Speakers not caring about walls too much

Not really

 

I’m driving Rega RS1’s with an Elex-R. They don’t mind near wall placement although I have plenty of room so they are normally away from the walls. Revealing and lively combo. Rega bookshelf’s are worth a listen!

 

If a floor stander is out, I would have to say ProAc Tablette 10.

 

Thank you all for suggestions! The tablette is around 16cm deep, so if I place them on the edge of the shelf it would leave 46cm space to the wall. Argon1's are 22cm deep so it would leave 40cm to the wall. Spendor A1's are 19cm deep so it would leave 43cm to the wall. I can move closer but not further. The side wall is more than a meter away. Then there's front-ported aria and the likes. What would you recommend from the ones mentioned right here in this post based on the info? And proarcs are closed again just like atc's and someone here said it is excluded... So, based on my current picks in this post, which one would get more votes?

 

I believe there was a thread on Audiogon perhaps...that discusses the Tablette as an excellent choice for near wall placement. I will have to see if I can locate it. But from the ProAc site:

"The Tablette 10 is an all new design, using a thin walled heavy damped infinite baffle enclosure which is the same as the BBC LS3/5a. This design allows the Tablette 10 to be positioned against the wall, unlike a ported enclosure (not recommended)."

 

I have a pair of KEF Q100s on shelves (IKEA Kallax) and near a wall behind them. I think they sound great.

 

Thank you! As you could see, the distance from wall is around the same, from 43-46 cm... I can maybe try and move the shelf 1 or 2 inches further more. Which of the speakers mentioned above would perform best? Only tablette?

 

You would need an infinite baffle design.

I would recommend ATC SCM7 or a pair of Genelec (active) speakers. Both would suit your situation well.

Do invest in some isolation pads to decouple them from the table you are using - this will pay dividends.

 

On occasion my Tab 10's sound like floor standers.

 

As are the ProAc Tablette 10 speakers...

 

Thank you!!!! Sooo, the combos I'm thinking about, according to the recommended amp specs and around the same budget: tablette 10, maybe even signatures, with 2017 rega brio, spendor A1's with elex-r or atc scm7's or even 11's with... Something of monstrous power as they say. Tubes for tablettes are out of budget unfortunately and especially I wanted integrated phono for the first years... Which combo would be the best?

 

Do you have any dealers near you that carry any of these items to demo?

 

I'm using a pair of Wharfedale Denton speakers - with rear ports! - fairly close to a wall. Only location I have given the layout of my house (mid-century, no basement). And yet it works. The 5" woofers are augmented by the rear wall but luckily in my case it fleshes out the bottom end without sounding bloated or sloppy.

 

As I said in the beginning of the thread, or maybe in my previous one (sorry if I forgot to add) I'm just researching early, I'll be buying next spring I guess, I'll be visiting relatives in the UK and hope to get at least part of the setup there, and I also visit Germany and Czechia by car quite often so might search there too. And in my country there are dealers at least for the rega and spendor, but I wanted to try and buy with vat return, if it's impossible I'll search in all the possible places! As for listen I'll try here what I can find

 

Consider a pair of Guru Juniors (Guru being a Swedish company). Designed for wall placement.

Earlier suggestion of Proac Tablette 10s is good, too. No issues right up against the wall.

 

To get this solution working you will need to put the previous no doubt well intended advice to one side and approach the challenge for another angle.

With an open mind and some familiar music on your person trundle down to a shop that sells professional audio equipment.
Have a look at and audition any monitors that come with (active) room correction. (Genelec 83 series for example)
Be prepared for your jaw to hit the floor - you will hear music the way it is mixed - potentially clean and clear - the room interactions are minimised - if the recording is not fatiguing you will listen for hours.
Please be aware you may come to regard the consumer " Man Jewelry" audio equipment in a different way - music for your dollar pro audio typically beats consumer audio in a ration of about 6 to 1.


Personally my house sucks in 75 - 110 hz bass.
Over time I have auditioned in my home over 60 amps and more than 40 pairs of speakers. Ended up with a pair of Emerald Physics CS2s, with their room correction and 2 x 500w plus amps the bass was sorted. Unfortunately the CS2s were unexpectedly removed and the now monetarily constrained journey to get a decent sound in my room commenced again.
Currently I am content to use Genelec 8351 as one of my main listening speaker systems. The Genelecs are placed about 40mm (Less than 1") from the walls. The on board room correction flattens the wall reinforced bass.

With room correction you can tweak the sound to your liking and will learn a lot about how your room reacts to speaker placement. Shift the speakers 2mm (1/8") and the measured response may change significantly.
In this case the Genelecs are flat to 21 hz left and 22 hz right

 

The SCM7 power-hungry reputation, whilst true, is somewhat overstated.

Genelec worth considering but I would only recommend relying on EQ as a last resort if your in-room response is really rather aberrant.

 

You should take a look into anything with a wide dispersion waveguide. If your budget permits it, JBL Professional M2, JBL Synthesis 4367, or even an older Synthesis speaker like the 4365, S3900, S4700, or vintage JBL like 4344 could fit the bill. The lattermost does not have the waveguide but I have heard it work wonderfully in small 10x12 rooms.

Do not write off JBL as not being an "audiophile" brand, that would be your first and last mistake.