As many of you know I have a good main 2 channel, 5.1 multichannel music and 7.1 movie setup...all relegated to a dedicated man cave.
In the family room, however, I've had my 37 year old KLH Model 10 bookshelves (yes, my college dorm speakers!) sitting on my fireplace hearth and playing mostly background or midfi music. Well, they are finally biting the dust, and this gives me a chance to upgrade the sound in there to something that will clearly still be a "Second system" but might have a modicum of imaging and soundstage. I'm also not against hiding a sub somewhere in the room.
My caveats:
* fireplace hearth placement, meaning they likely need to be front ported, since they will be on a surface that is only 15" deep off the back of the fireplace facing.
* I want to spend less than $1k, hopefully way less if I find something used on Audiogon
* It would be great if they are a natural cherry or medium oak type wood color, but this is not a show stopper.
* Sweetspot (center of sofa when in "fall/winter fireplace setup") is about 8-9 ft away, so basically a nearfield experience.
I'm open to new, used, whatever. My front port assumption might be wrong, but likely not. They'll have plenty of side wall clearance just no front wall clearance (hearth is 12" high, 15" deep).
So far I have one recommendation: David (Rydenfan) says his buddy has the newer B&W 685's and loves them as a second setup. David heard them and was quite impressed with their value. They come in around $650/pair.
Thanks in advance for any model or manufacturer leads.
