Speaker suggestions for less than ideal accoustics


I live in a lovely timber frame home that works well for our lifestyle but presents challenges when trying to create a good audio listening environment. My great room has a wall of windows, tile floors (radiant heat), a large stone fireplace,28' ceiling peak, open to a loft area and open to the kitchen/dining area. The space is approx 1000 sq ft. I have listened in stores to some nice speakers (JM labs 816s, Def Tech 7004, Paradigm studio 100s, PSB T55,) but I know none of them will sound the same in my great room. Anyone ever faced this challenge and know if certain qualities in speaker designs lend themselves to this? I have learned a lot from this forum and wish there were more places to hear some of the equipment mentioned. BTW,this is for music listening only. Home theatre will have its own dedicated room in the basement where things can be built to suit
timberman
lived in a very large cabin...redwood walls, radiant heat,vaulted ceilings with beams(also redwood....no amount of light at night could make the main room anything but twilight).....several large picture windows with no curtains.....klipsch heresys in the corners could fill the room, and despite the nature of horns(and the glass picture windows)it sounded awfully good. i tried lots of others over a 4 year period, even bose 901's but the heresys did the job. used mac tube gear(more radiant heat)...good luck
I'd kill for a room like yours. (Although you didn't mention the dimentions -- about 30 x 30 or 25 x 40?)

You're in a position (if not vetoed) to "islandize" your whole listening setup to the middle of the room, thus avoiding image-destroying reflections. Then all you need to worry about are echo/reverb, which can be addressed with general sound absorption (rugs/carpets, stuffy furniture, drapes/wall hangings/tapestries, lots of people, etc.) and bass nodes (which should be minimal in a room that size, but you might need some traps.)

The ceiling is too high to cause interference reflections, so only needs sound absorbtion if there's not enough elsewhere.

As for the glass. Well if you have radiant heating, I assume your house is energy efficient. So you have double paned windows. Those are pretty stout, and probably just as stiff as drywall (unless they're huge panes.) So unless they are rattling, I wouldn't worry about them.

But do consider a speaker/listening arrangement that pulls everything into the middle of the room -- you'll be so happy.

By the way, an ideal environment for dipole speakers and dipole subs. You're so lucky!
I can't help but think something like the Tact might help. The Gradients are reputed to be room tuneable.
Can't help but agree with Nsgarch! I would love to have that room to work with...Get something to produce concert levels...Hmmmm...So nice!