Many good comments above. I like the description of one of the masters of our trade, Mile Nestorovic. He would always say "The speakers should disappear!" For me this is a requirement. I think that was Jayme's point at the start.
What physical attributes or designs will accomplish this? There are many answers. Major considerations, that often involve compromises, are the bass lower frequency limit and the maximum acoustic level (loudness, room size). (this brings us to what music are we playing, and how loud? - as mentioned by Eldartford).
Interesting that no one has mentioned "sound stage" or "imaging" in those terms. But what I like is for this 3-D hologram to appear at the "front" of the room, and I forget that there are speakers, and the music transports me to another dimension.... This is an illusion, of course, and it requires my participation. Very subjective stuff.
This illusion can be convincing when the speakers reproduce the voice and musical instrument sounds, as described by others above; and also do not call attention to themselves due to distortions, noises or introduced sounds (such as resonances), or compression of dynamics.
Cheers
What physical attributes or designs will accomplish this? There are many answers. Major considerations, that often involve compromises, are the bass lower frequency limit and the maximum acoustic level (loudness, room size). (this brings us to what music are we playing, and how loud? - as mentioned by Eldartford).
Interesting that no one has mentioned "sound stage" or "imaging" in those terms. But what I like is for this 3-D hologram to appear at the "front" of the room, and I forget that there are speakers, and the music transports me to another dimension.... This is an illusion, of course, and it requires my participation. Very subjective stuff.
This illusion can be convincing when the speakers reproduce the voice and musical instrument sounds, as described by others above; and also do not call attention to themselves due to distortions, noises or introduced sounds (such as resonances), or compression of dynamics.
Cheers