Making speakers “disappear”…..

Don't forget toe-in, which can not only affect imaging but widen the sweet spot. Some speakers sound better below the tweeter axis, and with little to no toe-in.

For me, that vast majority of speakers I've had "disappear" better when I don't toe them in much - i.e. closer to angled straight ahead.   Toe in tends to bring in more image precision, but also tends to tighten up and squeeze the imaging and soundtaging.  Toeing back out loosens things up, expands the soundstage and imaging, and seems to free it more from the speaker.  Sort of like the difference a lot of people hear between a classic solid state amp (heavy toe in) and a classic tube amp (toe out).

@thomastrouble

Oh, one thing….because my room is only 8feet wide I have the speakers closer to the wall than I would like, or if I brought them in two feet each I’m only left with four feet between the speakers !

I have a 12' room and dipoles. Because of room configuration and because it is not a dedicated room, I have the speakers at 4' exactly between the centers (so 4' from both side walls) and 7' from the front wall. I sit at 10'. The imaging is very good (it extends a feet from the outer edges of the speakers) and the soundstage is huge. The speakers have acoustically disappeared. 

So, depending on how much reflections you get on the side, pulling them apart may have a more of a negative impact on the image and soundstage. 

^^^ P.S.: They are toed in at 13 degrees so the "beams" cross about 2' in front of the center seat. 

Right, I learned to set up LS3 5As back in 1979, the prototype for this sort of speaker. I was working for a HiFi shop in Miami, FL at the time.

As for speakers that can disappear you chose wisely, or just lucky? They need to be on stands with the tweeters at ear height. You want them just a little closer together than an equilateral triangle with your head. They need to be in a symmetrical environment. Three feet away or more from side walls and between two and three feet from the front wall. If one speaker is in a corner the other one has to be in a corner also. I would not want to see them more than eight feet apart. A 14 foot wall would be the max. I prefer corner placement. You will need to use some sound absorption on the side and front walls. 

You next mission should you choose to accept it will be subwoofers. You will need two, using a 2 way digital crossover with full bass management, crossing at 100 Hz. Why so high? To reduce distortion levels in that little woofer. In the process you will turn David into an absolute gorilla. 

I just set up this system for my son in law with Harbeth P3s. 

@brianh61 

As per Jim Smith, try to make the distance from Tweeter to Tweeter somewhere around 80-83% of the distance between each Tweeter and your ears when in your listening spot. Looks like a similar formula right above.

Agreed. Jim’s 83% rule almost always works for me, and regardless, a great starting point.