For those among us who have been at this passionate pursuit of high end audio for many years it is no surprise that one of our goals is to have the system vanish.
Turn down the lights or simply close your eyes and the music comes out of a three dimensional soundstage without reference to its source.
Today, this is one of the main pillars in our quest for the holy audio Grail.
And yet, relatively speaking, it's been a somewhat recent goal. Decades ago this disappearing act was rarely mentioned. Timbre, tonal balance, dynamics, and perfection of the center image were what many focused on.
The idea of a soundstage exceeding the width of the loudspeaker pair, depth that exceeds the room's boundaries, and the image appearing behind the loudspeakers has come to the forefront only in the last few decades.
Thankfully, interest levels in imaging have been increasing in awareness and popularity. To me, it's always been the number one means of knowing whether or not a system is capable of magic.
Sometimes the best things in life take the longest to be appreciated.
