Are there speakers that disappear regardless of the recording?


I have a pair of B&W 805d3’s. Strictly analog system. Source is the Clearaudio Ovation, Hana SL cart. Herron VTPH-2A phono stage. Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II integrated amp. The speakers sound great most of the time. I have many records that cause the speakers to essentially disappear with a holographic sound stage, beautiful imaging and great dynamics. Some other records, not so much. Curious if there’s a way to achieve disappearing speakers no matter what recording you throw at them? Thanks!

paulgardner

"Are there speakers that disappear regardless of the recording?"

No, I don't think so.  The sense of space and the stereo stage is a function of the original recording.  Others have mentioned the old RCA and Mercury recordings as examples of recordings that capture that space.  Those were made during an age where recording engineers let the conductor and the musicians take care of the balance.  The engineers spent a lot more time finding the optimal location for 2 or 3 microphones.  Some more recent recordings by Keith Johnson, the folks at Telarc, Chandos and Chesky achieve similar results with more modern equipment, but adhering to the minimalist approach to miking the orchestra.  As soon as you start adding more mics, things have the potential to go downhill fast.  Decca in England had some interesting techniques that involved additional mics and were successful in capturing the space, but it was done very carefully. 

Nah it is in the equipment not the speakers.  Speaker design helps but we made old AR 510 box speakers disappear.  Your equipment has to be up to the task.

No, it does not exist. As someone else said, if not in recording its not going to happen. There are so many recordings and all are different. Some sound terrible, some acceptable, and some sound fantastic. There are some older analog lp's that will blow your mind with the unreal tubey magical sound with super wide soundstage. They do not record music in this way anymore....what a shame. 

I’m still trying to get my speakers/room/seating position right, but there are many Symphony recordings and Rock albums from the sixties that sound really really bad no matter what you do.

All the best.

JD