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Is it possible to have Good Imaging close to wall

I keep looking for the best speakers to stand flush against the front wall and end up looking at the usual suspects: North Creek Kitty Kat Revelators, Allisons (now old), Von Schweikert VR-35, NHT Classic 4s, Audio Note AN/K, and other sealed or front ported speakers. But I have never understood how, even though the bass is controlled, they can defy the law of physics and image as well as, say, my great actually owned other speakers, Joseph Audio Pulsars, far out in the room? Is it physically possible for these flush mounted speakers to image as well?
springbok10

Showing 4 responses by psag

psag
450 posts
 
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.
psag
450 posts
 
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.
psag
450 posts
 
Reviewers love to praise a soundstage that extends well beyond the confines of the speakers. We all know that this expansion of the soundstage is lost when the speakers are too close to the side walls. The reasons are debatable, but in my view its an unfortunate consequence of having a small listening room.
psag
450 posts
 
"…in order to clearly hear the secondary reflections that have occurred in the recording room/venue, we need to minimize the reflections in our room."

On the other hand, I think most of us would agree that music sounds best when there are reflections.

How do we reconcile these two contradictory statements?
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