what speakers do the best "disappearing act"??


what speakers do the best "disappearing act"??
I want speakers that totally envelop you in sound....so much so that it is non-directional, and sound seems to be coming from everywhere in the soundstage...

when I listen to music even with my eyes closed I can tell exactly where my 2 speakers are located and most of the sound eminates directly from them these 2 speakers..so maybe it's time to upgrade..my system is a pair of NHT 3.3, wadia 850 cdp, and odyssey monoblock amps.
eantala

Showing 2 responses by subaruguru

I'll proffer a vote for the Parsifal Encores (but with Alephs!) too....

Many interesting posts, folks, but my first thought relates to the inaccuracy in the pair-matching process. Image flotation specificity is wildly affected by acoustic loading AND left/right variations in amplitude response, no?
ANY carefully-matched pair of good-sounding speakers, all other things being equal, will image well.

Some manufacturers are exceptionally careful about specing matched pairs (Verity certainly excells here; Snell, and even Boston (!) are famous for tight control of driver response tolerances, whereas some are notoriously poor.

When I realized that even good manufacturers (SEAS, Vifa, et al) will only control tweeters and mids to +/- 1-2dB in non-custom lots, I knew that amateur attempts to make cloned pairs would be prohibitively costly.
Although process controls are improving all the time for driver specing and sorting (crossovers, too), I always wonder if the "critically reviewed" pair actually sound like the ones one is apt to get. I think the most dangerous thing to do is to decide on a speaker pair after home-demoing a dealer's pair, and then insisting on a brand new pair! Most of us (between bouts of tinnitus) can hear
1/3 dB shifts in midrange response over only an octave or two, right? xcept for only SOME of the best manufacturers, there's practically NO WAY you can get a second pair to sound that close to another!

I know that arguments re room loading, driver smoothness, diffraction and phase issues are pertinent here, but I don't think the mirror-imaging inaccuracies should be ignored because they're too difficult to think about!
Just a wee hours thought....Ern
Pbb, re 1/3 dB sensitivity threshold: I wasn't referring to a simple change in amplitude, but a subtle change in VOICING that occurs when tweaking a crossover in the upper midrange. I measured a just barely noticeable difference carefully, and found 1/4-1/3 dB change from 1500 to 3000Hz.
It was certainly consistent, too, and brought me to the realization that pair-matching is a critical edge-of-the-art
requirement for razor-sharp imaging, and that sample-specific variations create a large enough color range that we all rush to cable and preamp bandaids to arrive at a spectral shape we personally enjoy. GREAT transducer manufacturing is for the dedicated folks with strong QA background and a will to spend the $ for the narrow-limited
reference ideal...a touch of masochism helps, too!
I've the QA and engineering background, but I quench my masochistic needs elsewhere...like trying to connect 10-3AWG to connectors of late! Cheers.