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Speakers "Disappearing"

I have read a lot about speakers "disappearing" so that one can't tell from where the sound is emanating. But, what about all the stereo tunes where the recordiing engineer intentionally pans the music to come from one side or the other? Can the speakers be made to "disappear" in that situation? Or, is it just the nature of the particular recording?
rlb61
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,803 posts
 
My BAT VK-220 "fell off" the FedEx truck in Indianapolis a few weeks ago and can't be found. Looking for another...
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 

If a given recording is panned fairly hard left and right, then most of the instruments will appear to be coming from the general location in which the left and right speakers are situated.  But this is really coincidental.

Disappearing essentially means non-localizable.  With a full classical orchestra, the first violins should (normally) equally occupy a swathe of the half-circle in front of you that starts outside the left speaker and continues, with equal volume/intensity, to somewhere inside the left speaker.

seanheis1
630 posts
 
You want speakers to disappear? Narrow baffles and small drivers.

Speakers with a precise image? Small drivers and single point source, coaxial or single driver. 
cymbop
315 posts
 
To make a generalization, the size of your midrange drivers has quite a bit to do with it.  I liked the tone that came from the single 10" drivers on my Zu Omens, but a cone that big will never "disappear."  I could always close my eyes and know that the good tone I was hearing came from those two drivers in my room.

My B&Ws, by contrast, have double 5" midrange drivers; on good recordings, I close my eyes and perceive musicians playing instruments in space, not speakers pushing soundwaves from two points in my room.
arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,699 posts
 
So such a phenomenon does exist. and all this time I blamed my wife.
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