Making speakers “disappear”…..

I have a small "L" shaped listening room; thus, I have a near field setup.  My room is 11'-5" wide; long wall is 28'-2"; short wall is 15'-7".  My speakers are 2'-5" from the side walls; 4'-0" from the front wall; 6'-10" apart; and toed-in about 3/4".  My listening position is 13'-5" from the front wall, i.e., 9'-5" from the speakers.

I spent a lot of time on Agon researching this topic and tried many different things trying to make my speakers disappear. I finally purchased Paul McGowan's Audiophile's Guide.  I found it both informative and very useful, and it helped me dial my system in.  By that I mean, depending on the music source and qualify of the recording, my speakers may or may not disappear; my soundstage may or may not be wider than my speakers; and I have not yet used any acoustic treatment on any wall. 

For the price of a book and suggestions found on Agon, and a lot of moving the speakers and sitting position, and adjusting the toe-in, most of the time my speakers do disappear.  I think the book helped the most.  I'm quite happy with my current setup.  

Hi guys, so many responses and I’m e trendelt grateful, so many responses on two other categories I can’t respond as I’m flying today - 30 hours with stop-overs but I will get to these in the coming weeks, just jumping on so you guys don’t think I’m ungrateful.

thanks to everybody so far !!!

@thomastrouble 

Most folks know bookshelves pull off the "disappearing act" much easier than floor standers. When they don't it typically means there's something about the room setup (reflections and room modes) that's ruining the illusion.

Changing out any upstream gear (cables included) often requires a fresh examination of speaker placement. I just changed DAC's and that had me moving my speakers 5 inches closer to the rear wall and 6 inches closer to the side walls, with a tad less toe in.

Even with great room setup poor recordings will almost always tell you exactly where your speakers are. It's just something we sentimental people occasionally have to put up with.

Listener position is also a factor, which some forum members have already commented on. I have two positions that I like to bounce back and forth between. The first being the equilateral triangle, which gives me a smoother, more refined presentation. The second being the "89% setup" aka. nearfield. The "89% setup" gives me a more immersive and exciting experience. In my rig my speakers do a great job of disappearing at both listener positions, which should tell you listener position isn't the most critical factor, but nevertheless shouldn't be ignored.

So it's really an alchemy of these five factors (gear/recording quality/room treatment/listening position/speaker placement) that determine whether or not your speakers "disappear", and the only way to achieve this is to experiment. Rules of thumb are great, just don't fall into the trap of any one dogma. The best in the business have spent decades crafting their setup skills. The whole process of exploring what works and what doesn't isn't just about finding the sweet spot (for you), it helps train your ears.

Then there's the whole realm of psychoacoustics to explore, but that's another topic and deserves a good bottle of wine to go with it ; ) 

Happy listening!

Since you are playing around with set up and have endless option make sure you try the off axes corner set up. Almost every room at the audio shows us this method. It contributes to the soundstage and adds a 3d sound.

Don't forget toe-in, which can not only affect imaging but widen the sweet spot. Some speakers sound better below the tweeter axis, and with little to no toe-in.

For me, that vast majority of speakers I've had "disappear" better when I don't toe them in much - i.e. closer to angled straight ahead.   Toe in tends to bring in more image precision, but also tends to tighten up and squeeze the imaging and soundtaging.  Toeing back out loosens things up, expands the soundstage and imaging, and seems to free it more from the speaker.  Sort of like the difference a lot of people hear between a classic solid state amp (heavy toe in) and a classic tube amp (toe out).