"I understand the considerations in regards to interior decoration, but
if you’re really into sound reproduction let your speakers be a main
priority in the allotted space they’re given - with the adherence to
form-follows-function as far as it goes, and not vice versa. As it often
happens, to my eyes at least, the really interesting physical shape of
speakers comes via an uninhibited accordance with their function as
dictated by physics. Even a much smaller, typical slender square box
speaker can be seen as an outright nuisance in a home setting because
it’s just that: a tall, rectangular square box oftentimes finished in a
rather sterile manner, and one that’s placed well into the room, at
that." Precisely right and much of the speaker world, no let me restate this to 95% of the "high end" speaker world is form before function and then trying to make them to work well within the physical parameters of the pretty, avant-garde or techno-artisto box. OP wants pretty and decent sound which I can understand is the choice of most but when I close my eyes I want to pretend I am truly in one of the best seats in the live performance. I want spectacular sound and looks just don't matter.