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"Bookshelf" speakers designed to be placed near the wall behind them?

I'm giving up my beloved (14-year love affair) Sonus Faber Cremonas in order to reclaim valuable floor space in the living room.  Currently they are placed on the floor in front of the fireplace & hearth - our new home has pretty much everything we wanted, *except* an audio-friendly layout in the living room.

My plan is to put a pair of smaller speakers up on the hearth on either side of the fireplace.  Probably will need custom stands to get the tweeters near ear level.  The hearth is 13.5" above the floor and is about 19" deep.

My first candidate was the Wilson Audio Duettes, a speaker explicitly designed for placement in close proximity to the wall behind them, *until* I saw their price - $22k.  I'm sure they're spectacular speakers, but that's well above my retired-guy budget.  I'd like to stay at $5k or under.  So I started looking at bookshelf speakers that are either sealed-box or front-ported ...

And I came across the Aerial 5T - a $4k speaker with a 1" woven ring-dome tweeter, a 6.7" papyrus-blend woofer and a front slot-shaped port.  *And* it's specifically designed to be placed from 2" to 24" from walls.  So that's my current front-runner.

But I'd be interested to hear others' recommendations - I certainly haven't looked at all the possibilities that are out there.  So let me know your thoughts!

Thanks
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herb19808
9 posts
 
I think the Proac Tablette 10 is supposed to work well when placed near a wall.
richpinto
11 posts
 
Have you considered anything from KEF? Their reference 1 has a tunable port in the back that might alleviate any near-to-wall issues. 

I have LS50s for my office/desktop setup, and I have to say their driver arrangement is exceptional for near field/midfield listening (which you mention is also something you are considering) 
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mbo OP
9 posts
 
Again, many thanks for all the beautifully informed responses!

I now have a short list of three candidates (in descending order of WAF ;^):

Audio Note AN-K se
Aerial 5T
ATC SMC19 v2

Recent suggestions have inspired more research, so the short list may be lengthening:

@yogiboy , @dekay and @kahlenz - I will give Gene Rubin a call.  I know he carries Harbeth and I think maybe Spendor as well.   He's probably the first place I will visit based on proximity, assuming he'll have some suggestions that interest me.

@tomic601 - Yup, i've spent more than I should have from the audio budget at the Hitching Post!  Not familiar with the Sea Chest though, where is that?

@mountainsong - Thanks for pointing out that Triangle offer front-ported monitors.  Those Duettos in the Magellan line look great on paper.  They'll join the short list once I can verify they're priced close to budget.

@ptrck887 - I had forgotten about the Auditors!  That might be a good answer (but I'll bet they're rear-ported).  I often watch movies using my floorstanding Cremonas as a 2-channel AV system.  They throw images from wall to wall - beautiful!  Where are you located?  We might could work something out.  Is there a way to send a private message to a fellow forum member?

@herb19808 - Proac is another great suggestion.  It's very possible they make something that would suit me.  Will check them out - I think there's a dealer in San Jose ...

Thanks to everyone for the input - this has been very helpful!  I guess I better get off my butt and get my Cremonas listed ...
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tomic601
12,736 posts
 
mbo The Sea Chest is in Cambria
on my top twenty global list and I have more frequent flyer miles than brain cells.....
loomisjohnson
1,901 posts
 
i've frequently reccomended the rega rs1 (current model is the rx1, i think), which is absolutely impervious to placement and a great value. the step up from there would be the paradigm signature, which worked really well near-wall.
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