spread the speakers apart, you get a bigger soundstage between. I did that experiment outside with more power and big speakers, on a 1/2 acre lawn. the soundstage is precise and holographic between the speakers, and not as effective to the sides of the speakers. stereo was originally designed with the listener seated between the speakers, and the speakers in the corners of the room. anything other than that is a compromise, not following the original design of the recordings and stereo playback equipment. if the speakers are placed right next to each other, it's usually because the listening room is on the small side, or the enthusiast is cramped for available space. the ultimate listening room is a big 30' x 30' empty room with a vaulted ceiling rising towards the listeners' side, just like in a concert hall. that's why they build the auditoriums that way in the first place, not only for view, but for acoustics. |
Not a ton of speakers where you can close your eyes and imagine yourself in a concert space, but the best accomplish that. If the engineers dicked around with the multi-track, though, it isn't going to sound like it would in a real room Haven't attended a concert yet where the violinist ran back and forth across the stage as they played....well maybe Nigel Kennedy.
I find that some of the planar speakers are very good at the disappearing act. I own Martin Logan CLS and they disappear very convincingly.
My main speakers offer a dead centre image - so much so that when setting them up for dual use as home theatre speakers, we omitted using a centre speaker - no need and anything that might have slightly bettered what we had would be brutally expensive (I checked and they wanted $9K for the matching centre speaker) |
If I am aware of music coming out of a box, I feel like I have a system that is a failure. Ironic that Michael Green posted. I purchased a pair of his rev60(?) speakers years ago. I thought it crazy in the manual he suggested bringing the speakers half way out into the room and so far apart. But each time I moved the speaker out further and further to that location the magic got better and better. This was the single biggest audio epiphany for me--ever! Thanks Michael.
Michael hit the nail....I listened to wailing speakers and 100 WPC + from 1975 when I was 13 years old, until around 2001. then I got a beat up single ended pentode stereo amp for $10 on a lark, fixed it, and WOW- what a reality check. my high powered solid state amps have all been sold, or sit gathering dust, including my Pioneer SX-1250. you only need 10 watts per channel, if that. I’d still fire up a big solid state rig outside if I was having a huge outdoor party. but for precise listening and holography, the single ended tube amp is the tool that opens up great listening experiences. then you don’t just listen to the music, you feel, see, and WATCH the music, like watching a movie- the way the sound pops out of thin air, from all these different places, left-right-middle, and high, and low. also close, and far, and in the middle distance. all over the place. all the while the speakers sit there like they are off. if sounds like a ghost band is sitting in your living room. BTW, I feel the same way about employment. if I have to be hired by someone else or another company, I've already failed. I have to be self-reliant.
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I have a pair of Martin/Logan SL-3's and first off have to bring them well out from the rear wall as the actually project backwards quite a bit and much ofof the audio experience will be lost totally. Living in a small one bedroom apartment I find near field listening to offer the best results. First offI am able to get fantastic results playing at lower volume settings than typically required. Plus I can close my eyes and the whole audio experience I find to be much fuller and better than otherwise. The bass response I so much better close up. It greatly lessens the need for much of the tweaks required for a typical audio system when floor, ceiling and wall reflections-all those things requiring tweeks unnecessary. Obviously it makes for a smaller area for the listener. It is not a good system for multible listeners-more for a single, or possibly two listeners at a time. But how much better the overall audio experience becomes. Plus living in an apartment, not having to play my system as loud as would otherwise be required helps with the neighbors. Anyway, I find that a close listening experience-near field listening is much better, as well as easier to set up as the alternative. I have read that David Wilson enjoys near field listening in his own home audio system. If it means setting up my system to entirely take over my living room so be it. In other words, my living room is mostly taken ovr by a relatively large audio system. Obviously I am a single man. Too bad there are not more female audiophiles. I also think of Art Dudley whose wife allows him to take over an entire large room of his home for his own audio system. If there were more true audiophiles around who understand their priorities. |
Keep in mind that even with the best speakers, placement, and recording, the speakers will "disappear" only in a listening sweet spot likely not to envelop more than 1-3 listening positions.
I had a pair of Martin Logans for a while. They imaged very well when sitting with my head still, back straight, in one place on my couch. If I moved or stood up, it sounded like a bag was put over my head.
Since I could not strap myself in that position, I traded them for a pair of Dynaudio speakers that had a beautiful tone and could withstand severe volumes. Trade-offs! |
