Is the difference between us that I view immersion more in terms of the capacity of the listener while you seem to view the listener more as a passive factor, with technology facilitating immersion?
Yes, I am focused on the tech side in this thread, buying a single pair of speakers for $$$$ is the costliest, least effective way to achieve an immersive experience or "a suspension of disbelief". The room is more important than the equipment so that means room treatments and some type of tech to measure and possibly use DSP.
A surround processor or receiver tops out at about $20K for a Trinnov but outstanding choices are available for far less. Finally 9-12 moderately priced small speakers setup properly with a couple of subs instead of two expensive towers.
Finally to have two sources, one for channel based audio and one for object based audio. My guess is less than 50% of the members here have experienced high end object based audio in a properly setup room.
that people can only perceive and appreciate art when it’s turned into an IMAX experience.
There is a lot of truth to that statement, and not just IMAX size screens. The members here have some incredibly luxurious systems and rooms. It is a matter of preference I guess.