started with Wilson Duette 2's and I have to say they were wonderful and they are noted for being able to play against the wall.  But I got the itch so I purchased Sonus Faber Amati Tradition Homage speakers.  They also maybe were 6" from the back wall.  When I moved into my new house I went to Viking Acoustic Grande Voix dual horn speakers and they were the best of the three that I have owned recently.  And, my wife loves the look which is a major selling point. LOL!!!!

Sometimes, I think people make too big a deal about having speakers so close to the back wall.  Currently, my Grande Voix's are 13" from the back wall.  I simply placed a bass trap right behind the speaker and there is no bass smearing and the music is outstanding.  I also have a corner bass trap.

I think any of the speakers you have selected for the demo will work and I have heard them all.  When I went to SF, I direct compared to Wilson.  The SF won out in sound in a side-by-side comparison.  

Good Luck in your journey and you are right by selecting the speakers first.  It is easy to match amps to a particular speaker.  It is not easy to match a speaker to a particular amp.  

 

 

 

 

 

Congrats Paul!  Great choice and great writeup.  I hope the SabrinaX works well in your room and associated components let them sing.  Sometimes when you listen to a speaker or component in a dealer showroom and then get them in your home, you realize how much synergy matters.

I got myself a pair of Tunetots this week and they are stunners.  They are also the most sensitive to placement speakers I've owned and it wasn't until I added a subwoofer that they really bloomed. But once dialed in.. WOW.  As you found, Wilson's past reputation for sometimes being harsh does not apply to this current crop and there's no brightness or sharpness there.  Neutral, detailed, meaty, dynamic.  A real pleasure to listen to.

I've always pined for a pair of Guarneris.  SF was my first love.  I've owned Cremona Auditors and Ms, but the Guarneri Mementos are still the most gorgeous stand mount speakers in history to me and by all accounts their sound matches their looks.

Looking forward to your "Amplifier Recommendation Help Please" thread.  😄

Hi Everyone,

 

I wanted to start by thanking all of you for your thoughtful suggestions, help and kind words!!  Thank You!

 

Second: I bought a paid of speakers (YAY!!).  More on this in a minute.

 

Third: What happened.  Many of the suggestions were basically impossible to audition, unfortunately.  They just simply were available to audition, at home or otherwise.  I reached out to basically all the brands suggest and many were really helpful as they could have been, one of which offered that if I flew to the US to hear the speakers, and bought them, they would pay for my air fare: A really nice gesture.  The risk, however, was too great to take trips around the USA, flights, hotel, food, and so on, and I may still not love the speakers.  Not to mention the time needed away from the office...  I have to be practical and things that I can hear in my city are what ended up making the list.  So what made the list?

Sonus Faber Guarneri's
Wilson SabrinaX (and Sophia V1's)
Focal Sopra 2 & 3's
Paradigm Persona 7F
Klipsch K-Horns, Heresy & Cornwall's

Not the most comprehensive list, but it's what I could hear.  The closest Revel dealer is more than 6 hours by car away, so it also didn't make the cut.

Briefly  Horns (read, Klipsch) aren't for me.  That's not a knock on them, and I can certainly see why so many love them, but they just aren't my jam.  Again, no judgment, we all have personal taste, and variety is the spice of life, and others will not care for my taste.  And that's okay.  You do you, I'll do me :)

The Paradigms were really nice but have a "house sound" that is very similar to my Paradigms (recessed mids).  They are fantastic for classic rock.  Like, really, really good.  But I listen to more than that, and after having Paradigms for 20+ years, I want a change.  Been there, done that.

The Focal's.  I like the 2's more than the 3's.  Judge me for it.  I'm okay with that.  The 2's felt more "together" or, I guess the audiophile term is "cohesive".  They were easier to listen too, less "hifi" sounding and more just...  Good sounding.  I found the 2's less bright than than the 3's, but in the end, both were brighter than what I want.

Sonus Faber Guarneri.  Wow.  These are EASLITY the most beautiful speaker I have ever seen.  They had the Serafino's as well which are also stunning, but the Guarneri are just...  Something else.  I was heavily biased towards these from the get go.  Heck, I want a pair to have in my home, I don't care if they are even hooked up!  The sound...  They are the best speaker I've ever experienced (and this experience is limited) with vocals.  Especially female vocals. If I listened to that only, this would be the speaker.  People talk about sound having flash and bone.  I get what they mean now.  If you've never heard these, you owe it to yourself to hear them.  The are so unreal, they are human sounding.

