How to Achieve Great Imaging & Soundstage

Well said Tubegroover! Perhaps you read between the lines in my initial post, but some of those speakers I auditioned did leave me concerned about listener fatigue as a trade-off for imaging. Speakers that are midrange dominant and congested are not worth the price of imaging.

Can anyone pinpoint the characteristics of a speaker that makes it image well (size, a specific tonal balance, ???).

Also, even though equipment is a personal taste issue, are there any that really stand out?

Peter, I really didn't want to get into specifics on speakers. I'm not sure if you are unhappy with what you have or whether it is something that could be improved with placement and ancillaries. I am not familiar with the Titus speakers, your room or set-up so any further advice on specific speakers that do what you ask might seem presumptuous on my part. I am using Merlin VSM-M, which I love. They do it all but their presentation may or may not be to your liking. The only speaker system I can imagine replacing them would be a dipole but it won’t be anytime soon.

The point is that FIRST, if you haven't already, is experiment with placement in as many ways as possible within the constraints of the room. Too many people jump around without knowing exactly where the problem lies which might otherwise be remedied by working out the details of placement. As Bob Bundas notes, imaging is a bonus for some and mandatory for others. I really believe that it should come as a bonus and not become a goal in and of itself.

I have both great imaging/soundstaging and tonal balance/timbral accuracy. It is the result of the system and placement, not just the speakers although they are exceptional in this regard. Musical tastes also come into play. I have spent the past 2 years getting this system to where it is based on my listening preferences. This has involved numerous amplifiers, speaker placement, wire changes, room treatments and numerous other tweeks. It is still a work in progress. It takes time and patience. Upgrading gear was made to compliment the speakers once I came to the conclusion that they were staying. I knew that though they were very challenging initially, contrary to what others were saying, it was only because of the room and the ancillaries. The intrinsic character was recognized early on. This you must find out. Are the speakers doing everthing important to you, do they have a characteristic that is irritating is something missing or do they have a fundamental rightness to your ears?

I don’t want to get on a soapbox here but I feel when reading some posts on this site that many involved in this hobby are looking for their system to “sound” a certain way while missing the goal of realizing long term musical satisfaction which can only come by connecting to the artistry of the performance. This is reproduced audio at its best. We will all have different opinions of what that is but a musically involving system should be easily recognizable when heard. Getting to that point involves real effort, luck, trial and error, advice but first and foremost, a GOOD ROOM, IMHO. This site is full of individuals that can guide one trying to achieve this. I am speaking to you with the understanding that you are an audiophile that has first and primarily, a love of music. The audiophile community is divided into two camps, in my view, the sound freaks and those that want to capture the realness of music through an audio system. Just some food for thought.

Audio Physic speakers are known for their soundstaging ability, they disappear completelely when positioned correctly. I bought the Virgo II's largely for their imaging ability. ONly problem is that you have to put them out into the center of the room for them to sound their best, they typically require a dedicated listening room.

Two words: point source. From my listening experiences, the closer a driver comes to initiating sound from a point source, the better the imaging. The more the speakers will disappear.
The second major issue is cabinet size/ difraction/ resonance. A small cabinet will usually have less resonance. A narrow cabinet like Audio Physic is very important.
Third may be tube electronics giving better depth. Something to do with phase shift.
Of course speaker placement, far out from front wall with nothing between them.

This is not a hierarchical approach, but a few tips.
First, choose speakers which image well (ProAc Tablette Reference, ProAc Response 1sc, Arcus Cello, Sonus Faber, Totem, etc.).
Experiment with positions in the middle of the room to avoid colorations from wall reflections. Do not place in front of angled walls; remove obstructions in back of the speakers to avoid wave diffraction.
Use extremely stable, heavy stands, that are coupled well to the floor, and raise the tweeter to ear level. Couple the speaker to the stand using either Blue-Tac, spikes, or Symposium rollerballs.
Take the crossovers out of the cabinet and place them on a dampened support at least a few feet from the speakers themselves.
Make sure the speaker cables are exactly the same length for each side.
(Although this is not really crucial for soundstage, you can experiment with different cable lengths for tweeter and woofer between the crossover and the drivers. The total signal length in the crossover is typically unequal for each. Also, decay times for tweeter are much faster than the woofer. If possible measure this with lab equipment.)
Bi-amp if possible with the same model amplifier. Hopefully the amp has a relatively short and uncomplicated signal. (SET amps, minimalist SS like 47 Labs Gaincard, etc.)
Use relatively simple speaker cables and raise them off the floor, making sure they make no contact with speaker cabinet. I prefer thin single-strand solid-core copper speaker cables directly soldered (with minimum amount of solder) onto the speaker terminals and crossovers.
Upgrade crossover components (capacitors, etc.). If possible, do away with all circuit boards for crossovers, and directly wire crossover components to each other.
Remove speakers and examine damping material in the cabinets, to make sure it is equal in volume and distribution. You can experiment with changing it, if you want.
Tighten the speakers to the cabinet.