Near Field Listneing

I tried listening in the near field I lost a sense of openness and space compared to sitting in the far field — guess I was missing some of those room reflections. I don’t have much by way of room problems, so on balance and in my room I prefer far-field listening, but as always YMMV.

Right. Its a balance. Near vs far is just the crudest cartoon crayon version. Near field is what I did as a teenager wanting to feel Nilsson Jump Into the Fire nice and loud in my bedroom. Lay on the floor speakers either side of my head like headphones. That’s one extreme.

The more sophisticated understanding is the interactive relationship between speakers, listener, and room is a very fine balancing act with nothing but trade-offs everywhere you look.

What with all the different speakers, rooms, and listeners there are so many variables its silly to even try and list the reasons. There is however one simple solution that works everywhere and always: move them around.

Go and listen. You will see.

Oh, and Nilsson? Sounds better than ever.
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367

Aside from the obvious reason of space constraints, are there any other reasons where near field listening/speakers would be preferred versus how one usually listens to music?  IOW, with all things being equal, what would make a listener wish to have a near field setup versus a “traditional” one?

The answer is staring you right in the face. Look at your avatar. You want it nice and loud? The closer you get, the more blown awayyyyyyyyy!