Speakers good for close to wall placement

" I’d like to go with tubes for my amp, so higher efficiency would be best. What are your thoughts on Klipsch Cornwalls?"

I would expect the Cornwalls to work very well close to the wall. Their radiation pattern is very well controlled so that interaction with the walls in the midrange and highs would be minimized, and my guess is that their low end would benefit from the boundary reinforcement.

You might also look at Pi Speakers. Designer Wayne Parham does superb design work, and in fact he was one of my teachers. Please don’t be put off by PiSpeakers being an "under the radar" brand, I’ve heard them year after year at the Lone Star Audio Fest and they are consistently either the very best sound at the show or one of the top few, and probably always the very best sound-per-dollar a the show. In my opinion. They are designed with wall proximity in mind, and the 3Pi and 4 Pi use a very low-coloration horn that is custom made to Wayne’s specifications.

I also make horn speakers, some of which are designed to still give you good soundstage depth even with close-to-the-wall placement. But Pi Speakers offers a wider range of models. Imo they are superb.

Duke

Another vote for the Cornwall, preferably the IV version.

Oz

Vintage Kef References (Theyve got a special external crossover)were designed to be set  against a wall.Linn Isobariks do need a little space but need to have ceiling reflections taken into consideration as they have upward firing mid and tweeter.

Larsen gets no love on this site.  They are specifically designed to be jammed up next to the wall behind them.  But not in the corners.  Audio Note for close wall and corner placement.  Search those two brand names on this forum and you'll find more threads discussing same or similar topic to this one.

cincyhound OP1 posts12-01-2020 4:38amThanks for the suggestions. I’d like to go with tubes for my amp, so higher efficiency would be best. What are your thoughts on Klipsch Cornwalls?

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Excellent choice, and you can pick the Valve amp to suit. I’ve heard a lot of the older Klipsch speakers matched with Mcintosh MC225-240 and 275s, I heard them with the HK Citations and Marantz, 7 and 9s. ALL were wonderful.

The Macs had a little more bass and wonderful mids(240), than the EL34 stuff. 275 they are BLASTING, I mean BLASTING... 100+ db... with a hot rodded 240...

HK and  Marantz had the mids and highs with good MID bass. You got a winner for Corner horns, La Sala, Klipschorn, Cornwalls or Heresy. YUP they will BLAST with 30 watts and above.. That Ravin with SUB out is a really nice NEW with a GREAT support staff... and a heck of a piece of engineering,
A little pricey BUT... well worth it.. Good looking to.

Regards

Cincy,
Just happened to be looking at these. Steve Guttenberg, the aged hippie, really likes these:

Ohm Walsh

They are meant to be close to walls as they are intended to utilize this reflection. They also have the smallest footprint I know.

I would add some Devore models (can't remember which ones, sorry), specifically designed to play close to their back wall.

You do not mention your budget or the size of your room or any other parameters. The AudioNote AN-J/K/E are designed for just this purpose -- although they do the best in corners. I have Zu Def 4s within a couple of inches of the rear wall. All of these are tube friendly. Classic Linn is great, but not that tube friendly. If possible, you should audition at home -- or at least have a return option. 

The Charney Audio Maestro is designed to be placed against/close to the front wall. Narrow in profile with all the goodness of a much larger horn. The Maestro starts at $2800 and price varies depending on driver and finish choice. Contact Charney to discuss your needs.

http://charneyaudio.com/the-maestro.html

Thanks for the suggestions. I’d like to go with tubes for my amp, so higher efficiency would be best. What are your thoughts on Klipsch Cornwalls?

Lather. Lather, rinse, repeat. Nothing like working up a good lather.

Wilson Duette 2s were designed to go back against a wall, they were quite pricy though and seem to have been discontinued, maybe Tune Tots are their replacement. Crossing the Atlantic there are the Audionote UK speakers based on the old Peter Snell designs, the K, J and Es. Larsen have a range designed to go against a wall,. Anything from Naim before the Ovators needs a solid wall behind it but they’re all getting on a bit and rare in the US (I assume that’s where you are as you don’t say otherwise). Classic Linn speakers (Kans, Saras and Isobariks).

Rinse and repeat.

DSP. Thereby compounding your problems. Sigh. 

What you want first and foremost are speakers of at least 92dB sensitivity. Because then all this nonsense of "selecting the proper integrated amp to drive them" disappears. That one decision alone frees you and opens up the entire universe of integrated amps, everything from 2 watts on up. 

Next decision, to swarm or not to swarm. If you can have several subs then this frees you even further to consider smaller speakers with limited bass response. This will go hand in hand with your situation because the main problem with on the wall is bass bloat. Speakers light in the bass will be fine because a) wall reinforcement and b) subs to handle all the low bass you could ever desire.   

This just leaves imaging. The second biggest problem with being so near the wall. Which you can somewhat reduce by selecting a speaker with the right dispersion pattern. 

Or you can just say the heck with it, 2 out of three ain't bad, and get whatever 92dB or greater speakers you like, buy the Raven Blackhawk which will drive them beautifully and use the built-in subwoofer crossover combined with setting sub levels for superb bass. 

If you are open to using DSP then most speakers would work.