>I need your advice on the best used speakers for a room that is 22 by 22 with a 14 foot cathedral ceiling. Primary listening is classical, jazz, vocal. I'd like advice on those speakers that have a wide horizontal dispersion so that someone doesn't have to sit in a precise location to hear the best sound. Budget is $1500-2,000.
You only need uniform off-axis frequency response to get the same sound anywhere in the room, although most commercial speakers are pretty bad there.
To get some semblance of imaging you need a controlled roll-off so the increase in volume you get moving closer to one speaker than the other is complemented by a corresponding decrease in relative level from the speaker's radiation pattern. This will also help retain clarity when you're sitting in the sweet spot.
Dynamic dipoles, ribbon dipoles, or wave guides toed in past the primary listening position will do that; with a pair of Orions you can get correct imaging across a 7' wide couch.
A wave guide crossed to a large woofer (as used by Duke and Earl Geddes) would be worth looking at too.
You only need uniform off-axis frequency response to get the same sound anywhere in the room, although most commercial speakers are pretty bad there.
To get some semblance of imaging you need a controlled roll-off so the increase in volume you get moving closer to one speaker than the other is complemented by a corresponding decrease in relative level from the speaker's radiation pattern. This will also help retain clarity when you're sitting in the sweet spot.
Dynamic dipoles, ribbon dipoles, or wave guides toed in past the primary listening position will do that; with a pair of Orions you can get correct imaging across a 7' wide couch.
A wave guide crossed to a large woofer (as used by Duke and Earl Geddes) would be worth looking at too.