Wilson Sophia V1's...  These made me well up.  There was an immediate emotional connection for me.  20 years ago I was sitting with a dealer and I asked what made a good speaker good.  His answer stuck with me forever: If the hairs on the back of your neck are standing on end, it's a good speaker.  My hairs we on were on full salute.  These are very special speakers to me.  But, and there are a few buts, they are old and the tweeters did have some deration on the surrounds.  I was concerned about longevity as the Wilson dealer warned they are likely near impossible to replace.  Apparently Wilson does not have back stock of them.  Second, and this was the nail in the coffin, they have a sharp leading edge.  They sounded good, amazing in fact, for a bit, but they the end and I didn't want to keep going.  Perhaps with tubes and tweaking it can be tamed, but I'm not going down that route.  For the money these go for...  What a steal.

Wilson SabrinaX's.  What can I say...  Take the emotion of the Sophia's, get rid of the leading edge, add in 95% of the vocal magic of the Guarneri's and put it in a small (albeit challenging to drive) cabinet and you have the SabrinaX's.  To me, it was the clear winner and there really was no second place.  These speakers have been getting very good reviews, and I get why.  I really do. Yes, the carpet in the front is terrible, the looks are polarizing, as is the brand, but to me, these are very, very special speakers that do very little wrong.  What is wrong?  Well, they don't image or do vocals as well as the Guarneri's (1 way vs 3 way, big cabinet vs small) they don't have the bass impact of the Sophia's (but a sub can be added if needed), they are demanding to drive (we all know about the wild impedance curve) and, so I hear, placement is a bugger.  But when amps well, and placed right, oh baby do these girls sing, and rock!  

 

So bought 'em.

 

Are they they best option for my room?  Almost certainly not.  They are pretty shallow so I should have about 22 inches from the wall to the back of the cabinet.  In the end, I made an emotional decision, taking into considered the best information I could get.  The speakers are made to spec (apparently) so after selecting the cabinet, grill and spike colours, they should be ready in about 10 weeks.

 

Now I have deal with an amp...  But that's for another thread.

 

Thank you all again for your help and I hope some of you aren't too upset with my decision.  Hopefully the speakers are Jekyll and Hyde in my room, but time will tell.  As long as the essence of what I heard (and it was with a Hegel H390 with a Zen streamer, off a Nucleus, Tidal + Roon) I'll be pretty happy.

 

Best,

-Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you can't get more than a foot or so from the wall, you won't make Sophias (Ive had Sophia 2's for ~12 years) sound their best, and I doubt the Sabrina X would "thrive" without more air around it either.  You certainly can make the Sophias work, but you'll like need to significantly toe them in to create the best depth and imaging at the sofa location (mine are around 28" from the wall, and 10' from my ears.  Don't worry about the toe-in as far as filling the room and kitchen with sound, it affects imaging which is lost as you wander around anyway. I've not heard the Sabrina X's, so I can't say for sure, but @moto_man sounds about right on spacing.

The Wilsons definitely have a "house sound" you may or may not like, but if you do like the floor standers, the poster who recommended the Duette 2's is right on the mark as the 2's are designed specifically to be wall huggers, and are quite different from the original Duettes in that regard, so if you see some, do take a listen (horribly expensive new IMO, but...). 

While I am a Wilson fan, I've also never heard a Sonus Faber that I didn't like, though the sound is quite different. Can't go wrong there either - I wouldn't call them dark, but they are less forward than the Wilsons tend to be, and also they do have serious wife appeal factor.

Good hunting! 😀

Nicely detailed post!  Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has got one.  As someone who has the Sabrina X's, I highly recommend them.  Although I have a small music room, 11x11x11, they are perfect for me, and I have them about 2 ft from the rear wall.  They are driven by a Pass Labs 250.8.  Don't worry about placement . .  although it's always good to have a Wilson dealer set them up, you can easily get them in close to if not the perfect place.  They go plenty loud (more than I will ever need).  Since they would be set up for your listening area, 10 ft is great, toe'd in slightly.  Plus they have all of the latest Wilson tech, like the tweeter from the super high end model, and the entire cabinet is X material.  

