Wall Hugging w/Imaging & Depth?

WOW, now that is a great answer. I have a very good Vandy dealer near by, and I have liked Vandys in the past. I will go talk to my dealer, and maybe get a pair to audition.

ROOM COMPENSATION
While conventional speakers must be perfectly positioned in the room to maximize their low-frequency performance, the Vandersteen Model Fives As and either Wood or Standard Quatro's can be positioned in a convenient location and then tuned to the requirements of that particular placement. The subwoofer amplifier incorporates multiple unique adjustments that allow the speaker's low frequencies to be matched to its environment and the preferences of its owner. Model Five,and Quatro design owners can adjust the sensitivity of the subwoofer section and contour the subwoofer's response. The sensitivity adjustment increases or decreases the overall level of the bass without changing its character. The low frequency contour control adjusts the Q of the subwoofer to accommodate different rooms, listening tastes, or system modes. In subwoofer engineering terms, system Q is the product of a complex mathematical equation derived from driver, electrical, and enclosure parameters. In practical terms, it relates to the character of the bass response. A low Q subwoofer sounds very tight and controlled. A high Q subwoofer produces a full, warm bass with more energy in the most audible bass range.

Each speaker also has eleven, adjustable compensation controls that modify the subwoofer's response to precisely counter room and placement induced non linearities. When the speakers are initially set up by dealer in the owner's home, the Vandersteen Warble Test test CD is inserted and compensation controls then adjusted for the most linear bass response at the listening position. Once set these controls will not need to be readjusted unless the speaker placement or listening position changes significantly.
Having installed hundreds of pairs of Vandersteen Five and Quatro series we are consistently reminded after each tuning of how versatile,adaptable this design is even when speakers were only inches from the wall.
Best John Rutan
Audioconnection (Answers)

Not really.... But thanks for the thought! I think I am going to have to get used to moving my speakers around (Against the wall for HT, out from the wall for Stereo), so I can really hear what they can do.

Is going vintage an option?

Boston Acoustics A200 and A400 speakers are very shallow (6 inches or so depth) and do well placed close to the front wall due to their very wide baffle. You can get them for very little money ($100-200 or so), but the woofers will probably need to be refoamed.

Great stuff guys, and Thanks for sharing. I purpose built a room for HT many years ago, using many design principals we know as good including:
Perfect symmetry across the front
*L & R Speakers are equal distance from the side walls
*Almost Equilateral Triangle between speakers and listener
Raised acoustical ceiling for 8’ front of room
Lowered Drywall ceiling 8-17’ from the front of the room
Heavy carpet to reduce floor reflections
Speakers are NHT 2.9 (Wall Huggers)
Amplifier is Parasound 2200 series
PreAmp is B&K Reference 20
Sources vary – Sony 7000 DVD, Sony PS3, Parasound 1500 CD

I am considering a significant change to my system, and have listened to many very nice 2-channel systems with incredible imaging and deep soundstages.

Jeff in Detroit

Jeff check out Audio Note speakers

AN-E/Lx HE
High efficiency woofer with silver voice coils, std xo, Lexus spkr cable.

AN-E/SPe HE
High efficiency drivers, standard crossover, silver SPe speaker cable.

My Dali Helicon 300 are far less and I have great results in imaging, depth with good bass in a not so friendly room situation.

SET amplification seems to help. How about Audio Note A/N E's?

Klipschorns are designed to go into room corners, if you want to place them there.

If you use a Tact you can use almost any dynamic speaker against the wall. Check their website.

Try to audition a pair of Naim SL-2 loudspeakers.
Naim speakers are designed to be utilized very close to
front walls. Should be well within your budget.
Good luck!
Vmk

There are more factors than just the speaker design that will determine the qualities you're looking for. Room treatments could help the cause tremendously. Electronics will have impact on soundstage as well. Consider also an asymmetric corner placement as an excellent option (depending upon the room of course) for placement issues. One of the most innovative speaker designs I heard at the recent CES that were very designed to deliberately diffuse room-related issues with placement were the very unusual looking Gradient Helsinki, which were recently reviewed in TAS. They sounded excellent at CES and offered some rather unconventional solutions for addressing room placement. Their imaging was top notch. Check out the review in TAS and see if they'd be a contender. WAF would be a make-it or break-it factor in these speakers as they are highly unusual looking. You may also want to list the rest of your system, or at least which amps you are using, so that others may tailor suggestions accordingly.

start with designs that are front ported and check mfg. website to see if close to wall placement will work. as long as you aren't putting speakers into a corner (amplifies bass) you should find something..there are also loudspeakers designed to be place in corners