When Did Your System Disappear?

I suppose you never forget your first time.

Thorens TD318, Stanton 881s
VanAlstine Super PAS 3 with GE Milspec tubes
Heathkit W4m monoblocks (serviced not restored)
NEAR 10M speakers

Miles Davis 4 and More / My Funny Valentine
Ella Fitzgerald- various Verve LPs- all mono.

With the lights out the sonic image was holographic.   I was not aware of the confines of the speaker boxes, or the spatial limits of the room in which I sat.

I felt I was in the audience back in 1964 experiencing Miles in person.

Ella was in the room, front and center.  Sure it was mono, but I heard depth and air.  The back edge of the band seemed to recede into the horizon.  

Late 1997.

In the present, I can tell when my system is dialed in by how much I don't hear the physical placement of my speakers.   I can close my eyes and be enveloped in sound that exists free of the dimensions of my speakers.  Speaker quality and placement is key (of course) but quality of system components also affects the ability to disappear.   

The first time I clearly heard "height" as a distinct component of a central image was after changing to an ARC SP10-MK2.   I could follow the path of a trumpet horn as the musician moved around.  I could hear the relative position of a trumpet bell and then hear the different position of the bell of a saxophone during solos.   

     It first happened when I went from my (Shure V-15) Crown IC150, and Phase Linear 400 driven stacked Advents to Audire electronics, (Supex 900 Mark IV cartridge), driven B&W's, followed by gradual enhancements over the decades with upgrades of the same brands (Or designer).
     Another interesting change was my 25 years with electrostsatics, while never selling my old B&W's, then replacing both with newer B&W's.  Old B&W's now on TV.  'Stats gone!

"When Did Your System Disappear?"

Slowly over the past couple of weeks, through on-line sale(s).
With no employment for the last month and no light at the end of the tunnel due to CV-19, I needed the cash to pay the bills!
UGH

high-amp  - sorry man and hope this schtuff get us back to normal(?) soon and you can re-build . 

I dodged losing my first system due to divorce in '91.  She brought in one of my dealers to appraise the system and I ended up giving her the house and a car.  Got rid of her , house, and a car I detested all at the same time.  Deal ?  Hell yes... 

To the questions at hand from the OP,  My system disappeared when I bought my dream house, my bachelor palace in 2005 and was able to set up my best music room ever.  It has further deepened in absence with recent equipment, iC & speaker tweaks .

I find myself fading out right along with it more regularly with the current shut-in situation.  

Stay Home - Stay Healthy - Stay Connected  ....and Happy Listening my friends ! 

I've really only heard the disappearing effect to a highly convincing level by using a divider plate to eliminate stereo cross talk, sitting fairly close to the speakers and far from the walls,  and then some EQ to fix  the response issues caused by the divider plate, and then a recording that has some coherent ambient information in it, which usually means NOT a studio mix of any kind. It didn't require high end equipment. Just a highly inconvenient listening setup. Getting the EQ right was extremely important to creating the illusion for me.I also used absorption above and to the sides of the speakers to minimize wall reflections. Really a PITA, but I've never heard anything more convincing from megabuck systems. Crosstalk is the great spoiler in my mind, bringing great systems down a long, long way and making them sound essentially similarly wrong to much, much less expensive systems in terms of imaging. At least that's how my ears react. So I don't pay as much attention to imaging depth and pay attention mostly to clarity and good tonality, low distortion, smooth dispersion and response. I expect a speaker system to reveal itself sonically like a good work of art does visually, with it's frame clearly visible, but also give me a very good insight into the musical performance, which is plenty challenging but at least it's possible without getting into a very constrained listening position.