update
It's been a long time that I haven't posted here and in the meantime I was able to move and, therefore, know a little better what my limitations are regarding placement.
The speakers will be set up on the short wall of our living room which is 17ft x 21ft x 11ft (sloped), which will be used roughly 2/3 for the A/V setup. Unfortunately I cannot pull the speakers out very much (roughly 3 feet) and I practically will have no side walls, as you will see in the attached picture.
I am traveling next week and will probably listen to some additional speakers during my trip in Germany and Switzerland. Here is my current shortlist, with speakers that I have already auditioned and that still make the list in bold:
- Audiovector SR6 Avantgarde
- Lawrence Audio Cello
- Gold Note XT-7
- ELAC Adante AF-61
- Boenicke W11
- Janszen Valentina
- Higherfi Audio HFX-3
- Oskar Heil Kithara
- Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 7 or 8
- Kharma CRM 3.2FE
- Revel Salon 2
- Pure Audio Project Trio 15 Heil
Revel still is a runner because of the reasons that I mentioned before and because of the adaptability to front wall.
WA W/P was recommended by a friend who is very knowledgeable, saying that the closeness to front wall makes them a great contender.
Will be listening to the Boenicke and Kithara on this trip.
Still very curious regarding the Valentina, but the hassle of having an in-home audition before getting of an idea of the house sound is not something I'm comfortable with. Same thing for the Trio 15 Heil.
I can get no decent information on the Higherfi speaker and they haven't been useful in getting more information on these speakers. On paper I like the concept of a planar tweeter, ribbon mid and cone bass, but it most likely is a nightmare to get that to mesh correctly.
I don't think I will be able to listen to the Cello nor the SR6, so they'll probably leave the list soon. the AF-61 is unobtainium. Have contacted several ELAC dealers here, Germany and Switzerland and they're hard to find to audition. Don't know what's up with that.
Just wanted to give the members of this thread an update. Am still open to suggestions that might fit my overall goals as described in the first post.
On a last note: The sofa is going to change and there will be an additional rug between it and the console, hopefully helping to diminish some reflections.