Small speakers for wall mounting?

Ok folks, this has probably been asked before but here goes..... I am thinking of trying some small bookshelf speakers as an alternative to the quads so we can get the space back. Ideally I'd want to mount these on some sort of wall brackets so there would not be more than 3-6 inches between the wall and the back of the speaker.

Does anyone have experience of doing this, or recommendations for such speakers and wall brackets? Is it possible to still get quality sound from wall mounted speakers?

Looking around, the candidates for the speakers so far are AVI Pro-Nines, PMC DB1 and the Spendor SR5 (a bit pricey though). Any others?

 

if you are quick you might pick up one last pair of Linn KanV. probably pick them up for around £300.

 

ATC SCM-7. Cura CA5 (would have to be secondhand, Cura no longer exist).

-- Ian

 

look for older sealed box designs. i had / have some old mission 700le's which love being shoved up against walls or into0 corners (oooh errr). didn;t audionote do some bookshelf speakers that like their back to a wall too?
cheers


julian

 

rega kytes the only ones to have. rega do wall brackets, too. one of the best there is.

 

JBL Control 1 sound fine when driven by hifi. I've got a spare pair unused/still boxed I might part with if you dont get anything else. Probably £90 at a guess. I know they sell very solid matching integral wall brackets. These are best for far field listening as they are not mirror matched [ie they only make 1 baffle shape]

 

Am very happy with my DB1's. They are currently on stands, but since moving house have played around with positioning and they are currently not more than six inches from back wall which seems to suit them fine. They also spent a couple of months on wall shelves at my parents with the result that my father now owns a pair of the DB1+ which he bought with the matching brackets (though I don't think he's got the drill out yet as he's enjoying them so much on the existing shelves). I also liked having them that bit higher in the air. Will probably look at brackets myself post building works.....

Wrong end of the country for you, but cornflake in London have a pair permanently mounted on their wall.

Let me know if you want more on how they sound.

 

I'm with Data here. Has to be the Kytes. Don't think about their replacements they're not as good

 

looks like i just missed a pair of Rega Kytes on ebay. However, not sure I'd want to take this step without trying things first.
I am getting a loan of the AVI pro-nines next week hopefully.
I did try the ATC SCM 7 when it first came out some years ago (1998 I think?), I found it needed a bit of space around it despite being sealed box.

 

you could always try the Ditton 15s ....

 

Find a pair of Dynaudio Microns. Designed to be used on the wall - outstanding but bloody inefficient.

 

I think Jamo did a few speakers designed for close wall placement. Not sure about any details, but might be worth looking into.

 

Ive got a pair of JR149's here at the minute (borrowed). They are an LS3/5A version (round and metal, cloth covered).

They are sealed boxes that work for me just inches from a wall.

Theyve got to be the equivelant of #500-#1000 studio monitors, but can be had used for as little as 150 quid, to perhaps 300.

They work well with a quality amp with plenty of juice.

Chris

 

I will try some ATC SCM7s tomorrow... Retro Reproductions has them. it was the ATC A7 I heard a few years ago, looks like it didn't last very long, though I wonder how different the SCM7 is from the A7. I'm borrowing some stand too so can experiment with how close to the wall they can go.

Looking again at reviews, I'm not so sure the AVI Pro-nines will be suitable as HFN review said they were definitely best well clear of any walls.

Anyone got experience of Leema Acoustic Xens? - very small indeed and very good reviews.... and made in Scotland (Skye to be precise) too. I heard them in a multi-channel setup at the hifi show a couple of months ago, sounded quite good.

 

Did you manage to listen to the SCM7's?

I might have a pair up for sale if your interested.

Paul.

 

Have been trying the ATC SCM7s..... they delighted and disappointed in equal measure.

I borrowed a pair of target R3 stands from the dealer, seem like superb stands, very very heavy and rigid, good spikes through carpet to concrete below, no movement at all.

Using the stands the idea was to try them in different positions to find out just how close to the wall they could go and how much better they might get if moved away from wall. I will not be buying wall brackets until I've chosen the speaker.

The ATC 7s were surprisingly good just 3-4 inches between their rear panel and the wall. No bass boom, but very good stereo imaging, proper spread left->right, as opposed to left and right which I thought I might get with close-to-wall positioning. Moving them further away from wall, up to 24 inches from rear wall opens the sound up a bit and lightens thing tonally to a small degree but not a huge difference. So far so good...

But, I guess the limitation is with small speakers.... the sound is tonally quite one-dimensional, lacking in real air and weight. Its very good for pop and rock and chamber music, piano is OK, but anything orchestral is pretty dire. The midband especially is congested and shut in, strings seem to be in their own confined space. Changing the position of the speaker has little effect on this.

I am wondering if this a general feature of small speakers, I suffered similarly (but not nearly as bad) when I had a pair of Harbeth HLP-3ES speakers.
So the ATC SCM7 is pretty much out of the equation.

However what is also probably out of the equation is the original requirement to use wall brackets.... after experimentation and consultation with Mrs. Beeb we have decided that standmounts or a small floorstander are acceptable as long as they satisfy sonically and can sit happily no more than 12-16 inches fom rear wall, and are stable.

This gives us back a lot of space compared to the Quads. Using the quads we probably had about 30 sq ft of dead space lost in the room, whereas something meeting the stipulations above with a similar foot print to the target R3 stand might reduce that to 5 or 6 sq ft. big difference.

So I took the ATC SM7s back.... and came away with a pair of ATC SM12
Got them set up on the R3 stands again, about 14 inches from the wall.
Wow.... this is a good loudspeaker. There is so much more sense of scale and weight than with the SCM7. I'm very impressed so far, this might be it.

Although it could never match my beloved quads for their 'hear-through' quality of sound, its not got any of the congestion or muddle I was hearing with the 7s and has had me quite gripped. I might be able to stand storing the Quads after all. I thought this could never happen.... obviously I need to see if I still think this in a few days.

In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestion for a small floorstander that might fit the bill and could be worth auditioning please step forward. As Above, attributes required are: small, heavy, sealed box or front-ported, happy within 12-16 inches from wall. Thanks.

 

as you know, my JM Lab Electras are rear ported but you are welcome to try them.