And what do Maggies sound like near a wall......

Duke:
The wall on the side of the MG12 would not be a problem?
Thanks.

crap! one foot= 1 dead speaker
3 to 4 feet= killer sound, one of the best..

Still think mg12s would be too tight...factor in the hassle of buying them,trying them out,and reselling for a huge loss...not the way to go IMHO...just to reiterate...Mags are nice...but if you dont have 3-4ft of open space surrounding them...fugettaboutit!...check out the Spendors...my dealer has both these and Mags...and in an a/b...the SPendors sound very good...probably a touch more 3-d and "tube like" on vocals...and although they are small...their soundstage is huge...and their is enough bass so they dont sound thin...trust me...I have heard just about every mini-monitor there is...and the spendor 3/5 is probably one the best...small Proacs are good too...

Umn -

The first sidewall reflection will have to be treated (diffused or absorbed), but that six feet of open space avaiable behind the MG-12's makes me optimistic. I have used dipoles fairly close to side walls (6" or so) with good results. Sure you'd like a bit more space, but you would with a conventional speaker as well. On the other hand, with the Maggies you'd place the tweeter sections to the inside, so they'd be relatively far from the side walls (compared to a conventional speaker's tweeter).

Remember, a dipole's figure-8 radiation pattern is going to give it less sidewall interaction than a monopole speaker would have. In a less-than-ideal situation as long as you can get plenty of space behind a dipole, it will usually be less room-sensitive than a conventional speaker.

A tall fake plant along either side wall, a couple of feet in front of the speakers, would probably adequately diffuse that first sidewall reflection. You might have to shop a bit for a plant that fits the space well.

Duke

I'll second the mention of ProAc mini-monitors. I had a pair of ProAc Tablette 50's less than a foot from the back wall, and while they sounded better two feet away, they were pretty good set back near the wall. Tremendously better than planars do at such distance...