Almost all speakers today sound best when pulled out from the wall. You are going to have a big sonic adjustment going from 1.6s Maggies to a box speaker pushed up against the wall. With that in mind, you might look at OHM loudspeakers.
Recommendations for Speakers that can be used close to the rear wall.
I am looking to replace my Magnepan 1.6 speakers with smaller speakers that can be placed close to the rear wall. Due to a move to a new home my listening room does not allow me to place my speakers the recommended distance from the rear wall. I am limited to just a few inches at most and I do not want to move them back and forth as I now do with my Magnepans. My room is large (17’ x 26’x 9’) with more open space next to it. The speakers are placed along the 17’ wall. I use a solid state Belles 150a Hot Rod amp with Sonic Frontier tube preamp, Dac and phono. I would like to limit the cost to $3,000/pair. I want the speaker to be no more than 48” high. I listen to various types of music ( rock, jazz, classical) and don’t play my music loud. I do not need a lot of bass for my musical enjoyment. I like the sound of the 1.6’s especially the way they play jazz vocal music, but am open to considering other types of speakers. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
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Perhaps a used or demo pair of Larsen 6's. They are designed for near wall placement. https://www.larsenhifi.com/product/larsen-6/ |
I have to agree with Russ69, no matter what you get, you will lose a lot. I can make two suggestions, first is not to go with a rear port. Second, most "monitor" type speakers will be a good choice. I went with Harbeths (I also listen to everything, and not at high volumes), which although they sound great, do not "bloom" unless I pull them away from the wall, which I can only do when the wife is traveling. |
Thank you all for your input. In our previous home, I had a separate listening room that allowed me to position the Maggie’s in the optimum manner. That worked for eighteen years. My/our new listening room/living room is set up the only way possible. No alternative except for moving the speakers back and forth ( three feet or more for the Magnepans). I would rather keep the 1.6’s rather than lose sonic quality. Maybe that is the way it is meant to be, but I will investigate other options that you have recommended. |
Boy that’s tough. OHM’s were my first thought too. The original Wilson Duette MKI’s were designed to be placed near a wall and do it pretty successfully but I’m just not sure you’re going to find them within your budget. I did see a pair on USAM for under 4K without stands earlier this summer. Best of luck. |
Years ago, for a Maggie customer, I installed spikes in the metal stand straps by drilling holes then tapping them. Worked very well. I was thinking maybe you could install office chair type wheels and just wheel them out from the wall for listening. Or maybe use something like Herbies: https://herbiesaudiolab.com/collections/loudspeaker-rack-decoupling-and-isolation/products/threaded-stud-glider?variant=12651505680439 |
GIK Acoustics advocates placing speakers against the wall for smaller rooms.
Speaker Placement: How far from the wall should I place my speakers? - (gikacoustics.com)
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Audio Note speakers are designed to be used close to the back wall and the corners of the room; AN-E model will probably fit the bill. The Gradient Revolution is another speaker that, because of its extremely flexible bass module, can be configured to be used close to the back wall as well as the corner of the room. The Cornwalls mentioned above are also very good near the back wall and corners. Speakers by Volti would work there as would several models from DeVore. |
You will lose nothing with Larsen speakers in your application. I'm not speculating like is typical of most comments on this forum; I owned a pair of 8.2s for a couple of years. It typically takes me hours to dial in the speaker/listening position in my rooms that allow it. With the Larsens, about 15 minutes. The living room/kitchen is my wife's realm, speakers must go against the wall. Best sound we've had in that room in the 40 years we've owned this home. Like one reviewer said, almost no one has experienced their speakers with much of the room acoustic issues out of the equation. With that said, any Larsen model will be an eye (ear) opener. |
I had the same problem with regards to placement and $3000 budget recently. I had narrowed my list to Ohm Walsh 2000, Klipsch Forte III, Totem Sky Towers. I was replacing the Totem Sky monitors (w. a sub) which sounded best in my room about 12" from the wall; the manual recommended 6"- 3'. I thought that was impressively close. Below is a link to Totem's manual with placement recommendations for their whole line. Extrapolate from that what you can. https://totemacoustic.com/pdf/manuals/Totem_UserManual.pdf I decided on the Forte III's. I am thrilled that about the same distance from the wall works best for these in my room. By comparison, my old B&W monitors had to be 2-3x the distance away from the walls in the same room. Looking at pictures of how most people have their speakers setup for good sound, It seems like really close to the wall is just not practical for almost all speakers. I just saw Totem has 15 day trial from the factory. I wish they had that back in August. I have only heard Maggies in a store. IMHO, nothing sounds like Maggies. But, I would say the Totem Sky monitors, to my ears, got closer than any other traditional speaker I listened to in terms of detail and size of soundstage. I was really impressed. Of course, every room is different - some people hate Totem (and Klispch) - so maybe I just got lucky. I haven't heard the Sky Towers but they are $2600. Their footprint is much smaller than the Forte. Given my positive experience with the Sky monitors, if the 15 day trial was available back in August, I probably would have tried the Sky Towers first. I love the Forte, but the two are completely different in terms of how they present the music. For some reason, I normally listen and enjoy the Forte at lower SPL than I did the Sky monitor with a sub. Not sure why, but I find I'm liking that. |
Are you lucky enough to have a solid wall to place the speakers against or is it plasterboard? There were several UK designs from a few years back. Just about an Naim speaker before the Ovators, the best being DBLs, but these have bass drivers with surrounds which perish and need replacing after ten years or so. Only DBLs suffer from this. NBLs (which I use) are a bit smaller, with opposed side firing bass drivers and can image way back into the wall with a good signal but need precise placement to give their best, in my room that’s 5.5cm from the wall to the wood so Naim’s own speaker plugs are a must. Next up there are SL2s, which replaced SBLs in their line up and IBLs were the smallest floor standers. All are based on having a solid wall behind and will disappoint against plasterboard. Finding any in the US will be difficult but not impossible. Another is Linn isobariks, something of a cult speaker but I’ve never heard them. Saras were also isobaric loaded but smaller and Kans were the entry level and another cult speaker. No idea if there’s any about across the pond except for Kuma’s Briks and I suspect they’re going nowhere. The current ProAc Tablets will work against a wall and would be a sensible modern choice. The Jern range are cast iron, look a bit unusual, are designed for against a wall and run first order crossovers, there’s a powered sub to match should you feel the need. There are various speakers designed to mount on a wall from the likes of ATC, Focal (maybe) etc. The afore mentioned Larsons look appealing too. Audionote UK are also in the running if you have corners to play with. |
I’m of the opinion that speakers placed directly against a wall are particularly well suited for DSP room correction, As the direct sound and reflected sound is nearly identical, one avoids the weird afflictions that happen to the direct sound as a consequence of correcting the redirected (room) sound. Also, the close proximity affords room lift that can ease some of the extra power demands that room correction can sometimes be hoisted upon the amplification. |
On Wall Speakers could be a possibility ... Totem Tribe III is priced higher than the specified budget $3k but the Tribe III appear to be exceptionally nice! Torrent Drivers - good attention to detail. Tribe III - Totem (totemacoustic.com) I have Sound Stage / Focus / Good Tone / Relative Good Bass. In my listening space the Speakers ( mains / L/R ) are only five to six inches from the wall with the baffles less than 20 inches - Rear Ports. My seating is relatively close though at less than eight feet but not entirely as a near field position. |
