Make speakers disappear. Simple, cheap

A book could literally be written about some of the questions presented in the last two posts. Near field is something that I have done before, but isn’t my typical listening style. It can sound fantastic, and has, especially when there are no side walls and there is a valley behind you. 

If you are wondering how that was achieved, we set up an outdoor system on a porch that forced you to sit near field. The side walls were pretty much non-existent, because to the Left, only a foot worth of a stone chimney darted out from the wall 17 feet away (fireplace was inside) and there was nothing on the other side. Behind us, the mountain literally dropped off a cliff hundreds of feet below us and didn’t come back up for about a 1/4 mile. That was the absolute best I have ever heard a near field setup. 

You do speak truth, in that the microphones do not capture things the way our ears do. That said, the recording and mastering engineers have ways to manipulate the sound, that "recreates" the event, according to how they want it to sound. The best we can ever hope for is the best "approximation" of the original event. Even with the best gear, microphone placement, mastering and recording techniques. Even when utilizing one’s favorite playback format. At the end of the day, it's still just an approximation. 
 

Tom

Stereo itself creates an audible illusion. I can hear the sax on the left side, bass player on the right and the singer is clear in the middle. Not perfect but pretty darn good when set up correctly. I like it alot!

@treitz3  the set up on porch is very interesting. You created a blank space with no visual distractions between the speakers that would enhance depth of field. Did you ever listen to it on a dark night? Looking into the dark abyss? With eyes wide open you can 'see' the musicians. Instead of staring at a wall.

Since I don't have a mountain drop off I'm using dark faric to create a similar type of effect that works either near field or equalateral.

Well, not completely dark. There was the kitchen light that shined through the full window door off to the left of the setup. The illusion of what was heard was flat out, special. This was just a crazy setup we created out of leftover gear at an audio event eons ago. Still unforgettable. 

We were obviously in the mountains, so no ambient or city lights were around us. The nearest town was 7 miles away, over the other side of the mountain, and even then. That was the first town for about 30 to 50 miles, in all directions. Plus, it was a very small town....so it was rather dark. If you walked off of the porch? You couldn't see a thing, even after 5 minutes of no lights being on. A flashlight was required to see.

The only exception was when there were no clouds and an unobstructed (by the mountains) full moon. 

Tom

With eyes wide open you can 'see' the musicians. Instead of staring at a wall.

@gdaddy1 if you are staring at the front wall (without the paint/fabric in place), then you still have to work out your speaker placement, since you are not able to get the depth that the system should project. With the right setup you would have the perception of depth with vocals (most of them) near the front and the instruments either on the sides and/or behind - depends on the recording.

Still interested in seeing your setup with the paint/fabric; if you can post it.

Dear @treitz3  :  Thank's again.

I knew that I was missing " something " wider on what I could imagine.

For a few days I will be busy but I come back to you as soon is possible due that exist many critical and inresting audio  issues in your posts that I would like to share here.

Rigth now I only can think that in that " free space " the speaker efficiency spec could be really important.

R.