Usher 6371 or 6381? Coffee table blocks woofer?

If the frequency range of the 6381 extends above, say 200hz, it 'could' effect the soundstage, however most of the soundstaging issues are dependant on good mid-range and high frequency reproduction as heard in the sweet spot. Its the high frequency overtones that really are most important, both positively and negatively (in the case of 1st reflections).

What might occur when you block the path of the low frequencies is you could change the tonal response of the speaker's bass response a tad. I'd be more concerned with the possible differences with the overall tonal response in your room between the two speakers than I would be concerned about soundstaging issues. JMHO YMMV.

the crossovers of the 6381 are 290 hz. and 2.57 khz.

Put coffe table on vibrapods.

move the table

I'm a newbie here so I can't tell if you're joking when you say to put the coffee table on vibrapods. I don't know what that is, but I'll Google it.

I cannot move the coffee table though, that is out of the question. I am looking to make the most of these speakers, it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect though.

Toysnob, Relax, he's kidding. He's been to to many concerts and now he losing more than his hearing.

Newbee makes a good point regarding the way the two speakers will respond in-room.

Having owned both the 6381 and now the 6371's..I found that my room was better suited for the 71's.

The 81 is a very good speaker, but requires a fairly large room to properly place them. In my 19x22x8 room, and at a rather near field of 10 ft., they seemed to overwhelm the room with bass, and I used a variety of different SS and tube designs and varied sources. Additionally, the lower 8" driver didn't seem to seamlessly blend at that distance.

the 6371 to my ears is a more seamless and coherent sound that has a tighter bass presentation, without sacrificing the deep bass.

I think if your room is a medium size or what you would not concider "large" in space..you may be better off with the 71's performance.

You will want to bring them out from the front wall a minimum of 3-4 ft if you have the room to do so. A modest toe-in will give great imaging and a fuller, textural body to the mids and lower mids.

If you can't move the coffee table as you mentioned, it will not help eithers speakers performance of course, but Id look at room size and placement first in deciding on which model to use.

I don't have the room to bring these out 3-4ft from the wall, I need them as far up against the wall as their stands will allow.

Is that bad for their performance?

"Is that bad for their performance?"

Usually yes. In this location you will most often get boomy bass and a very flat sound stage effect. If you must put speakers very close to a rear wall I would suggest that you consider smaller monitor types which can use the bass reinforcement provided by the wall.

Yes....due to the rear port, you will likely have bass boom so close to the wall. I experimented placing the Ushers in many different positions. To really get the best from them you want to be away from the wall. In my room, I needed at least 27" from the front wall to the rear of the speaker,( 32" is optimal for me) otherwise the upper bass is excessive and the soundstage and center image collapses and becomes rather compressed or flat. All because of wall reienforcement.Like most good speakers, the Ushers will do best further out into the room.

A smaller stand mounted monitor can have suprisingly good bass and may be a better choice due to your constraints...Look for a monitor with front ports as opposed to rear or a sealed enclosure type if close wall placement is a must.- Ken

I love my B.E.20,s with 4 N,H,T 12 inch subs. But its a pain when your house has long stairs and you need to shift

Paul Klipch, must have been a loony, I had a pair of his corner horns for 15 years and had them pushed hard up into the corners. I enjoyed great sounds for all those years,and regretted selling them.The Theil 3.6,s were always to bright and I found the Usher B.E. 20,s much better, I coupled them to 2 N.H.T 12 inch x 2 subs,even though Usher warns that the B E,s can overload with bass. A couple of bass traps in the corners can do wonders if bass gets too much, but yes 2 to 3 feet from rear wall and slight toe in is good advice. Use the torch method to find the sweet spots.