Is it possible to have Good Imaging close to wall

"05-31-14: Mapman
If you place a pair of speakers outside say with no walls behind or otherwise, you will likely only hear 1-D stereo effect between the speakers. No reflected sound, no imaging beyond that. Its the early reflections that blur detail and imaging. Otherwise, when the timing between direct and reflected sound is more naturally in synch, that's when more "holographic" type imaging and soundstage that extends beyond and behind the speakers is possible."

It seems to me that there may be more to it. What about phase? I'm sure that most of us here has heard this at one point, but if not, wire your speakers out of phase with each other. If you play some music that normally has a strong vocal image floating directly between the speakers, it now comes from the side wall. I fully understand that doing this is "wrong" from an audiophile standpoint, but you have to admit that its a pretty amazing demo as to how to make images that come from someplace other than the speakers. Especially, how far beyond the speaker the images go.

Aside from that, equipment choice has a huge effect on all aspects of imaging. So if you have a pair of speakers close to the wall, its likely that the electronics will play a big part in how the system images. I can easily see a situation in having good and bad imaging results with the same speakers close to the wall just because of the associated components.

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.

Loudspeakers with controlled radiation pattern
like horns can be used up against wall with little to no penalty

Onhwy61, if I understand you correctly, then having having sound coming from outside the loudspeaker's position is not accurate? I ask because I use large floorstanders positioned relatively close to the side walls. The imaging between the speakers is great, but there I perceive no sound coming from outside the loudspeaker's position.

Onhwy61 has a good point, and I have to wonder if early reflections are really the problem. Placement right up against the wall should solve any problem with early reflections and result in good sound, but it doesn't seem to work that way. My feeling is that reflected sound is required for good soundstage, and that increased distances from walls afforded by larger rooms will result in better sound, assuming that the system is capable of generating good sound pressure with low distortion.