Imaging

I have three thoughts on this subject, have been considering it awhile myself as I listen around. 1. visual illusion affects the listening experience; small boxes image better because they look smaller and somehow that makes the image illusion more effective. 2. Sizzly tweeters kill imaging. 3. Room placement is probably more important to imaging than anything else. With all this said, the best-imaging speakers I've ever heard were Dynaudios, although my experience is not all that broad. Will be interested to hear other opinions.

i note that some one has just listed a pair of paragon jubilee/jems for 2300. i have owned these speakers for 5 years now and i can't speak too highly of them. see my prior posts on this board and on audio asylum for my comments. i can't figure out why anyone would sell them. they replaced my quad 63's which are now in the attic. these speakers truly disappear and are neutral and transparent. they are not a difficult load for an amp. i run my with a baron or a sonic's frontier. they are very revealing without being bright. paragon is out of business due to marketing problems not design and implementation. check them out.

I think that there is only one absolute in audio: if you are ever unfortunate enough to get zapped by the high voltages of a tube amp, and live, you will ABSOLUTELY never make that mistake again! Happy Tunes!

If you like how Mirage does it, check out their MRM-1 Reference Monitors. I'm running mine with a pair of VAC PA160 mkII monoblocks and they disappear on a daily basis. Well suited for small to medium rooms. I would not, however, recommend them for a large listening room.

I think that smaller speakers ( especially two ways ) have several distinct advantages over larger speakers:

1) The drivers are closer together, creating more of an illusion of a point source

2) There is less baffle area for diffraction

3) There is less cabinet to resonate or create a "boxy" sound

4) There are typically less components in the signal path / crossover to get in the way

Having said all of that, there are some larger speakers that can "disappear" wonderfully. Much of this is obviously their design. The other variables would be placement, room acoustics and the quality of signal being fed to them.

I have changed components within a system and gone from having two speakers in the room to having live performers in my room. The speakers didn't change, the room acoustics didn't change, but the signal chain did. Don't overlook your system and room as working as a "system". It all adds up or subtracts from the total presentation of what we hear. Sean
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