All things equal, the electronics also make a big difference. Same speakers, music/source, room, cables, and now throw in a good class A SET tube amplifier in the mix and the speakers will just melt in the room. A good tube preamp will also paint a very different picture of the music between and around the speakers.
Speakers "Disappearing"
I have read a lot about speakers "disappearing" so that one can't tell from where the sound is emanating. But, what about all the stereo tunes where the recordiing engineer intentionally pans the music to come from one side or the other? Can the speakers be made to "disappear" in that situation? Or, is it just the nature of the particular recording?