I'm looking for some input in to which speakers I should take the time to track down and audition prior to purchasing. Here's what I think you experts need to know, but please ask if I am missing somthing.

1) The room is larger, but slightly odd shaped. I've attached my crude MSPaint version of it. Yes the couch and TV/SPeakers are not perfectly center as there is a Chaise on the left.

2) The usage will be fairly evenly split between Music/Movies/Kids Shows(TV+DVD)/and TV.

3) We are currently using M&K LCR-35 Xenon for front, center, and rights, and Speakercraft AIM8-4 for rears, and M&K MX700 sub. The system works very well for Movies and TV but I have been unable to find decent stands to put them on (won't pay M&K what they want for stands) and prefer not to wall mount these (I am not adverse to wall mont, however, the wife just doesn't like the look of traditional box speakers on the wall). In addition, I've begun to listen to music again and I am finding the speakers, although adequate, leave me wanting more for music.

4) My Wife has a lot of veto power. She likes the smaller, non-discrete size. She also likes the Martin Logan Vignette's we have upstairs for music listening in our great room. She does not like the larger Martin Logan Vista's (although I'm trying to convince her) and a cabinet like Vienna Accoustic's Mozart Grand is barely acceptable for size. She is flexible, but it will come back to haunt me if I push my luck too much =)

5) I listened to ML Clarity w/ Fresco Center and VA Mozart Grands w/ Maestro center so far. I enjoyed the music on the Grands but found the Home Theater not acceptable for dialouge and narration (too much mid). The Clarity's were very good (prefered VA) for music and very good for movies/TV. However, convincing the wife on the floor standing ML is going to be an uphill battle.

6) They will be driven by a Denon 4806.

7) The ML Vista's/VA Mozart Grand's would be considered the upper end, but achievable, of the pricing spectrum if that helps.

8) The Speakercraft and (likely)sub will remain so please keep that in mind. If you have a phenomonal reason to replace the sub to match a recommendation, put it in as I suppose eBay is an option.

Based upon this information, what else would you all suggest I should audition for speakers front and center? Would the new Fresco I be worthwhile for Music and Movies? Would the fill my odd shaped room/wide couch placement?

Thanks and please ask questions if you need more information to put some recommendations out. I appreciate all the feedback and laughter at my set up =)

Thanks!

You say you have a music system in another room, so way are you bothering to upgrade the HT system for music, if you like it for movies?
I personally don't think the M&Ks are any good for music. And mixing speakers in a multichannel room is never good.
One thing about putting speakers on walls is it works for a HT, but for critical music listening, stereo in particular, speakers really need to be freestanding and away from the walls.
Some speakers are very good at playing both music and doing HT, others are not.
My personal preference(I have 5 of them) for dual duty are JBL Performance Series PT800s. But they are hard to come by and aren't cheap, if one has to pay retail($1700/ea). They are both smooth and dynamic. All Titanium drivers.
http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.aspx?prod=PT800BLK&Language=ENG&Country=US&Region=USA&cat=BFS&ser=PER

You say you have a music system in another room, so way are you bothering to upgrade the HT system for music, if you like it for movies?

I listen to music in this location as frequently or more so than my great room where the current ML Fresco's are.

I understand the complexity of mixing speakers in this multi-channel environement. However, I still must appease my better half and in-ceiling was the only acceptable means for rear surround given the location of the walls for rears.

Thank you for the JBL information I will add it to the list, although I am unsure of the classic, larger speaker look at her reaction.

If it was my wife I would tell her she has her room with the speakers she likes and the compromise is you get what you want in the other.
btw, the pic of the PT800 doesn't even come close to doing them justice. They can be wall mounted or connected to the top of matching subs or on stands. Also come in cherry and beech.

If it was my wife I would tell her she has her room with the speakers she likes and the compromise is you get what you want in the other.


And you are not me nor your wife mine. This is not an option as this room is hers as much as it is mine.

I'll seek out the JBL's so I can get a better feeling for what they truely look like.

After walking through a couple of shops, about the best we found that we both liked aesthetically and acoustically were the Martin Logan Fresco's and Vienna Acoustic Webern. I didn't audition them in depth yet, but will over the coming week. She also stated the size of the more traditional Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grand was still acceptable. I haven't been able to locate the JBL PT800's mentioned above.

Base on this and the above info, does anyone have any other recommendations to have her look at and to try out?

Thanks.

I don't remember how the VA Mozarts looked or sound, but I thought the VA Beethovens were very nice.
As for the PT800 they are only available at Tweeters, or at least they used to be, and thru JBL Synthesis Dealers. Once in a great while, see them on ebay.
http://www.jblsynthesis.com/where_to_buy/purchase_installation.aspx?Language=ENG&Country=US&Region=USA

Random thoughts on new(er) observations/comparative demos:

Heard Strata Minis next to ML Montage & Mosaics and the Minis sounded better to the vast majority of us...I mention this because if that "look" is ok with her, and you like planer mags, then you might want to compare these to others you are considering.

Heard B&W CM7's next to Bachs and Mozarts, CM7's beat the Bachs hands down, but opinion was split on Mozarts with most (5 of 7) prefering CM7's and frankly I enjoy both .
I mention this because they are also small footprint floorstander.

For on wall, try Era Design 4LCR's, and they also have a smallish floorstander coming soon .

I don't know what type of music you listen to, but you should listen to as many speakers as you can with a variety of music to see what you and your wife like. I think that if a speaker does well with rock music, it will do well with movies (I think movies have more in common with rock than with classical or jazz). I decided, after much listening, that EFE speakers were the best for both HT and music, but that was just my own personal conclusion. If you are interested in demoing them, you will probably have to go to their office in Arizona as they make their speakers to order.

I also think it is important to try to get as close to having the same exact speaker all the way around in a HT. The more you deviate from that goal, the worse your sound will be. So you may be stuck with in-ceiling surrounds, but consider that you may later want to upgrade your system to get surrounds that match your fronts (whatever you get).

Check out the various smaller or on-wall speakers such as Magnepan, Gallo, etc. if you are inclined to get something small or on the wall.

I spent months researching speakers and finally went home with the Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grands. They were, for me, the best blend of aesthetics, sound quality, and price.

I looked seriously at the Clarities for awhile, but the Mozarts are far classier looking (especially in maple) and I preferred their smaller footprint. Also, I think that they just sound better. They also avoid the beaminess that is a real issue with the Clarities (did you ever stand up while listening to them? The sound completely changes!).

Now, I am using the Mozarts in a 2.1 channel setup, so I can't really comment on how the Vienna Acoustics center speaker is. I do remember thinking that the Haydn bookshelf is a nice speaker. However, it does use a different tweeter than the Mozart Grand, I believe. Not sure if that's noticeable during actual listening, though.

You might want to give the Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1 speaker a try. It looks quite different than most speakers (which may be a good or bad thing depending on your wife's taste) and they have a fairly small form factor.

One last thought on the JBL PT800, I guy I know in SoCal took his PT800s into a Magnolia store to do a faceoff with all their speakers. And told them he would buy any of their speakers, if they sounded better than the PT800s, none did and he didn't.
The sales guys were just blown away by the PT800s. One sale guys said, " maybe we should start selling these(PT800)". That never happened, the owner of Magnolia won't carry JBL, even though Best Buy does (JBL's cheaper speakers.)
Their loss.