John - I have no experience with the Walls or the Shorts. However, I have a pair of 2000s as my mains. I lucked out with a used pair of MWTs (not the SE) found here on A-gon at a good price. They make ideal surrounds! I have them placed on two cinder blocks for added hieght. They are along the side walls about 10" behind the listening seats. John Strohbeen suggested I aim the tweeters towards the rear of the room, but I haven't had a chance to do that yet. I still run my old center, a Vandersteen VCC-1. An Ohm center will be purchased as soon as I have the money.
Unlike you, I do have plenty of space behind the listening position, and I also have a pair of Paradigm Atoms on high stands for the surround back channels. As the setup is, I am getting terrific surround on music and films (no hi-rez audio sources, though). I still prefer 2-channel for music (the 2000s are incredible), but the timbre-matching of the 2000s and the MWTs is perfect. I get sounds between the front and rear speakers, above and behind my head, too! Last night, I watched a documentary on DVD. Very little surround information, but there were some subtle surround effects that had me spinning around to look for whatever was making sound behind me, seemingly beyond the side wall of my room!!! I run the 2000s full range, because I have a pair of Vandersteen 2Wqs hooked up to the front channels. The center, surround and back bass is provided by an old Def Tech PF15 fed with a Paradigm X-30 sub controller and a Behringer 1124P parametric EQ to smooth out the response.
The back wall is the worst place for your sofa, from both a 2-channel acoustic and surround sound standpoint. For 2-channel listening, you might want to look into some acoustic diffusing panels for the wall behind your sofa. Try to get the surrounds mounted high up to give some space between your head and the speakers. The good news is that the Ohms require less of this space, IMO, than conventional speakers. As long as you have a decent subwoofer, I think you'll be fine with the Shorts or the Walls. Why not show your S.O. the pics on the Ohm web site and let her pick?
Also, if you haven't yet, please check out the big Ohm thread (Ohm MicroWalsh Talls: Who's Heard Them?). My experience breaking in my 2000s (which I got in October of 2009) is detailed there in a series of posts, so you'll know what to expect, more or less.
Congrats, John. I think you'll love these things! I know I do.
