Real "Bookshelf" speaker 4 bookshelf or wall-mount

Does putting "bookshelf" speakers actually on a bookshelf necessarily kill everything a high quality speaker has to offer, or is that only true for bookshelf speakers that arn't really designed for bookshelf or next to the wall applications? It seems to me that there are many instances where the only place to put a speaker is on a shelf or on the wall. Have high end speaker manufacturers totally ignored this marget segment, or is it impossible to design for (which doesn't seem likely)? The Revel M20's mentioned apparently have a "External Placement Compensation Control for optimizing the loudspeaker’s response for flush-mount, bookshelf, or stand-mount applications". So it seems at least Revel have thought about it. Are they alone?

Lotusm50:

The worst scenario ... putting a speaker on a shelf inside a bookcase or wall unit or even on top of an armoire, for that matter, will pretty much kill the soundstage of the speaker. Sealed/acoustic suspension speakers will work out better than bass reflex speakers (whether you plug the ports or not) ... but the placement is very far from ideal. I have this situation today with two of my systems. The sound is still good and enjoyable... but I am not taking full advantage of all that the speaker has to offer.

An open shelf makes for a somewhat better situation, but it is still a real challenge for the loudspeaker. Also, most shelves are not at a proper height for "sweet spot" or "critical" listening ... they are usually higher.

Granted this is a real world problem for bedroom or office systems ... but it is not a market segment that many manufacturers have actively pursued. I can name some speakers that may work ... but not many speakers. Granted most audiophile speakers will sound good ... but not great in these types of set-ups. .

I would not spend major dollars. I would still keep with a sealed box design (think NHT SB 2 or SB 3) or possibly, a front ported speaker design. Some of the Gallo speakers (single & double) may work out really well here. They are at least designed for this type of duty.

Good luck, Rich

Thanks Rich, you're dead on. I just didn't have the time, at the time, to go into it. peace, warren

I don't beleive Lotusm50 or I am taling about placing a spekaer inside a bookcase or on top of an armoire, although I can see the practicality of that placement in many instances.

Rather, I am talking about either directly mounting the speaker to the wall (with either dedicated or generic mounts to do this), or placing the speaker on a dedicated shelf not much bigger than the speaker (and firmly mounted to the wall and at a proper height).

The prognosis, based on your assessments appears dire. Maybe I should stick to the Mirage Omnistats. Simply mounted to the wall (masonary mounting) as per Mirage's instructions, I have a pretty impressive soundstage and imaging. The soundstage goes well outside the bounds of the speaker positions, and there is very well-defined depth. I definately have images out in front of speakers, and sound that seems to come from deep in the wall. Seperation of sounds is distinct, and they all seem to have their own body or volume. I'm sure some of the crossover mods have helped, as has the Kora amp, in creating this. Maybe Mirage's basic design of the Omnistat nails the challenge of how to make a wall-mounted speaker perform. Instead of looking at a set of Revel M20's or similar monitors, perhaps I should just continue to tweak the Onmistats to continue to refine the sound (hmm, a pair of Alpha Core air core foil Inductors might do nicely)...

Any other thoughts on wall-mounted sound quality?
Many thanks.

Supposedly the Infinity Intermezzo 2.6 has a setting for wall-mount. Not sure, but worth looking into. Stereophile Class A and adjustable freq response for room fit.