"Bookshelf" speakers designed to be placed near the wall behind them?


I'm giving up my beloved (14-year love affair) Sonus Faber Cremonas in order to reclaim valuable floor space in the living room.  Currently they are placed on the floor in front of the fireplace & hearth - our new home has pretty much everything we wanted, *except* an audio-friendly layout in the living room.

My plan is to put a pair of smaller speakers up on the hearth on either side of the fireplace.  Probably will need custom stands to get the tweeters near ear level.  The hearth is 13.5" above the floor and is about 19" deep.

My first candidate was the Wilson Audio Duettes, a speaker explicitly designed for placement in close proximity to the wall behind them, *until* I saw their price - $22k.  I'm sure they're spectacular speakers, but that's well above my retired-guy budget.  I'd like to stay at $5k or under.  So I started looking at bookshelf speakers that are either sealed-box or front-ported ...

And I came across the Aerial 5T - a $4k speaker with a 1" woven ring-dome tweeter, a 6.7" papyrus-blend woofer and a front slot-shaped port.  *And* it's specifically designed to be placed from 2" to 24" from walls.  So that's my current front-runner.

But I'd be interested to hear others' recommendations - I certainly haven't looked at all the possibilities that are out there.  So let me know your thoughts!

Thanks
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xmbo
Have you explored the Cremona Auditor M stand mounts?  I had mine about 13" off the rear wall and they were outstanding!  Still own them but not in use as I upgraded to the SF Guarneri Evolutions.  Any interest in some sort of trade?  I've been considering Cremona floor standers for a home theatre / 2 channel system in another room.  
Before my Guarneri upgrade I considered Harbeth Super HL5+'s but to my ears my little Auditors were far better...
Thanks
I did a lot of research on this very issue--because my desktop space is limited & my monitors/speakers end up w/in ~8" of front wall of the room w/big picture window.

Found 2 designs that should work:

-- ATC SCM19 Professional monitors: this sealed/acoustic suspension design is not exactly small, but it's spectacular in resolution, listenability, and bass resolution/quality. I am getting better sound w/these (+ Wyred4Sound ST500 amp) than any other monitors in past

-- Wharfedale Diamond 225: a considerably cheaper mid-fi audiophile design that is not sealed (ported bass)--but the port is cleverly designed to fire downward at a bottom plate that's 1/4" below the speaker. The result has been described as far less susceptible to boundary effects that conventional ported designs. They're also described as rather musical, pleasant-sounding speakers.

I've now had 2 ported speakers (powered designs) and 2 sealed/acoustic suspension designs (1 powered, the other passive) in this desktop environment. IMO the ported designs, despite other good qualities, showed clear evidence of boundary effects in the bass. I'll never go back to ported unless it's something like the Wharfedale Diamond.
Have you considered anything from KEF? Their reference 1 has a tunable port in the back that might alleviate any near-to-wall issues. 

I have LS50s for my office/desktop setup, and I have to say their driver arrangement is exceptional for near field/midfield listening (which you mention is also something you are considering) 
Again, many thanks for all the beautifully informed responses!

I now have a short list of three candidates (in descending order of WAF ;^):

Audio Note AN-K se
Aerial 5T
ATC SMC19 v2

Recent suggestions have inspired more research, so the short list may be lengthening:

@yogiboy , @dekay and @kahlenz - I will give Gene Rubin a call.  I know he carries Harbeth and I think maybe Spendor as well.   He's probably the first place I will visit based on proximity, assuming he'll have some suggestions that interest me.

@tomic601 - Yup, i've spent more than I should have from the audio budget at the Hitching Post!  Not familiar with the Sea Chest though, where is that?

@mountainsong - Thanks for pointing out that Triangle offer front-ported monitors.  Those Duettos in the Magellan line look great on paper.  They'll join the short list once I can verify they're priced close to budget.

@ptrck887 - I had forgotten about the Auditors!  That might be a good answer (but I'll bet they're rear-ported).  I often watch movies using my floorstanding Cremonas as a 2-channel AV system.  They throw images from wall to wall - beautiful!  Where are you located?  We might could work something out.  Is there a way to send a private message to a fellow forum member?

@herb19808 - Proac is another great suggestion.  It's very possible they make something that would suit me.  Will check them out - I think there's a dealer in San Jose ...

Thanks to everyone for the input - this has been very helpful!  I guess I better get off my butt and get my Cremonas listed ...