Majik M109 Placement

[Winston67]

A friend needs reasonably priced bookshelf loudspeakers that would work well literally placed on bookshelves with no more than an inch or two between the rear of the speakers and the back wall. I am thinking of suggesting a used pair of M109s. Does anyone know how fussy (or not) M109s are in terms of placement? I assume that because they are not ported, they should do well, but wonder if they need stands to perform well. If you've tried them on bookshelves I would be interested in your feedback. Many thanks.

[David Neel]

I had 109s in 30cm deep alcoves either side of a fireplace, with the upper part of the alcoves filled with bookshelves. Unlike my previous Kans, they needed space behind them. This is ten years ago, so details are forgotten, but they needed to have the front edge of the speaker forward of the chimney breast before they sounded right. The stands made a difference too, Kan II stands being preferred to the Linn 109 stands. If you are going to put them on a bookshelf, some kind of solid support to keep them rock steady would be required. Hope this helps...

[Charlie1]

109s are front ported (behind the 2k array).

I had them on a bookshelf several years ago, plus rubber feet. I certainly didn't have them anything like that close to the rear wall. More like 1 ft away.

Agree with David, Kan IIs are designed to go right up against a solid rear wall for bass reinforcement. Kan 1s are more of a risk on the used market and less likely to work with a modern digital system.

Tukans can work well quite close to the rear wall despite having a small rear port, but nothing like 1-2 inches. More like 5-6 minimum.

Katans need even more space.