your dealer is feeding you a solid line of b.s. you need at least 2 ft. from the port to rear wall. tell him to bring the speaks to your house, lest you damage them on your own. if he won't go this extra 1/2 mile, forget it. NEVER, EVER BUY NEW PRODUCT W/O 1ST AUDITIONING IT IN YOUR SYSTEM, IN YOUR ROOM OR YOU'LL BE REAL SORRY. i don't care how "knowledgable" anyone claims to be about any product, YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE A PURCHASING DECISION BASED ON HIS OPIONION; indeed, i would equate such "knowledge" to bias and regard it with at least a ton of salt.
Sonus Faber Signum
I was able to listen to the SF Signum at a local dealer (whom I have purchased product from before) this weekend and was very impressed with the speaker. After listening to them for quite some time I asked the salesman if i could demo them in my home system (Wadia/Levinson) since my listening room is very small (10x12) and the Signum's are rear ported. This being the case, I would only be able to get the Signum's about 18-20" away from my rear wall. He told me that they no longer allow home demo's but assured me that they would worked wonderfully in my room. Does any one have experience with this speaker or similar rear ported monitors? Would I be better off with a speaker that is ported in the front? Any advice would be greatly appreiciated. Thanks...