Challenging Speaker Situation


I have a 20' x 20' billiard room. Other than the usual square room concerns, I am looking for the best type of speakers (and their placement) to use when I'm standing and shooting a few racks. I want to get quality sound up at the listening height, but still need the music to fill this relatively large room. I like a well balanced sound quality, and will be listening to mainly jazz and rock. Amplification isn't a concern, as I have a variety from which to choose, one of which would match just about any speaker that I use. Any advice would be appreciated.
_mike
What you probably don't want is anything that needs to be away from the wall to sound good because the speaks would then be in the way. This could be a problem with true omnis in this application in that they typically require some distance from walls to sound their best. Rear ported designs are also probably right out. Front ported designs would be better.

Check out my system and you'll see I use a pair of refurbished Ohm Ls from the 70's (front ported) in my basement with my ping pong table. These sound fabulous for rock and jazz...great party speakers.

You might pick up a similar professionally refurbished pair from Ohm Acoustics (www.ohmspeakers.com) for under $500 which would be a nice score! Even better might be a pair of larger Ohm H's (under $1000) if available and enough floor space is available.
Vienna Schoenberg on-walls would be a good call. I use them in my home theater room. Add a small sub (Velodyne SPL-R subs are being closed out at Audioadvisor.com) and you should be good to go. Short cue sticks help, too.

Marty
Okay. Don't laugh at me. But when it calls for good homogenous dispersion of sound, B&O loudspeaker lenses come to mind. If money is no object, get the Beolab 5s and maybe perch them up a little. Or just get multiple Beolab3s and mount them on the wall while reinforcing the bass with some quality subwoofers.
I put something along the lines of a B&W or Dynaudio stand-mount that fits your budget in each of the four corners then place 2 subs either 1 on each end of the room or one big 1 under the table! The slate won't move, will it?

FUN!