Is it possible to have Good Imaging close to wall


I keep looking for the best speakers to stand flush against the front wall and end up looking at the usual suspects: North Creek Kitty Kat Revelators, Allisons (now old), Von Schweikert VR-35, NHT Classic 4s, Audio Note AN/K, and other sealed or front ported speakers. But I have never understood how, even though the bass is controlled, they can defy the law of physics and image as well as, say, my great actually owned other speakers, Joseph Audio Pulsars, far out in the room? Is it physically possible for these flush mounted speakers to image as well?
springbok10

Showing 4 responses by onhwy61

Mapman, I believe you are confusing acoustic reflections contained in the recorded signal with those reflections produced by playback in a room. One is part of the music signal and the other is a happenstance of a specific loudspeaker/room interaction. Bose 901s are an extreme example of the use of room generated reflected sound.
If the rear wall reflection is so problematic, then why not eliminate it entirely. Speakers placed flush with the wall would have minimal reflections, or am I missing something? If you're interested in hearing the soundstage depth that's actually on the recording, as opposed to that produced by your room's reflections, I would think in-wall positioning would be a solution. Obviously, people who favor omni-directional or dipole loudspeakers would probably disagree.

Also wouldn't loudspeakers that have control directivity help? I have a pair of Gradient Revolution speakers which are designed to suppress rear soundwave above bass frequencies.
If you placed your speakers outdoors they would reproduce the stereo information contained in the recording. The perception of recorded depth, if there is any in the recording, will not be effected. If a recording is relatively phase coherent, then there should be little to no sound coming from outside the loudspeakers' position. Using wall reflected sound from wide dispersion, dipole or even omni-directional loudspeakers can sound very pleasant, but in all but the largest rooms they will not produce accurate stereo information.

Incidentally, I do not recommend using your loudspeakers outside because it will seriously degrade most loudspeaker's bass performance.
Reflected sound is not required for the decoding of soundstage/imaging information contained in recordings. If a loudspeaker adds extra treble, it's inaccurate. If a loudspeaker adds extra deep bass, it's inaccurate. If a loudspeaker adds spaciousness, it too is inaccurate. Any of these inaccuracies might sound pleasing, but they are distortions of the original music signal.

For more detailed information about stereo recordings and you should read the series of articles from TAS by Robert E. Greene.