A Very Narrow Listening Room

Brilliant. Thanks to everyone for your help.

I've actually plotted my speaker placement with help from the Cardis site. It's looking like 2.5 ft. from the side walls and 4.25 from the back (approx.). My listening chair for critical listening will be around 5 feet from the speakers. The back wall (behind the speakers) is scheduled to be empty, with the exception of a large 1 inch thick canvas drawing of Beethoven in the middle, and two equipment racks on the floor. There is shelving planned along the left and right walls, beginning about 1 foot away from the speakers. The other end of the room will be used for a work area for cleaning and cataloging vinyl and maybe a loveseat in case anyone visits. I'm planning to allow for room treatment (traps, corner busters, etc.) in my overall budget.

Also in the budget will be money for new equipment. At the moment I'm using a Creek 5350 SE / Totem Model 1 combination. I was thinking of a Unison 140-watt intergrated with Von Schweikert VR4-jr's as a possible combination, if I can tame the low end. Am I way off "bass" here ?

I haven't thought of Quads or electrostats. I used to have a pair of Acoustat Model 1s that I loved! Can I get them far enough apart in my narrow room? For that matter, can I get ANY pair of speakers far enough apart?. I love the Totems but occasionally I listen to music where I feel I'm really missing the bass. I using a Hsu Reserch sub with the Totems, but they never seem to fully intergrate with the Model 1s.

The Excaliber / mono is a thought. Could they sell me just one? Can't quite swing the 325K for the pair, unless someone here could buy the one I'll have left over (kidding of course).

Now for something really different.....

Try moving your speakers closer (yes closer!) to the side walls BUT toe them in so that the axis of the speaker crosses well in front of you. Several thing will occur:
1) You may not find a meaningful change in the bass frequencies assuming you have them well out from the back wall;
2) You will eliminate much of the 1st reflections from the adjacent side wall and can easily tame the residual with minimal treatment;
3) You will change the 1st reflections from the ceiling to some degree, but more importantly you will alter the effect of the 2d reflection (and subsequent reflections) substantially, which can be a good thing;
4)you get to move your listening position further back from the speakers - its possible, depending on your room, to get an 8' speaker spread which should allow a listening position 8 to 9 ft back; and
5)You will get a pretty good stereo image for others when you have guests who will be sitting to your side; and
6) You may get a better, more solid center image.

Just something to think about, it's worked for me on many occasions.

BTW, plotting with the Cardas system is just a good starting point, it ain't the end all, Actually, I did use the Cara program on the Rives site and it pegged my speaker location perfectly, but missed the listening position by a foot. Try it - it even lets you select from different speakers.

Well, there you go. I'm liking that idea. In your opinion, would something like the VR4-jr's work with that arrangement? And I'm headed to the Rives site today. Thanks for your time and tip.

2.5 ft. from the side walls and 4.25 from the back (approx.)

The Cardas golden ratio usually works (when it does) in "normal" rooms (i.e. ones whose dimensions happen to follow the 1:1,618:2,618 sequence).

Your room is narrow, so I suggested you go for sqr of the above. This idea was suggested by C. Hansen at Audio Aysum.
By the Cardas method, the spkrs would probably be too close to one another.

Got it.

The toe-in method sounded great with the Totems in my old room. I believe I can make this puppy work. Thanks!