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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
rlb61 OP
789 posts
 
Great suggestions, but the size of my room precludes implementing several of them. My room is 11x9x8 and well treated. I have the speakers 3' from the side walls and 3' from the back wall. That's about the best I can get ... it's a challenge.
sima66
6 posts
 
I'm running stacked, fully rebuilt Quads 57 and with my previous Audio Aero Prestige mono's (tubes), I had all the instruments so precise positioned on the rear wall and behind the speakers, that you could swear that there are multiple speakers on that real wall. Focus deep and sniper sharp! 
My speakers were there only like a display and, for some reason, I always attributed that to 57's, because I never heard that anywhere else!
Heaven!!!

I got tired of tube hustles (specially 211's) and decided to switch to SS amps.
Since 57's are difficult to drive, one of the best options appear to be something from Pass Labs bigger amp(s), so I went with XA100.5.
Connecting the Pass amps, my real wall instruments completely disappeared, no focus, voice into my face, all the music coming from my speakers!
From heaven to hell!

The last 3-4 weeks I'm constantly moving the speakers around and I was able to get a better focus, more "homogenized" sound within the speakers and the middle (the focus), but not able to get the deepness and nothing from my rear wall! Rear wall instruments does not exist anymore, they are now coming from the speaker and that's annoying me very much!
Now no one's ask anymore where the sound is coming from......they all know! :)


akaim8's avatar
akaim8
28 posts
 
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.
wspohn's avatar
wspohn
603 posts
 
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)
akaim8's avatar
akaim8
28 posts
 

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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