Speakers "Disappearing"

Frequently your speakers will disappear when you leave your doors unlocked.

Now that I got that out of my system, I have a very asymmetrical room and the width of my soundstage was very variable with different recordings. My system performed well with the Chesky Ultimate Demonstration Disc Vol. 2 (love that deep bass track); but not every disc or LP sounded as good. On a whim I ordered The IsoTek Ultimate System Set-Up Disc, from Music Direct if I recall. This is the only disc I’ve found that has a series of tracks that first guide one to get the channels balanced, then optimize the width of the soundstage, then the depth, then the three dimensional realism. It made a big difference in my system in my room, not just refining my speaker and listening chair replacement; but rearranging furniture and objects in the room.

Disclaimer: not in anyway affiliated. I have posted this in other threads as relevant. If you've read it before, bear with me.

my speakers don't physically disappear, they are up too high on a shelf, and are too big and heavy.  today's thieves prefer light, modern, high tech stuff to steal, preferably the otherwise worthless, useless stuff made in China.  hahaha.  having said that, my speakers are jammed into the upper corners of my listening room, not angled inwards and right against the wall and ceiling.  and they sound great and stereo image like a mutha.  every time one of my friends comes over, and angles them inward, they soundstage deflates dramatically.  less bloom and stability.  and that's all I have to say about that...(smirk...)

Most speakers will disappear better if you:

1.  Pull them well out from the rear wall.
2. Get closer to nearfield listening (7 feet or closer)
3. Spread them wider apart (provided they have decent dispersion to keep center fill).
4. Reduce toe in, hence angle them more straight forward.  Toeing out tends to make for larger image sizes, with a less "tight to the speakers" sound, more spaciousness and warmer tone.

@edstrelow,


That's one reason why I generally dislike exposed speaker drivers in speakers.  When I see precisely what is generating the sound, my mind struggles to not "see" the sound coming from them.  E.g. I hear drum cymbals and think "well, that's a nice tweeter."   Speakers with grills on always do a much better job of seeming independent of the music happening around them. 

I have also very often listened with a light over my listening sofa, but lights off over the speakers, which also helps the magic of musicians appearing in front of me, without distraction.

For similar reasons I covered my home theater speakers with black velvet so they completely disappear from view with the lights out.  Only seeing the projected image and not the speakers helps the mind map the sound on to the image better in my experience.

Interestingly enough, I've also found a similar effect at my local drive in movie theater (yes we still have one!).    The soundtrack is piped through the car stereo system.  But I don't see any speakers, and in the dark we are just sitting in the car, hearing sound and seeing the giant picture.  And yet our minds effortlessly map the sound in the car as coming from the giant screen hundreds of feet away! 

I remember also playing with the subjective aspect of imaging when I was listening to my small Thiel 02 speakers.  Those old speakers came with a pair of low-rise wire stands, which simply raised them a few inches off the floor, but angled them up towards the seated listener.
When looking at the speakers the soundstage tended to seem low, hovering above the ground in the plain of the speakers.  But I closed my eyes and simply imagined I was now listening to a pair of tall floor standing speakers.  Amazingly enough I could "hear" the images of the singer and musicians slowly rise up until it seemed to be projected from a floor standing speaker.  

So with all these different experiences I've always paid lots of attention to how seemingly peripheral elements affect the listening experience.