M y first thought was to echo the earlier recommendation of Larsen loudspeakers which are deliberately engineered to be put up against the wall.   I found them to have a good tonal balance and clarity, but they also had a rather 2 dimensional image.  Being up against the wall, that's not surprising and something I'd consider to be an acceptable compromise as getting rid of the wife isn't an option.

But the Larsen 9 is a $15,000 loudspeaker, and you still haven't bought a power amp yet.  So if you're in that price range, then I heartily recommend the Dutch & Dutch 8c, which is one of the very best loudspeakers I've heard at any price.  Just extraordinary.  They have some of the very most amazing imaging I've EVER heard in any loudspeaker.  They also have a very powerful deep end.   It's a complete system.

The D & D 8c is much more than just a good loudspeaker.  It is a tri-amplified powered loudspeaker with built-in DSP EQ as well as a built-in DAC.   Part of the setup is that it accounts for the distance to the rear wall, and it is also engineered to play with a wall directly behind it.  

You don't say what you use for your source, but if you're strictly digital, then this is the whole system.  You could use a laptop for your digital source and just connect directly to the D & D 8c over the house network and you're done.  No preamp and power amp with cables and such.  Talk about a happy wife!

Note in this photo that the speakers are just a few inches in front of a flat wall behind them.  Looks like your situation to me.    They retail for $12,000, which may sound like a lot, but it's a total system cost.  Remember that most any other loudspeaker will still mean you're buying amplifiers, cables, etc, and all that stuff has to go somewhere.

As others have said, where ever you end up with speakers, a large heavy area rug for your seating area would be really important. I would also look to drape the fireplace with a fabric buffer. Think like a heavy curtain material as a valance. Let your wife have at it there. Can change with the seasons as a decorative touch. You could test the affect it has on your sound with a blanket initially. Those hard marble edges that close to the speakers will make upper mids and highs messy. A plant (ficus, fern, ivy) on the right will help diffuse your widow wall on that side.

Speaker comments and recommendations to date are good. I would also look at closed box, or front ported, and would also add in that I think speakers with ribbon tweeters would work well in your space and add some of the sonic experience you are used to with your headphone lineup.  If acceptable to spatial plans, I would also consider moving the seating area a foot or so closer to the kitchen area and widening the speaker placement to compensate. Adjust toward a 10’+ from speakers to open up the sonic space a little more, rather than near field.

I don’t know what the issues would be for Canada, but you may want to look at the Ascend Acoustics Luna. http://ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/luna/luna.html.

Give them a call, they offer in home trail, and are responsive to phone inquiry and are helpful. I am not a super high end audiophile, but find their speakers very natural sounding, accurate, and fast responding. Even their Sierra line would work with 1 foot from front wall and damper foam in the rear port. My listening space in an apartment is awful, no depth, no space behind listening position, 8 ft. ceiling, about 10’ deep so closer to near field, and very close left wall are real issues. Would love maggies cause i love their sound, but I don’t have the space for them, or a lot of speakers that I could really appreciate.

I haven’t heard the Paradigm Active 20’s, but will say that I have heard their passive small speakers, and find that to my ears they only work well in a very narrow volume range. Balance of woofer and tweeter only work well at reference volume or slightly above (maybe 85 to 90db didn’t really push them higher). Terrible at lower volume (the dark sound you referenced, and no coherence ).

 

I like your layout - I love open concept and the modern touches.

And I have a different layout but very large open area with 12'ft ceilings and an additional tray that goes up as well as the stairway going to the ground floor.

An area rug and comfortable couch are excellent additions for comfort as well as sound treatments - I also have cellular blinds as window treatments to help manage the sound.

I am a big fan of Sonus faber - I have the Olympica Nova Vs.  Previously I owned the the Sonetto Vs.  

That being said I think you have an excellent pool of speakers - you're real decision is what is the sonic character you like.  Tweeter characteristics, the construction of the cabinet and efficiency of the speaker. 

Enjoy the journey! 

You might consider Harbeth SHL5plus XD, which aren't small standmounts and could use placement a bit away from the wall, but are fantastic and are excellent with the Hegel H390. 

I will also recommend Sonus Faber speakers. Don't worry for HF resolution and details, they have developed new technology DAD (Damped apex dome tweeter) which allows them for very high HF extension without distortion. With that in mind, you will hear plenty of details and resolution. But what you will like the most is the music that will come out of your speakers. Intimate, engaging, pleasant ...

