Ambiophonics, you have to try it

[patiently waiting for the pepe and amphibiansonics mashup meme]...

 

You might be surprised. Stereo recording contain a full 180 degree image, or close, but we hear only the 60 degree stereo spread because of the interaural crosstalk, plus some image spread from sidewall reflections. Properly done, crosstalk cancellation opens the image up and you hear what's been missing (but can easily be heard on headphones). I gather your experiment didn't go well -- from experience, it's pretty tweeky, but once you get it right it works spectacularly. In fact, I found it hard to go back to conventional stereo, but like you and everybody else I can't push my speakers together to 20 degrees!

The BACCH system overcomes the speaker spacing limitation and others by using head tracking and HRTF compensation, but it costs more than $5000.

As I understand it, the 20 degree speaker angle is necessitated by the HRTF -- as others have pointed out, crosstalk cancellation is an old idea, but the 60 degree spread limits its effectiveness.

 

Please tell me how we can get these included in a Massdrop product request poll.

 

That's an interesting question. Engineers mix to the 60 degree stereo angle and I've usually found with conventional stereo that a 60 degree speaker placement works best, and that you can get it better by moving the chair backward and forward a bit to find the exact sweet spot where everything clicks into focus.

I know that it works well for natural, two-mic stereo recordings, because in that case the engineer is just trying to capture the original sound field. And that's most of what I listened to when I tried it -- it worked well, with about a 150 degree stereo spread. So I'm not sure what would happen with pan potted recordings. I can imagine getting sort of a giant headphone effect, except with the sound in front of you rather than in your head. But I really don't know. Maybe at some point I'll drag my speakers back together and find out . . . I'm considering the BACCH system, overpriced though it is, and it would be good to know.