Is it possible to have Good Imaging close to wall


I keep looking for the best speakers to stand flush against the front wall and end up looking at the usual suspects: North Creek Kitty Kat Revelators, Allisons (now old), Von Schweikert VR-35, NHT Classic 4s, Audio Note AN/K, and other sealed or front ported speakers. But I have never understood how, even though the bass is controlled, they can defy the law of physics and image as well as, say, my great actually owned other speakers, Joseph Audio Pulsars, far out in the room? Is it physically possible for these flush mounted speakers to image as well?
springbok10
Quite a stimulating discussion.

Back to the recommendation:
http://www.larsenhifi.com/en/historien.htm
Larsen 8 is made to be placed against the wall.

http://www.teenageengineering.com/od-11 (don't know if these are available)

I had looked at these researching omni speakers.

P.s no affiliation to either!

Hope it helps?
Well somehow my last post must have gotten lost in cyberspace....

Bedotes, congrats on the Larsen purchase, I hope that these will continue to make great music for you for many years to come! I would love to get a listen to the 6 and 8's, someday I am sure.

I would love to know more about your electronics that you are using with your Larsen as well, and also maybe a bit of detail on your room and how the Larsens are spaced with relation to your listening position.

I find with my Model 4's, they can be spaced fairly far apart, mine are about 11' center of each speaker, and my listening position is about 7-8' from the front plane of the speakers, although the nice part is, there isn't a real sweet spot with them, and that is what I like.

I have never gotten a chance to listen to the "real" Ohm Walsh, the A or F, my experiences with the Walsh line have all been mainly the CLS versions and a few of their box speakers as well. I did have some comparisons with the Ohm 3000 and my Larsens, I would have to say they are very similar overall, more so than not, but I felt as if the Larsen was a more detailed speaker and had more clarity in the upper mids and treble region. Probably would say the Ohm went a bit deeper in the bass end, but not by much.

The Ohm Walsh 4000/5000 I would think would be a great comparison to make with the Larsen Model 8, and price wise, a fairly close match. Would be interesting indeed! I certainly would like to see how these two would compare bass-wise to each other.

While the current Walsh series can be sited fairly close to the wall, this is one thing I find very nice about the Larsen, it gets tucked right up to the wall as close as you can get it, and on you go. Nice to have a bit of floor space back and still retain very good depth of image etc. Just not a lot of fuss with regards to setup in general.

Again, good to see some comments around omni-types of speakers here, and while Ohm has a good deal of information in the infamous MWT thread, good to see the Larsen making an appearance too. I hope that it continues to get some good exposure as they are very good transducers! Tim
Optimal setup for OHM and Larsen is bound to be different. Larsen is clearly designed to go right up against the wall for best results, which is a very useful thing for many. OHM Walsh can go close maybe just a couple feet in most cases, but not flush, better in this regard than 100% omnis, like original OHM Walsh model F, or modern mbl for example.

I find in most cases I tend to like my Walsh 5S3 and 100s both out at least two feet, probably more from the wall. What works best will vary by room acoustics and user goals.
Small Larsen's might be perfect for my wife's 12X12, vaulted ceiling, acoustic nightmare sunroom.

It's my wife's room, so my options in there are limited.

I have various speakers I have used in there that I can get to work to various degree but none to-date hit the bulls-eye perfectly.

OHM 100S3s are over kill and bass resonances are hard to get under control. I can't move these out into the room to help tame bass and improve soundstage and imaging in there like I can in other rooms.

Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkII monitors have similar issues but to a lesser extent.

I use my small Triangle Titus XS on low stands 1" off the floor currently and find this to be a pretty good fit, but something a bit larger might still be nice if bass levels can be managed with speakers flush against the wall.

Not a big deal for me but I might have to look into that at some point.
Mapman you might look at the High Emotion Audio if space is a concern. The tweeter is very fast and neutral, as well as nearly omni-directional. You can place them very close to the rear wall- 1.5 to 2 feet works fine.

[ur]http://www.highemotionaudio.com/products[/url]