Speakers that disappear

put Vandersteen on your listening list

I have a pair of Magnepan MMG, Vandersteen 2 and Mofi Sourcepoint 8 all in my living room, hooked up to the same McIntosh amplifier (using a switch-box).

ALL three pair do the disappearing act . . .  but the listening chair had to be moved forward or backward slightly, and the speakers are (obviously) at different positions within the room. It's all about your room (mine is half-treated), the speakers' placement, and the seating position relative to those speakers.

WHY do I have so many different speakers? Each presents the stereo image differently and I switch monitors based on the recording I am playing.

re: brummgon: I saw a relevant interview with Richard Vandersteen recently, in his opinion the speakers with the largest sweet spot are the ones with the worst phase accuracy, and they can't do pin-point imaging as a result. This is why his designs are not dipole or omnipolar.

I agree that all speakers can be made to disappear with proper placement of the speakers and the listening position.  It also MAY help to have some room treatment (can be as simple and unobtrusive as putting up a wall hanging on large exposed surfaces or adding diffusion with bookcases, potted plants, etc.).

The difference between speakers tend to make certain types easier to get to disappear.  Small standmounted speakers placed well away from walls are particularly easy to make disappear. 

But anything can be made to disappear. Just this weekend I heard a system with very good imaging that sort of defies the usual expectations because of its size.  It is more than 30" wide, taller than six feet and is three feet deep (horn-based).  If that elephant in the room can disappear, anything can.

Few speakers disappear in smallish concrete block rooms.