xti16 just made a good point most speakers sound best a few feet from surrounding walls so either way you'll probably be listening pretty close to the speakers, not a bad thing, but know what the speakers were designed for. How did you narrow your list down to the 2 speakers? At Axpona this spring I could list on one hand the BIG speakers that sounded good to me in the hotel rooms, Maggies, carver, revel... while I wanted to buy every small speaker I heard!
I'm coming to the opinion that once I get past the $4-5000 mark the room decides what sounds better between competent brands.