best horizontal booksheld speakers

I just dealt with the same issue and researched it to death. Most people will tell you to buy a new house before placing a speaker sideways but if you have to you can make the best of it. I would avoid those def tech 55's, I am not familiar with them but that top mounted woofer will be aiming right into the wall of your cabinet if it is sideways. You can look at KEF speakers, they have concentric drivers which are supposed to be ok for placing horizontal but are kind of expensive. I ended up going with the HSU hb-1, not as ideal for placing sideways but they do have a horn tweeter that can be rotated to direct the sound, and they have pretty good reviews. I am very pleased with mine, if you keep them all the way to the front of the shelf anduse bumpers to aim them at the listening position you should be ok.

I would reconsider keeping the center though, either get a matching center channel or lose it entirely. The center is supposed to match the left and right for seamless surround effects. It may sound funny hearing a helicopter moving from left to right with unmatched speakers using different tones. The HSU speakers are 499 for the 3 speaker package including the center.

You could also go with a shorter speaker like the cambridge s30 and just keep it vertical in that spot, they are 9 inches high. They are only 220/pair, and there is a huge thread here with some great feedback on how they sound.
Edited by elmorage - 1/5/13 at 7:18pm

+1 re ...
- Looking at the KEF point-source speakers - Q100 or Q300 - that can be laid on their side without issue (accessories4less has good prices on them).
- A shorter standard bookshelf speaker - the Cambridge Audio S30's sound excellent for the price and are less than 9" tall.

I would either go for controlled directivity like the Hsu speakers or really good off-axis performance, both horizontal and vertical, like the KEF speakers with the Uni-Q drivers. The Hsu speakers are good because you can rotate the horn 90 degrees to optimize it for horizontal use. You will want to keep the whole front stage to one brand, so I would not want to mix brands with center speakers and left/rights.

The KEF Q300 or Monitor Audio BX2 speakers are front-ported and could be used in a blind shelf recess like you have.

You do need front-ported speakers; rear-ported speakers will not be suitable. Also, the top-mounted passive radiator of the DefTech Monitor 55 would not be able to function correctly as it would then be on the side of the speaker where it cannot radiate correctly.

I would be sure to get speakers that have at least a 6-inch main driver for the front, or bass will be hard to come by. Some of the smaller ones, like the BX1 or KEF C3 are probably too small.

Also, when putting them on the shelves, you want to have the tweeter toward the center of the room on both speakers for symmetry.
Edited by commsysman - 1/7/13 at 6:38am

commsysman, that isn't altogether true. Rear ported speakers will work fine as long as the ports are not completely blocked. You will want the diameter of the ports as distance from the nearest surface, and you would have to give the speakers nearly that much room anyway for the speaker wire posts, especially if you are using banana plugs. You would only need a couple inches of space back there.

Your shelves are 19" deep so some rear ported speakers "might" work. But you would really need to test them to see if they sound boomy, or if some freq. ranges are noticeably over-emphasized. So yes, it would be "safer" to go with front ported or sealed speakers.

Again, I would not lay a speaker on it's side unless it was specifically designed to do that, or unless it is a point-source (concentric) speaker.

The smaller Monitor Audio speaker that would fit (BX1) is not as good as the KEF's. Def Tech speakers won't work for you because they have a radiator on the top or side of the speakers.

11" tall is your biggest restriction. In light of that and your budget I think the best speaker for you is one of the KEF's.
KEF Q300 $480 pair (at accessories4less)
KEF Q100 $400 pair (at accessories4less)

Even if you do find a front-ported bookshelf speaker under 11" it will have much smaller mid/bass drivers and therefore a much shallower sound. The one exception I've heard is the rear-ported S30 (which I think is an excellent speaker at it's price point) but then you're back to having to test it first. Of course at half the price of the smaller KEF, testing the S30 might be worth it. (With Amazon Prime you can test the S30 for 30 days and get free return shipping if you send it back.)
Edited by sdg4vfx - 1/8/13 at 12:56am

Due to the width and depth, something like the size of the rear ported Cambridge S30
can work vertical. Need to use bump-on bumper feet on the bottom of the speakers,
and make sure that top of the speaker is clear of the top shelf (keep the wood of the
speakers, from touching the wood of the entertainment center)

The KEF is also a good option for you.

The Monitor Audio Silver RX-1 and Definitive SM-55 are good speakers >> however
not recommended for your set-up restrictions.

The NHT Absolute Zero is a nice option - however, I would take the Cambridge S30
over them.
http://www.nhthifi.com/Absolute-Zero-Black?sc=12&category=3772

They are for angling the speaker up when on a shorter stand/table, or, if you hang the speaker via the wall mount you put them on the lower back to keep the speaker flush.

Congrats on the speakers - enjoy!

(BTW, I did notice my KEF's needed a little break-in time.)

i was going to recommend 3 of the Energy V5.2C speakers since you can get them for $170 each. 3 would run you $510.

promo code VER52WW

http://www.wwstereo.com/Energy/V5.2CPIANB

but I see the dimensions are 7.6" H x 19.49" W x 9.17" D so they're just a little too wide for your cubby holes.