Small dedicated listening rooms

I'd go with something like the Harbeth P3esr.  They are sealed, sound great at low volumes, work well in the near field, and can be paired with a sub if you want more bass.  The new Spendor A1 is similar and has gotten good reviews (but I haven't heard it so can't comment).  The Harbeth 30.1/30.2 is bigger but only goes down to about 50hz.  It's front-ported, so that would help with having them closer to walls.  For nearfield listening, I don't imagine you'd do too much better than the appropriately sized Harbeth. 

Thanks. Going to hear some Harbeth’s and some Sonus Faber in the next week or so. Will be seeking out the other suggestions as well. Thanks for the input.

" Potentially downsizing from a 17’ x 22’ room to a 8’6 x 10’ room. "
A nice pair of Sennheiser HD800S is what you need.

Closet indeed. Don't waste your time and $$$ trying to shoehorn a high end system in there. Do what has been proposed and invest in a very nice headphone rig. 15k wil go a long way in this situation.

Oz

I would consider Omega speakers and a quality set amp, perhaps even  LTA microzotl, in a very near field setup. Save you lots of dough too.