My room is 14x18x8, with a 5' doorway behind my chair on the back wall leading into a smaller room.
I sit in a 7.5' triangle, 8-9' out from the front wall
(grand piano behind the speaker plane), and can assure you that I have an incredibly DEEP soundstage that also is wider than the speaker spread. Sidewall reflections are tamed by
stuffed sofa and chair against sidewall reflection points,m sometimes with a throw-pillow propped on top. Flipping the piano's music desk downward significantly eliminates imaging vagueness. This nearfield arrangement works superbly to eliminate room-induced problems, but only with speakers that cohere nicely in the nearfield. I was VERY unhappy with the N803 in this regard...surprisingly incoherent! I blew all my $$ on Parsifal Encores. Their superb midrange is crossed extremely (150/5500hz), so lobing issues are minimized. The (front-firing-arranged) woofers are quick and potent enough to be flat in-room to 30Hz! Toe-in to reduce sidewall splatter and widen sweet-spot a bit results in a little 6-8k heat, so many CDs sound too edgy, but I live with it.
Other speakers demoed included Aeriel 8 (way too bass-heavy), Aeriel 7b (not bad), Thiel 2.3 (too lean), Fidelio (rear-firing woofer anemic when way out from front wall), and Revel F30 (SUPERB midrange, esp for the $, but poor WAF in New England Arts & Crafts decor, and lumpier bass).
To repeat: although I sit only about 6 ft from the speaker plane, I "see" images routinely way back to the front wall
(16'), and sometimes outside into the front yard bushes!
It's clear that near-field listening ENABLES, not PRECLUDES
huge soundstage depth, while minimizing room reflection problems and POSSIBLY lumpy bass nodes. But ya gotta find speakers that cohere in a short distance. Good Luck.
Ernie
I sit in a 7.5' triangle, 8-9' out from the front wall
(grand piano behind the speaker plane), and can assure you that I have an incredibly DEEP soundstage that also is wider than the speaker spread. Sidewall reflections are tamed by
stuffed sofa and chair against sidewall reflection points,m sometimes with a throw-pillow propped on top. Flipping the piano's music desk downward significantly eliminates imaging vagueness. This nearfield arrangement works superbly to eliminate room-induced problems, but only with speakers that cohere nicely in the nearfield. I was VERY unhappy with the N803 in this regard...surprisingly incoherent! I blew all my $$ on Parsifal Encores. Their superb midrange is crossed extremely (150/5500hz), so lobing issues are minimized. The (front-firing-arranged) woofers are quick and potent enough to be flat in-room to 30Hz! Toe-in to reduce sidewall splatter and widen sweet-spot a bit results in a little 6-8k heat, so many CDs sound too edgy, but I live with it.
Other speakers demoed included Aeriel 8 (way too bass-heavy), Aeriel 7b (not bad), Thiel 2.3 (too lean), Fidelio (rear-firing woofer anemic when way out from front wall), and Revel F30 (SUPERB midrange, esp for the $, but poor WAF in New England Arts & Crafts decor, and lumpier bass).
To repeat: although I sit only about 6 ft from the speaker plane, I "see" images routinely way back to the front wall
(16'), and sometimes outside into the front yard bushes!
It's clear that near-field listening ENABLES, not PRECLUDES
huge soundstage depth, while minimizing room reflection problems and POSSIBLY lumpy bass nodes. But ya gotta find speakers that cohere in a short distance. Good Luck.
Ernie