Dunlavy SC IV or Merlin VSM M

I can't say which you'll prefer, but I will agree with Bobby. I've used VSMs in a space virtually identical to the one you've described and they have never sounded better.

Marty

How can anyone be so sure about the OP's room? You have no idea of how the system will be oriented. Is he setting up on the long wall or short wall?

The OP wrote:

Room size is 16 x 23 with a vaulted ceiling and one wall open.

I posted that Merlins sound great in my listening room, which is 15 x 23 with a vaulted ceiling and one wall open. I never said that they'd sound great in his room, only that they sounded great in mine, which, as you can see, is virtually identical to the one described by the OP in every way that he described it.

Sure there are many reasons that the rooms may differ, but it struck me as a relevant note when the issue at hand is suitable room size for this particular speaker. Feel free to take that FWIW, but I thought it worth posting for the benefit of the OP.

Marty

r, its all in the volume and the running length. long wall or short wall will matter little. the room is a virtual golden rule dream.
b

I still think it is difficult to say a given speaker will work in a room based solely on dimensions. To properly answer the question more information is needed. A diagram would be even better.