Starting from scratch in a large room

@audiokinesis,

This post may read a bit differently from some of the above thread.  If your wooden countertop is situated along the 18 ft. wall, then your situation may not be nearly so dire.

If you can get say, 8-12 ft. of centered speaker separation and move your 13 ft listening position a bit closer, you may be okay.

Speaker selection and positioning will be key.   Speaker plane should be positioned at or slightly beyond the edge of the cabinet.  Flexibility for at least some tow-in will help.

Importantly, you should avoid using any open port rear-firing speakers.  Unfortunately, this may rule out your otherwise excellent choice of the KEF R3. However, a baffled rear port will allow close-wall placement.

I can speak to you with some confidence because my room is very similar, and over the course of time I’ve tried most permutations.  With some effort, You can set up a very effective near- and mid- field listening experience.  Try to think of your room as  say, 18 x 20, just without a back wall.  Listening in the back section may not be highly resolved stereo, but you can still rock out to good hifi sounds.

As for components, in lieu of my first wish to suggest Ayre Acoustics EX-8 2.0, ($8000) I think I instead have another strong recommendation for you to consider: 

Buchardt Audio S400 Mark II speakers ($2100), (amazing speakers, good for near wall) and 

Buchardt Audio I150 all-in-one integrated amplifier ($2000) minus $500 if bought with the speakers.  Check out the specifications and great reviews.

Buchardt will ship you the components to try out for 4 weeks.  100 bucks no hassle return. Then, for around $5k, some cables and possibly a sub or two, you might just be well on your way.  Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

 

@sandstone expensive cables at this point will be a total waste

@deertrail7 When you come to these forums and ask posters what to do, you are going to get all the biases of each poster. I would suggest doing research including, as a poster above suggested, googling good speakers against the wall. Then I would suggest finding speakers and equipment that you can try out and return if you don't like them. As merely suggestions, I went to an audio show a few months ago with just bookshelf speakers and the standouts, to me, were the Buchardt Audio S400 Mark II, the KEF R3s, the Totem Sky and the Philharmonic BMR Monitor. I don't know how they do on a bookshelf. With your budget, you could probably go way up the chain on these or other brands. I recall one YouTube reviewer raving about the Totem Element Fire. Some of these bookshelf speakers will get you down to 30 Hz and probably move some air. Then when you find your speaker you are going to have to match it with amp/integrated or preamp or mono blocks. Solid state or tube? So many decisions.

The OP’s question is is NOT about speakers, it is "starting from scratch in a large room and the challenge is book shelf speakers must be used.

So, to start from scratch:

1) Get a room kit from Auralex or Sonitususa.com to treat the room. Call them if you need help choosing one.

2) Select a pair of active speakers that come with a microphone and dsp. If the Paradigms PW600 are too small look at Dynaudio Focus.

3) Measure and adjust until you get a flat frequency response (see the chart in my system profile for an example)

4) Enjoy

If you are getting passive speakers fine. Just get an amp that has room correction software from Anthem, Martin Logan, NAD, etc.

If you can't get a flat frequency response I don't see why you would want to spend a lot of money on your system.

 

I have not read every response to your question, but wanted to pass along a more general perspective for you.

First, you have to recognize that Audiogon includes a lot of the audiophile "elites" that simply think about stereo sound in ways that most of us simply cannot replicate or even appreciate in many cases.  I would equate it to someone looking for a sports car and having a Camaro/Mustang budget while getting advice from hyper-car owners that do their own maintenance.  I'm not in any way trying to disparage these members, but think it's important to understand the wide range of advice you are going to get.

My system in total is worth less than some members have spend on a single power cord, yet I only have one friend that has a stere setup that's similar to mine.  My setup is limited by my small house and family so I know that it could sound much better if I had the ability to optimize the setup.

I find that even with a suboptimal setup it's possible to get sucked into the hobby and appreciate the sound quality.

I wouldn't recommend that you spent an astronomical sum on your setup given your constraints, but a nice set of bookshelf speakers, with a subwoofer, and a solid amplifier would most likely result in a setup that you would appreciate.  

I have a pair of Audioengine A5 speakers in the other room that sound ok, but when I've had them setup next to the TV you can convince yourself that you're listening to my larger speakers.

You might even consider a pair of center channel speakers as they would have more drivers while also not having rear ports in most cases.  When I was look for some speakers for my father-in-law in years past one of the dealers suggested this as an option.

As long as you get a quality set of speakers and a nice amplifier you'll be able to appreciate the more realistic sound even when using them for background music.