Is it possible to have Good Imaging close to wall

In my personal view you only can achieve a stunning 3 dimensional image if you are able to get all the properties out of a speaker who owns the properties to build a deep and wide stage.

Most speakers use average or poor crossovers. They are not even able to give a lot of depth and with.

Same thing about the cabinet and speaker units. They need to be exeptional to give you a 3 dimensional image

Those speakers who can give a wide and deep stage need amps and sources who also can do this at an exeptional level.

When you compare and test different amps you will realize that most will not give you a deep and wide stage.
Even when the speakers are capable, sources and amps can easilly change the image from 3 dimensional to 2 dimensional.

Last year I asked many people at a show who had an audio shop if they knew which of their brands can give a 3 dimensional image. Many did not know. They asked me how I created it.

They do not understand the properties of the products they sell. I was thinking; how the F.. do you sell audio?

I need the best cables to bring in the blacks for a stunning physical image. I use silver for their extra resolution and decay. And the extra air around voices and instruments.

A stunning image only can be created by using speakers, amps, sources, conditioners and cables togheter to the max. All properties need to be there for the absolute sound!

"speakers should get a grip on the room."

That's a very good way to put it! Its fundamental to best sound. Room acoustics always determine the end result in all ways.

No early reflections always. Then tune in from there as needed. Many ways to get tuned in accordingly. Distance from walls, treatments, whatever works best.

Coherency among drivers matters for soundstage and imaging as well. Crossover can be a big factor there.

O_holter, it was certainly not my intension to criticise Mapman. Regarding
your comment about great speaker, it is a matter of setting up properly the
speakers in the room - the room will always "sing" along with any speakers
irrespectively whether it is a good or a bad speaker. We have all heard great
speakers sounding like crap.

Mapman, I am sorry if as suggested by O_holter, my post sounded like
criticism. I merely wanted to explain why you interpretation of what you have
read about secondary reflection is not correct. I was not the first one to point
this out. I have hoped that by making an analogy with the more known effects
induced by the room on the bass, it will be easier for people to follow my
argument. Obviously, as O_Holter message above indicates, I was wrong. I’ll
give it another try and I’ll be as succinct as possible.

Of course I agree/know that secondary reflections provide informations to our
brains about the surroundings - because of them we know immediately
whether we are in a small room or in a large room. Therefore, it is logical that
one needs secondary reflections to create a three-dimensional sound stage.
However, the key point is that on recordings that have a good sound-stage
the secondary reflections that give information to our brain about the venue
where the recording was made have been captured by the microphone during
the recording process. Consequently, my point is that in order to clearly hear
the secondary reflections that have occurred in the recording room/venue, we
need to minimise the reflections in our room. We talk about delicate details
which may be masked by the secondary reflections that occur in our rooms. I,
for one, am trying to hear the venue where the recording was made and not
my room.

Of course one can make use of the reflections in his/her room to
increase/decrease the soundstage to his/her liking. But, like in the case of
bass, the results may not always be beneficial/accurate. There is a reason why
so many MBL shows (organised by MBL personal) go wrong. I agree that when
properly set up MBL speakers can sound mesmerising (maybe not 100%
accurate but 100% accuracy is not my goal anyway.)

Perfect sound does not exist yet. Many demos at shows are not that good. Even those who made it are often not able to give a good or stunning demo.

At the end of every show the most demos were not that good. Those people come back next year. You keep a big % average or even poor level of audio equipment.

You have a lot more average imaging speakers than exeptional good imaging speakers. People still buy these average speakers.

Many customers are not good adviced in audio in general. Most will not have a stunning sound. It is that simple. At the end this is the truth!

People with less