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Recommended Speaker Design for Corner / Near-Wall Placement?

Hi all, hoping to learn from your experiences.  My listening space is living room/kitchen (10x15) in a small apartment. Due to kitchen counter, speaker placement is along 7 ft front wall pointing towards living room sofa, with room corner and kitchen counter "corner" as the boundaries. 

Looking for speaker options that can go near wall/corner and perform well.  Have looked into Audio Note, Zu Audio, Klipsch horns, Tribe On-Wall, Ohm Acoustics, etc. Started with Dynaudio bookshelves + dual subs placed on either side of small kitchen table about 5.5' apart. 50/50 music/movies.  I understand I may not get great imaging given my sofa position of 10-12 feet back from speakers 5-6 feet apart, but I can always move closer for listening. Thanks!


edvardmonk
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,658 posts
 

@geoffkait
I own both Harbeth and Spendors and they have no problem placed close to a rear wall.

Spendor A1

Specification. The compact Spendor A1. Perfect for small rooms and ideal for use close to the rear wall. Spendor’s new A-Line loudspeakers prove that you don’t need a big space, or budget, to enjoy dynamic, open and exhilarating sound.

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
@yogiboy I was referring to the LS35a, the speaker you mentioned, that should never be placed close to a room boundary. I had two pairs of LS35a. The reason is LS35a have a hump in mid bass that is accentuated when placed near room boundary. They should be at least 3 feet from room boundaries.
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,658 posts
 
@geoffkait
I was suggesting the modern versions of the LS3/5A. I own the Harbeth P3ESR and The Spendor A1s. Both are placed about a foot from the rear wall of my listening room with great results!
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I doubt those Spendors are copies of the LS35a even though they look like them externally. The LS35a was a specification. The crossover was very complex and looked like an amplifier. At their price the Spendors A1S may look like LS35a but almost certainly aren’t same inside. I have seen Sterling modern versions of LS35a but they’re $2500 or whatever. And they are placed very far from room boundaries like the original LS35a.
larryi
3,979 posts
 
Gradient Revolutions are made to accommodate different speaker locations, particularly those close to walls.  To me, they sound very good.  I like Audio Note speakers in close to the wall locations too (I see you have already looked into that brand).

Rodge827 menioned the Charney Maestro.  I heard their larger model, the Companion in a small room.  It is a serious challenger to almost ANY speaker, regardless of price.  The Companion is somewhat deeper than the Maestro, so it might not be as suited for a near wall setup.  I believe you can get the Maestro with different drivers; the Voxativ is a very nice driver, but, for my taste, the AER drivers offered by Charney are even better (better extension on top).
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