Speakers good for close to wall placement

Larsen gets no love on this site.  They are specifically designed to be jammed up next to the wall behind them.  But not in the corners.  Audio Note for close wall and corner placement.  Search those two brand names on this forum and you'll find more threads discussing same or similar topic to this one.

Vintage Kef References (Theyve got a special external crossover)were designed to be set  against a wall.Linn Isobariks do need a little space but need to have ceiling reflections taken into consideration as they have upward firing mid and tweeter.

Another vote for the Cornwall, preferably the IV version.

Oz

" I’d like to go with tubes for my amp, so higher efficiency would be best. What are your thoughts on Klipsch Cornwalls?"

I would expect the Cornwalls to work very well close to the wall. Their radiation pattern is very well controlled so that interaction with the walls in the midrange and highs would be minimized, and my guess is that their low end would benefit from the boundary reinforcement.

You might also look at Pi Speakers. Designer Wayne Parham does superb design work, and in fact he was one of my teachers. Please don’t be put off by PiSpeakers being an "under the radar" brand, I’ve heard them year after year at the Lone Star Audio Fest and they are consistently either the very best sound at the show or one of the top few, and probably always the very best sound-per-dollar a the show. In my opinion. They are designed with wall proximity in mind, and the 3Pi and 4 Pi use a very low-coloration horn that is custom made to Wayne’s specifications.

I also make horn speakers, some of which are designed to still give you good soundstage depth even with close-to-the-wall placement. But Pi Speakers offers a wider range of models. Imo they are superb.

Duke

any of the Vandersteen from Quatro on up can be tuned to be close to the wall my Quatros are 8 inches off the wall

Enjoy the Music 
Tom