+1 ATC!

Its sealed cabinet design ensures excellent timing, useful low frequency output below the cut-off and that the speakers can be placed relatively close to walls without excessive low frequency output or ‘boom’. Both the mid-bass driver and tweeter are handmade by ATC.

SCM20 | ATC Loudspeakers

atc.audio/hi-fi/loudspeakers/classic-series/scm20/

With the exception of the Cornwalls, almost none of the speakers suggested (especially the Wilsons) are going to sound good that close to the wall; they all need space behind them to give a decent soundstage; otherwise you will be wasting your money, and wondering why you can't get them to sound good in your room.  You might also consider high quality in-walls like the Joseph Audio, and get away from the wall issue altogether.

Did you check out the Paradigm Personna series?  

Goldenear BRX.

Nice house.

and I strongly agree to get a big heavy rug on the floor in front of the speakers.

Hello,

I have usually preferred the sound of closed box (infinite baffle) speakers and so now own KLH5 for that reason.  I suggest you should try them.  The imaging is good, very good, for a three-way.  They can be placed reasonably close to the rear wall.  My room is somewhat like yours and I have similar issues, more than half the space is a kitchen/diner with almost no soft furnishings.  I listened to some Klipsch Fortes that sounded so amazing I bought them.. They lasted one week and then had to go back, too shouty by far in my bright room.  The KLH5 bass is very natural, however, be warned, due to room nodes you will get good bass sound in one place and then a completely different sound just a few feet away.  Unless you can treat the room there is not much technical equipment (i.e. none) that can fix that problem in the signal chain.  Sitting close and keeping the volume down might be a good plan after all.  I hope you find this helpful.

Sounds like you are in a situation where a mistake can be a frustrating and costly situation.

A couple of things I would suggest. Aim for 92db+ efficiency. You’ll, more often than not, hear detail and nuance wih low volume listening. Going from 88db to 93db didn’t change the overall quality or loudness of the music for me...but it changed the ’ease’ of expression across all volume levels. Very efficient speakers will give you more amplifier choices down the road.

Consider speakers that are as phase coherent as possible. Most 3 way systems don’t image as well as most 2 way systems. 2 way systems don’t image as well as full range. This is a blanket statement and at your price point, the excellent crossover systems will not give much away.

My 88db Salks sounded amazing to me but going to 93db Tannoys made me want to listen to my entire record collection again to see what I’d been missing. I wasn’t prepared for how much of a difference that change made. Both speakers threw out a big and deep soundstage.

One thing you must do: get a big rug. I mean something that swallows the coffee table and both couches in one gulp. I bought a 100% wool Persian rug. It sits on a proper thick (3/8") felt underlay. I have dogs and a high quality rug is almost as indestructible as it is beautiful. But, more importantly, it made a HUGE acoustic improvement. Go big with the rug! Persian, Turkish, Indian...Canadian but get something thick and soft that will offset all the hard and shiny surfaces you have going. Softening the first 1/3 of your listening area will make the most difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would be tempted to use some high quality monitor speakers that are sealed or down firing as others have suggested (no rear ports).  Place a rug at the couch and some possible room treatments.  I prefer diffusors rather than panels.  Viscoustic has some nice looking options.  Speakers as mentioned would be the Fyne or the Canadian company Greshman audio.

Vandersteen Quatro CT -$17,947.00

- time- and phase-correct loudspeaker
- dual 8” subwoofers 
- attractive form factor (WAF)
- designed to be placed close to a wall

If you are considering Wilson speakers do not buy any with the old tweeter. 

There are only a few speakers that will sound good close to the wall.  Do some research for those.  Otherwise, try moving your listening position [and speakers] away from the wall a little at a time.  It does seem that your room is the big problem.

Not sure if your final numbers, check out Fyne audio 500 series.  Downfirong bass helps with placement. Even with price increases the 5 and 7 series lunch way above their price 

Thank you so much for all the replies everyone!!  If I don't reply to you specifically, please know that I have read and taken note of your advice.  Thank you :)  With all the replies I just can't reply to everyone individually.  I really appreciate all the kind support and help from the community!!

