Sorry, but I watched Mythbusters prove that this couldn't be done..... :lmao:
I saw that episode too. I still think it's plausible.
so what of the "magic" that couldn't knock your socks off is due to the quality of the speaker, and what's due to the nearfield?]
I might have a hard time quantifying that. Since there were so may changes made at once I think everything simply came together "just right". I have no doubt the speaker is well designed and stands on it's own. Being designed as a desktop monitor I would expect it to perform well in that role and the designer seems to have a lot of "street cred" on other forums.
The fact is I went from an off the shelf 2.1 active system that was far too "boomy" in the bass department using the on board Realtek audio of my computer to using a discrete DAC, digital amp and superior speakers. That will all contribute to audio quality improvement.
This is also my first full range speaker. In the past I've always believe you needed at least a 2 way speaker to achieve any semblance of audio quality. I stand corrected because the bass and treble both surprised me and the mid range is superior. The speaker placement (both corner and about 8 inches from the back wall) definitely helps the bass since the speaker is rear ported.
As for the near field; relatively low volume listening with the speakers at ear level, 28 inches from center to center and 28 inches from my nose combined with an amp the appears to perform well at low levels and a single driver speaker all seem to be advantages for near field listening. This just happened to work out as it wasn't planned.
The sound stage extends beyond the speakers and they appear to disappear with vocals coming from dead center and behind the computer monitor and I feel enveloped in the music instead of just hearing it emanate from the speakers.
You should take my opinions with a grain of salt. I've never spent 10's of thousands of dollars on audio equipment. I've probably got maybe $10,000 in my home theater setup including the video side but that is a whole different beast and although ok for listening to music it has no where near the imaging I'm getting at my desktop and a prefer not to run my music through a DSP for 7.1 channel audio.
-Curtiss