speakers for wall bookcase

I live in an apartment and two of my systems (2 channel HT and Bedroom) have "speakers on shelf" placement. You will need to purchase either acoustic suspension/ sealed box speakers or front ported speakers. With that said, I have done very well with NHT SB2 (discontinued and replaced by the Classic 2). If you can find a pair of NHT SB2's or SB3's they are well worth it and way more than competent. The new NHT Classic 2's and 3's are a bit pricier and slightly better performers.

If you were to go the NHT route, I would suggest pairing them with a NAD C320BEE integrated amplifier ($400 list) and a Music Hall MMF A25 CD player ($540). Excellent synergy and stunning sound for the price (all in about $1500 list). I had this combination for a few years (before upgrading) and was very pleased.

If you want to go tubes, another combination (currently owned and in play) is the Prima Luna Prologue 2 and Omega Super 3 loudspeakers. Paired with the same Music Hall CD player, the system has great synergy and sound for about $2500.

If you are tempted to go with a receiver, Outlaw Audio has just released a gem of a two channel receiver (the RR2150). I now have the Outlaw paired with the NHT's and I like it. I have not had the Outlaw long enough to say that it is better than the NAD C320BEE ... but it is at least pretty good for the cash.

Regards, Rich

Actually putting bookshelf speakers on a bookshelf.
Interesting concept.

Hi -

Had a similar requirement with a real focus on minimum size for a boat - ended up with NSM speakers - check for the sales and specials:

http://www.nsmaudio.com/brochures/10sbroc.html

Really tremendous for the size and the upaginst the wall in the corner placement only helps the bass.

As noted, front ported or acoustic suspension is the must. Also on my shortlist were the Spendor S3/5 (the classsic), NHT 2 and 3, and also the Epo 3 and 5. Certainly the Spendor and the NSM are less then super efficient so they need a bit of grunt to get them going.

If space is at a premium and tubes is the deal, go with one of the Chinese integrateds - Sophia, Cayin etc. Just be mindful of the heat.

And of course if you really want to downsize, its time to rip all your CDs to a hard drive, and get a SLIM Devices Squeezebox - pop for a mod from Bolder or RedWine Audio - and skip the whole CD/DAC/SPDIF chain entirely plus make more room in your bookshelves by storing the CDs because you will never need them again except as back-ups.

http://www.slimdevices.com/

Also lots on the whole hard drive PC thing here:

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/bbs.html

My solution was this: Von Schweikert VR-1 + Creek 5350 SE + Njoe Tjoeb 4000 with upsampler. All about 12 inches deep, the speakers sound great, are not rear-ported, and overall a great match. Good luck.

The VR1s are great - I have them and love them. But mine at least do have a hole in the back - which I have always assumed is a port. Though it does not show up in their literature. Worth reviewing the placement directions here:

http://www.vonschweikert.com/manuals/manual_vr_1.pdf

They are certainly readily available - easy to buy and sell - and quite efficient which is a plus with tubes