Dreaded wall unit

Look into the egg crate material that's used in recording studios. We bought some for school and it wasn't outrageous.

It is what it is.

My second system is set up similarly for similar reasons (Triangle Titus monitors up high in Ethan Allen Cabinets). I do use a sub with these in this setup in that the bass extension suffers to a larger extent. Soundstage size, imaging and transparency is somewhat limited also compared to optimal setup. The music sounds like is mostly coming out of the speakers. Despite these limitations, it is still sounds quite good.

It is what it is unfortunately for the most part. That doesn't necessarily have to be bad though.

Would lining the speaker enclosure with sound absorbing material make any difference in sound quality?

Yes. My center channel is enclosed in a cabinet, and lining the interior with acoustic foam made a huge difference in reducing the coloration created by that arrangement. Parts Express has self adhesive acoustic foam that is inexpensive and effective.

How about a different approach, Like a modified agreement. The speakers will never sound right in the cabinet, no matter what you do, not withstanding the suggestions being provided. See if she will agree to letting you take them out of the cabinet for listening purposes only. When not listening, they should be stored in your custom 'ark'. Be sure to get her to agree to a sub being a part of the deal.

Doesn't sound like much of an agreement to me. You have bigger problems than your stereo system......

Shakey

It's a sad situation for you.

It would be a lot better if you could bring the speakers out 1 inch to make them even with the front.This is causing a sound imaging problem.I don't know if yours could be front mounted like a regular speaker.That Dynamat material may be mostly for thin metal that a car is made of to get rid of the tinny metal resonance if its what I think it is.If the cabinet is thin and vibrating away,something like that may damping it some.There are speaker filler materials(the filling in pillows looks and feels real similar))that could dampen bass resonance problems. Fiberglass is used too,but not user friendly.I think moving the speakers out 1 inch for starters if possible would sound more open and natural.Here is the filler material link.>>[http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-330]

I agree with Hifitime that the front of your speakers should be at least equal to the edge of your cabinet. If not you will get reflections off the edges that will distort the sound.

Get a new wife or grow some balls

I have a similar deal in my family room. I use floorstanders, but made 2 modifications to a wall unit which otherwise - I suspect - is pretty similar to yours.

1) I hinged the face of the portion of the wall unit that is directly in front of the speaker (i.e., it is now a pair of doors).

2) I put the speakers on a pair of "slide out" platforms - similar in concept to the mechanism on which your dresser drawers ride.

For more critical listening (rare on this system), I open the doors and slide the speakers forward app. 1 1/2 feet.

You might do something similar (like a telescoping arm), especially if the bottom of your monitors allow a screw in support for stability.

Good Luck

Marty

BTW,

Since you custom designed your unit, this shouldn't be extraordinarily expensive. In my case, it was certainly cheaper than high end stands (albeit not quite as stable - despite myu best best design effort). Still a major improvement over in-cabinet use.

Marty