Speakers Distance from Wall

@Johnnyb53 thank you for your thoughtful reply. I've been thinking that possibly over the long run I'd end up with two pairs of speakers, one set directional and the other non directional as you've described. I've had DefTechs in the past which I enjoyhed (7001SC, then I had to move into a small apartment and sold them) and thought about buying another pair when I got into this house, but thought I would also get suggestions on this forum. How do you feel Axiom, or even Mirage, compare to Definitives?

05-29-14: Philtangerine
... How do you feel Axiom, or even Mirage, compare to Definitives?

As I mentioned, I have owned and still own several Mirage speakers. Last fall I was on a speaker quest and so listened to quite a few, including MartinLogan Motion 40, Sonus Fabere Venere 2.5, GoldenEar Triton Seven, Magneplanar 1.7 (which I bought), and Phase Technology bipolar towers. Of those speakers (and of the Mirages I already had at home), the Phase Techs--while sounding pleasant on their own--did not have anywhere near the resolution of the other speakers mentioned.

Their bipolars never impressed me the same way the Mirages did--and still do--as my 1998 M5si's anchor my HT rig which gets used every day.

Sounds a lot like my room, a study in compromises.

I used to have a pair of Mirage M7si speakers. Liked them well enough, but then fell into a pair of legacy Magnepan 2.2/R, then upgraded those to Magnepan 3.7, which I'm running now.

Both of the Maggies are more than 4' from the side walls; about 4' to the back wall (I brought them as forward as my room allows.) About 8' between them. As can be typical with Maggies, the listening position is rather narrow, so putting the tweeters on the outside helps to widen the stage a bit.

@Rhanson739 -- good to know, thanks for the recommendation. Do you think my 200W per channel Adcom is sufficient for the 3.7s. Do you run a sub with yours?

When Philtangerine first posted, I immediately thought of Maggie 3.7s plus a sub or two, but it was above his stated budget. 1.7s plus subs would fit the budget, but w/o knowing his listening preferences, wasn't sure if they'd be big enough.

I listen to 1.7s plus subs in a 15x18 LR with 15' vaulted ceiling and the whole thing projects out onto a near wall-less open architecture. It fills the space just fine, even for big band or large scale orchestra, but I don't listen to much head-bangin' rock.

To answer the question, a 200 wpc Adcom should do fine with the 3.7s. Maggie's new x.7s series seems to be more amp-friendly than the older models.

And of course Maggies thrive with lots of space around them. I sure love mine.