Does this speaker exist or am I being ridiculous?

I haven't heard it myself, but can vouch for what others say and my own experience with the designer's other products, the Intutive Design Summit speaker. There is a review of it on Audiogon under the user name mdhoover. There is also a review on the Stereo Times website under the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest show coverage, and the same under the Pacific Northwest Audio Society November newsletter for the RMAF show report. I am considering trying out a pair myself. The main problem with any speaker in this price range is that it will be difficult to reproduce the lowest bass in what will almost certainly be a small cabinet and drivers for the modest price. If the speaker is designed to produce the lowest octave of bass there will probably be major problems elsewhere, like low voltage sensitivity and/or poor soundstaging. The best thing would be to get a speaker that does everything else well and hook up a sub that only produces the lowest bass that your main speakers will not make, such as a REL sub.

From Lngbruno "Look into the Minis @ AV123"

I have visited their website several times but read so little mainstream stuff about them (there's not that much here on Agon either) that I have discounted them. The Strata Minis look fabulous and have impressive specs and have some good non-mainstream reviews. Has anyone had any firsthand experience with this company and their speakers?

I have the Minis in my room and I have the Martin Logan Summits, ran by Plinius SA102 amp and Cary 98 preamp. I have heard many speakers, from Vandersteen 5a to Thiel 2.4C to Wilson Sophia/WP7/Maxx2 to Von Schweikert VR4jr. What about the Minis do you need to know? I also wrote a review on the AV123 forum board with regards to the Minis, it's the biggest Mini review thread there.

Joey

Joey - just wondering if you feel they meet the wish list I started the thread with and how you would compare them to some of the great speakers you have mentioned above. I will read your review on the site - perhaps it answers my questions.

Many thanks....

Of course this speaker exists...100's of times over. I think you can find any number of tall slim tower designs with several small woofers to fit the bill...obviously it will need to be ported or double ported to get that bass extension you desire.

Your requirments are pretty much main stream sweet spot; a reasonably priced, good looking, unobtrusive furniture piece with impressive but slightly warm sound.

If you wanted something with dynamics, accuracy and low distortion levels then my answer would be different.

As for 18 inch from the back wall....you will unavoidably get some rear wall comb filtering (quarter wave cancellation) in the bass from any speaker you choose, which means some notes will suck out worse than others (this can be reduced by placing the speakers much further out into the room)