What speaker could safely be ordered without hearing it first?

"looking at the upstairs system, this question is more for my downstairs."

Yes, now I see. Didn't display 1 look.

I'd fine tune room 1st.

Those little black thingies probably aren't doing anything.

 Side walls/ceiling  could be addressed for diffusion/damping issues  and as mentioned-loose the table.

Multiple subs needed for real low end performance.

All that for serious audiophool fun.

If you're gonna drop some serious cash with only reading reviews/forums, then buy from ae legit stablisment with a return policy, and don't complain about a restock/shipping charges.

@stuartk - I dunno - some folks, like me, wouldn't want to deal with returning big floorstanding speakers, returns or no returns.. 

I hear ya. The speakers I am interested in will weigh 500lbs total in the flight cases and I would need to take them down a flight of stairs.

If, the dealer would accept returns, (questionable) I would have to bring them back up the flight of stairs. (gulp) I am 70 with a bad knee... and a lazy son-in-law.

I think I am talking myself out of this endeavor.

ozzy

How about this:

(a) read reviews and forum posts to try to get a ballpark idea

(b) search for top candidates used; places like the The Music Room have slightly higher prices but also a two-week trial period.

(c) If you don't like them after a time, re-sell for closer to what you would have paid retail.