Speaker rec for difficult placement $1,000


Hi Folks,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I could use a recommendation for a floor stander in a difficult room. The room itself is roughly 12x15 feet with two large openings to a foyer and dining room. The speakers will need to be close to the long wall with slightly greater distance between the speakers (9') than to the listening position (7'). A relatively narrow footprint (ie 12") would also be good.

The current speakers are a pair of Klipsch KSF 10.5's. They are ok at best, problem is they image like crap. I hear two separate speakers w/ little soundstage between the two.

As for sound, I'm not a real audiophile, not sure what I really want, I'm experimenting. I have Vandy 2CE's in another room. I like them quite well but I'm not opposed to another sound altogether for this room. I guess ideally I'd like something relatively easy to power.

Thanks.
floosh
Yes, I'm very curious to hear them.

I should also have mentioned, I'm fine with used speakers, so speakers that run more than $1,000 new can also be considered.
You might consider a used pair of Tekton design Lore's.Or a new pair of Mini Lore's. Very good speaker w/front porting.
Easy placement.
Do the Vandies sound good in that room in the same location? If they don't, its most likely the room, not the speakers.

I'm not saying there's no reason to change the speakers, just suggesting to make sure it's the speakers before you start throwing money at something that's not possible to improve on significantly. Some speakers certainly image and soundstage better than others, however I've personally found a lot of that is due to the room and placement within it.

If you want smaller speakers that image and soundstage all over the place (provided they're in the right place), check out the Totem Arro. They need a bit of space behind them, but I think they're relatively forgiving of placement.

They do however need stable power. Not an enormous amount of watts, but an amp that can handle lower impedences without straining.
Zu Audio Essences, Omens, Superfly... They do well near the wall, ported at the bottom, and the do well widely separated.