@auxinput HAHA!!  Thank you so much and I had a chuckle at you going all Columbo, "Just one more thing."  I completely agree that a grain of salt is always needed.  Please know that whatever advice I get, regardless of the source, I will do my own research and listening.  At the end of the day good sound, to a degree, is personal and everyone has their own priorities and preferences.  

I've heard the same about Wilson stuff and I am concerned about it (fatigue).  I believe the newer stuff (with silk domes) are less so, but it is a big concern for me.  I also appreciate the advice on front ported speakers and Revel.  I can't seem to find a Revel dealer in Toronto, but I know there used be several...  I wonder what happened with that.  I will reach out to the distributor about this and see what my options are.  

I also completely understand (and can relate) to your comments about horns.  I am familiar and it isn't my preferred sound.  Based on reading alone, the SF's are likely going to be closer to what I like provided they have at least some grunt (AC/DC is my guilty pleasure).

@grinnell I've very curios about the Reference 3A de Capos.  Their head office/factory isn't too far from me so perhaps I can arrange a visit.  Thank you.

@spenav Yes - I have the book coming today from Amazon :)  I noticed the first sticky on the speaker forum that talks about it.  Honestly, reading though that, I have half a mind to keep my Active 40's (which are at Paradigm getting fixed) and working with some room treatments and EQ.  That may be all I need and be the best use of money.  Though, I keep the same boring look (regulars black boxes) of my speakers.

@havocman I understand where you are coming from (in my case it's a Chord DAVE) and I absolutely agree with the garbage in -> garbage out idea, but I have to be concerned with how the speakers and room work together.  The DAC, after all, doesn't care about my room.

@eugene81 This is a very real consideration, especially based on the other comment about the Duette.  The dealer has a pair so I can listen to them as well and they may be a really good option. 

@rbstehno What I said was, "my room is the biggest small room there is".  It is a big room in size - 16 feet wide, 28 feet deep with 12 foot ceilings.  But it's small because I have sit close to the speakers and really only have 10 feet from my ears to the back wall.  It's a odd space.  My cousin has Totems (I can't recall the models) and, for me, they didn't sing.  But it could be his room, source, or just that model.  They are easy enough to audition so I will likely do so.  Thank you.  The Ushers certainly look nice (much like SF).  They don't have a dealer/distributor in Canada however.  Is there something about them (aside being front ported) that makes a good choice for my space?

@fthompson251 Thank you!!  There is a dealer about 20 minutes away from me.  I will absolutely audition them.  

 

Canadian made Verity.

Just to confuse you even more, here is a brand of speaker that doesn't get talked about much, but it would work at only 12 inches from the wall and fill you room with massive bass, huge soundstage and great detail. Not taking a lot of floorspace. Goldenear Triton 1.r. 

 

The key issue is speaker placement required only 1 foot from the front wall.

Many speakers can't produce good sound in such location however you tweak the room.

So look for speakers specifically designed to work well so close.  Few if any of these will be huge full-range towers.  That will restrict the bass response you obtain but will please wifey as the boxes will be small.  You can replace the bass using one or more sub-woofers.

Your room and listening location are your limitations. You state you have a large room but in your picture, your seating location is very close to the speakers. Also, your speakers are going to be setup close to the wall so you will need to adjust which speaker works close to walls. 
Since you live in Canada I’m sure you heard of Totem. I would look at the new models that are small floor standing or some used Windows, Forest, Hawk, or model one with a sub (I’ve owned many totems in the past).

The Wilson duette’s are also very nice sounding and made for close wall setup.

For the last 15 years, all my speakers have been Usher and Revel. The ushers are front ported so they can be placed closer to the back wall. I owned the usher mini dancer II’s with the top of the line Hegel integrated at the time and it was a very good sounding system and 1 of the best looking speaker since yours will be in a family room with the WAF. I use the large Ushers in my dedicated listening room now.

Another option would be the smaller Revel floorstanding speakers. They are back ported but since they have multiple 6” or 8” drivers, the back wall will give you a bigger sound. I use the smaller model with multiple 6” woofers 1’ from the back wall in my living room and they sound very good, way above their price point.

