Speaker imaging

Other factors changing the sound, for me, include

Getting a haircut, placing a different piece of furniture in the sweet spot,
vacuuming the carpet before a listening session, treating (wiping) the walls
with anti-static spray.

Well, I do need a haircut. Will report after the haircut

Hey Wolf, ever wonder if guys like Danny Thomas, or Jimmy Durante had problems with an echo when listening? Cotton balls may have induced a damping effect to curtail unwanted resonances.

I think it's more of a nostril directivity issue more than nose volume. You need to keep the sound out of there...one idea is to knit micro sweaters to wrap around the nose hairs. That's just one idea, albeit a great one.

What Roy Johnson said. I don't know about the psychoacoustics piece, but things definitely seem to sound better and more dimensional with my glasses off. I also suspect that -- being REALLY nearsighted -- not being able to see my rig as clearly helps me concentrate better on the sound.