I listened to these these quite by chance at a show a week or so ago. Never heard of them before but suffice to say, for me they were the most impressive thing I heard at the whole show! I have no affiliation, just calling a spade a spade.
In addition to these I would strong recommend you consider the Dali Minuet SE’s. Look on YouTube for reviews, particularly from the ‘British Audiophile’.
Probably very close to the walls, maybe 12" distance maximum.
Probably a fair bit of reverb in the room.
Rock and jazz fusion.
Open baffle are my go-to speakers for years.
Soundstage, vocals, details.
Likely be 5 to 5.5’ distance for listening.
@AceRimmer that is giving me a good idea of what you might expect but all parameters combined are a tough nut to crack.
5´ is definitely nearfield and if you expect proper soundstage, stable voices and ambience, I would recommend either designated nearfield speakers, 3way with midrange/tweeter close to each other or coaxial design.
If you at the same time expect precise bass when placed very close to the wall (always a good idea with rock and fusion), active studio speakers would be an obvious choice. Not sure if that would be an option for you.
There are some (coaxial) hi-fi options as well but those which I have in mind might not be compatible with the bass situation close to the wall and/or you might end up with limited detail resolution.
So 2 recommendations, both coming in with a big ´but´:
Wharfedale Linton 85th (pretty chunky for a nearfield speaker and you might have to invest time into properly placing and vertically tilting it)
Elac Uni-Fi UBR-62 (It might sound a bit bass-heavy and dull in your configuration, but if it is not overly boomy, DSP correction should do the job here)
Look at ATC SCM11 I have a similar sized room with no room to move out from wall the SCM’s are a sealed speaker they do need a sub though love the sound.
I do have a pair of those in my watch list from TMR, at a fair price I think, good to hear of someone using them positively.
I also have a set of Audioengine HD3’s. With the sub, they are very nice and I would say a good value. By themselves I would not recommend.
Can you swap rooms to a larger spare bedroom, etc. My music room is 13X12 IIRC and that’s probably as small as I would want. My HPM-60’s are 7 feet apart and 7 feet from listening position.
Not for this temporary situation no.
I don’t listen at high volume anyway any longer so as long as I can get a quality sq I should be ok for the interim period.
I listen at 70 db. SQ may be the issue, IDK.
Kef R3. Awesome speakers.
I use these sitting 2' away and they are 1' from a back wall and 3' from side walls. Since the listening volume is lower when you sit close in a smaller room the problem on lower end is small. I started out using the foam plugs but find it just takes away bass for no good reason. And since you are so close there might not be any 1st order side reflections to speak of. That is my case.I have not listen to it, but you may want to consider the Dali Menuet SE. I see various deals at exactly your price point, and seems perfect for your space. It also has a downward firing port, which should facilitate close to wall placement.
Do not mean to say anything in general against these speakers but in the particular case they might be delivering disappointing results and not meet the expectations of the OP. Both placing them very close to the wall and having sidewalls nearby is problematic. Tried the R3 meta in a similar environment.
When discussing his main speakers with the OP another alternative came to my mind which might be fitting here even better than my previous recommendations:
Cabasse Murano
The KEF LS50 Meta are a nice choice under 2K…
Sound waves don’t magically disperse differently for different speakers.
Cabasse Murano is the exact same type of design as the Kef R3.
If you’re close to a back wall you can insert the foam plug in the port.
I use these sitting 2’ away and they are 1’ from a back wall and 3’ from side walls. Since the listening volume is lower when you sit close in a smaller room the problem on lower end is small. I started out using the foam plugs but find it just takes away bass for no good reason. And since you are so close there might not be any 1st order side reflections to speak of. That is my case.
I’m also considering JM Reynard Bliss Silver which are transmission line bookshelves.
The best floorstanding “box” speakers I ever owned were a pair of Audio Physic speakers which were also transmission line. I really liked what they did with the upper low and lower mid bass areas
I see a good looking pair on eBay.
However I’m also getting a nagging feeling that a lot of these speakers we are discussing especially with the 7" mid bass drivers might just be too big for the room.
Hence the Proac Tablette Anniversary is still on my horizon.
They actually do. This phenomenon is called frequency-depending directivity index and one of the most important technical parameters of a speaker. The single most important measurement in my understanding predicting whether a speaker would comply with a room or not with astonishing accuracy.
The other parameter in play is the bass characteristic. As bass is usually omnipolar, it is more a question of timing and sustain.
Both lead me to the conclusion the KEF might not be ideal although they are not bad in general.
Tried it and it did not help. Seemingly the problematic frequency bands are higher than the port tuning.
That explains a lot as with 2´ away you are basically hearing only direct sound and would not be able to perceive outcome of the directivity.
Please explain what data you used to come to this conclusion?
If it’s for a temporary solution, and you have a sub, and the temporary room is small and finally you are looking to resell, LSX II or another active monitor in that range may be a good solution. I have a sub and the OG LSX and still amazed at their quality 5 years on in my office of similar dimensions.