2. home-theater
  3. 140491-95768

Side Speakers with Limitations

I have a home surround/theater system.  My front left and right speakers are JBL 4367s.  I temporarily am using some very old B&W DM17 limited speakers for the side speakers as these meshed better with the JBLs then my KEF Reference 1s which do much better fronting my stereo system.   My room is approximately 13' x 13'.  The side speakers are each about 6 1/2 feet from the listening area.  It is my understanding that my B&Ws were meant to be a small monitor in tight locations (near field) which is why they likely work better than the KEF.  I would like to upgrade the B&Ws to 805d3, but my wife does not like the look of the tweeter on the top.  She says it looks like something that would be used in another way, other than musical pleasure.  Anyway, I am looking for suggestions for another side speaker.  Here are the requirements: (1) the sound quality and imaging must work well in tight room constraints; (2) it must mesh well with the JBLs in front and likely JBL SCL-3s (ceiling speakers) in the rear; and (3) one of the speakers is likely to go into a built in bookshelf so it must function well being close to a wall in a bookshelf.  Some possible speakers that I thought might work include Raidho XT-1; Harbeth P3ESR; and ProAc Tablette 10 Signature.  Any suggestions and reasons for the suggestions would be very helpful especially if you have actually heard and lived with the suggested speakers.  
128x128brian1963

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auxinput
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I'm not sure that Monitor Audio would be a good match with those JBL 4367.  The Monitor Audio are very bright and exacting (similar to the KEF in a way).  The JBL are a deep horn loaded speaker.  I can see how the older B&W DM17 was a pretty good match because it also was a warmer and fuller sounding speaker.

There can be several models of speakers that may sound close to your JBL 4367.  One that comes to my mind is the PSB Imagine series.  It's a warmer sounding speaker similar to your JBL and the "imagine" series comes in several price levels.  I think it will sound more natural and with better resolution than your B&W DM17, but still have that warm/full sound that would match well with the JBL.  I'm sure there are other options.  I almost put forth the idea of a Klipsch Forte or Heresey speaker, but I suspect those are too large for what you are looking for.
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