Where in Canada? I have a friend in Canada Alberta to be exact who is selling a pair of sonus faber quinary speakers. Lol SP.  Any how Ithey were there too of the line stand mounts.  Apparently the most lovely midrange and highly musical. Let me know if you are interested and I can give you his contact info. 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Rethinking furniture and speaker placement can solve a lot of the issues already mentioned. My space is 14' x 29', half dining and half living room The easy solution was to place the speakers in the living area and fire across the short dimension. It didn't take long to realize this was wreaking havoc on the sound quality. . Rearranged everything - speakers fire down the long axis, across the listening position and then across a long dining room table. They sound great most anywhere. This also allowed me to place them 3' off the front wall. I'm using Totem Hawk speakers made in Canada. They have a range of speakers which may interest you including stand speakers and wall mount. There are plenty of reviews of Totem online

Wilson Tunetots + subs because of your rear wall limitation.  They are cut from the same cloth as SabrinaX, Sasha DAW, etc with X material and shared drivers.  Sounds like Wilson may be your thing since you like air, details, texture, neutrality without brightness.  SF tends to lean more romantic, some may say colored.

I strongly recommend Audio Kinesis speakers. They will outperform Klipsch speakers mentioned above and many others.

you should take a look at the monitor audio platinum series unbelievable sounding speakers world class their driver technology is way ahead of everybody and they're build quality is amongst the best.

before you even think about buying speakers the most important item is your source because if that's no good you could have the best speakers in the world and they will still sound like crap.

I think you are on the right track with the Sonus Fabers. Get the best you can afford, probably floorstanders given the size of your open plan space.

I have the SF Serafinos in a relatively large room with an open side and have been well satisfied. Like you, I'm drawn to detail and was a little concerned but I've found the Serafinos are resolving but also not fatiguing. Plus, they fill the room, at least enough for me. You have lots of good choices and hard to say what is best but SF would likely be a good fit. Good luck. 

I don’t know how it would sound , but aesteticly speaking Tannoy Canterbury

would look fine in your room.

But , I have a bias for theme, the most beautifull speakers IMO.
 

width : 26.77 ´´

I have often seen them , closed to the front wall.

 

@bigfatpaulie 
By now it should be obvious why I couldn’t be very specific in my advice. It can get very confusing very fast. Seeing your entire kitchen, I understand why the lady of the house might not want you to transform it into a recording studio 😀. It’s nice and tidy and can stay that way if you plan the whole thing right. You might be able to have your cake and eat it too. To your credit, you are doing it the right way: you start with the speakers. Based on your inherent limitations, you should search for speakers designed to be placed close to or even hung on the wall. They do exist. Paired with a couple of small subwoofers, the sound can be quite satisfying. Room treatment should come later as it is difficult to predict your particular room aberrations. It’s a trial and error thing for the most part. Please heed my advice about Jim Smith’s book. It might be the best $40 you have spent and might save you thousands. Good luck and have fun.

What about some Canadian made Reference 3A de Capos?

You should check out ATC. Sealed system that can be placed close to rear wall . Here is a dealer up in your neck of the woods!!

 

 

OP:  Don't forget the ceiling for treatment., especially when your other options are limited.

I'm not sure what you meant about the wall above the cabinets, but I wouldn't put anything above a source of fire. :) If there was not a stove there I would suggest GIK corner traps.

heh, I can't help commenting more.  I see several people have recommended Klipsch speakers (i.e. K-Horns, Heresy, Cornwall).  These are very unique speakers.  They are very lively sounding and can be extremely fun to listen to (especially if it's your first time hearing them).  However--- they are horn loaded midrange and tweeter.  Because of this, they have an echo/reverberation effect on the mids/highs that sort of sound like your are listening to a live performance in a huge hall (with the echo/reverberation).  They also have a slightly "tangy" flavor to the sound.  It is a very "vintage" type of sound.  Because you have so many hard surfaces in your room, I would be concerned that the reflections and the horns will cause the high frequencies to become a mess. 

Also, you really need to "love" this type of sound because you will be hearing it all the time.  This is not a bad thing if that is the type of sound you are after, but you could become really tired of this signature after a short while if you don't "love" it. lol.

A couple more comments.

The one acoustic treatment that I would actually recommend firmly in your room is to get a very large and thick area rug to put on the floor in front of the speakers between the speakers and the "listening couch". 

Second, if you are seriously considering the Focal speakers, I would recommend looking for a full Class A amp - think Pass Labs XA series (your INT-30A is an example), or even Parasound JC1 run at high-bias Class A mode.  You need this type of amp to get any midrange body (else it will tend to sound very thin in the midrange).