Small speakers...big sound??

At 18" from the wall I suspect most book shelf speakers will be OK. I've run my era D5's there with no notable bass issues and my d4's are closer than that now. So I guess I would say than yes they should be OK. Mind I have never hears any of the other speakers on your list or mentioned in the responses above. Take that back. I have heard several Dynaudio and I respect that brand.

If you're looking for small speakers with big sound, check out the technological marvel, Mark&Daniel Maximus Monitors. They have a huge sound. In my listening room, my trusty RadioShack db meter shows them to be flat down to 31.5cps, and they image very nicely.They are incredible for stand mounted speakers. The only caveats are that they are only 85db efficient and the impedance can dip to 2.8 ohm at certain points, so they require a powerful amp. Also, they need a minimum of 150sq ft listening room, according to the disributor.

If you're looking for small speakers with big sound, check out Mark&Daniel Maximus Monitors. They have a huge sound. In my listening room, my trusty RadioShack db meter shows them to be flat down to 31.5cps, and they image very nicely.They are incredible for stand mounted speakers. The only caveats are that they are only 85db efficient and the impedance can dip to 2.8 ohm at certain points, so they require a powerful amp. Also, they need a minimum of 150sq ft listening room, according to the disributor.

I heard a pair of M&D speakers, I believe they were the sapphires. I was very impressed with how much bass they put out for their size. First time I heard something so small go so low. Sounded very good.

My favourite small speaker is the Paradigm Atom. I have owned and listened to dozens of towers and bookshelf speakers and the Paradigm Atom v.3 or v.4 is my favourite speaker.

I have owned the v.6 but feel the v.3 and v.4 sound better. Even A-B'd them with Paradigm Studio 10 v.5 speakers and they were comparable except for the bass and build quality. Although the Atoms have an excellent overall audiophile sound the only caveat is deep bass and high volume capability. The Paradigm Studio 10 v5 or 20 v5 depending on room size would give you greater volume and bass as well as beautiful cabinets and fantastic build quality.

But going back to the Paradigm Atom v.3 or v.4. I think this is a very special small speakers at 10.5"h * 6.5"w * 8.5"d they play big and reproduce music very very well for a relatively small speaker and low price. If you didn't like them for some reason I'm sure you could turn around and sell them for what you paid. After buying used Paradigm v.3's and liking them so well, knowing that Paradigm no longer makes this Performance Series Atom, I bought another used v.4. Highly recommended!