The dementions, and ceiling of your room are close to mine. I went from Acoustic Zen to Usher BE 718's primarily becasue of the WAF. Both the Usher's and Acoustic Zen's are front ported. I found both to tolerate various placement restrictions pretty well. Mine are on the long wall with the fronts being about 30" out from the back wall (another WAF issue). Both are well below your price point. If I were you I'd take a hard look at the Acoustic Zen's.
Low Height Speaker with no rear port....help?
I am looking for a set of speakers to fit a few needs:
1. maintain a height ~4 feet or lower - wife acceptance requirment
2. preferably front ported - secondary to back walls that vary by 2 feet in depth (large room approximately 25x25 with a large vaulted ceiling extending into the second floor of the home). There is also a fireplace in between the speakers, so the speakers must perform well with various placement tolerance in the room
Price range is 3K to 10K
1. maintain a height ~4 feet or lower - wife acceptance requirment
2. preferably front ported - secondary to back walls that vary by 2 feet in depth (large room approximately 25x25 with a large vaulted ceiling extending into the second floor of the home). There is also a fireplace in between the speakers, so the speakers must perform well with various placement tolerance in the room
Price range is 3K to 10K