Why Satellites speakers exhibit superior imaging!
      From a 1984 Stereo Review article by Julian Hirsch entitled "Where's the Bass?" (pg. 73)

The imaging qualities of satellite speakers used in three-piece systems are frequently superior to those found in larger systems, even when the latter are of higher overall quality.  One theory of sound reproduction holds that a sound source should be an infinitely small "point source" for optimum stereo-imaging qualities.

The effective size of a speaker's sound source is a function of its actual size. The smaller the dimensions of the driver and adjacent enclosure surfaces, the better the speaker's polar dispersion and the more nearly the sound will appear to come from a single point in space. With two speakers and a properly made stereo recording, this point can be located anywhere between the two speakers.

Although there is definitely not universal agreement on the relative subjective desirability of point-source radiators versus those using reflected or dispersed sound sources for some or all of their output, if nearly pinpoint stereo imaging appeals to you, a good three-piece system may be your most logical and economical choice.
The JBL N24 Satellites are undistputed proof of Julian Hirsch article!
Amazon.com Editorial Review by Wayne Garcia NSP1 Speaker Package
With orchestral music, the N24s throw a relatively wide soundstage, with more than a hint of depth (that is, of the sonic space extending beyond the speakers).
Jul/Aug 2000 - Tom Nousaine JBL N24AW Sound&Vision Outdoor Speaker Review
Imaging was excellent. Sounds were spread evenly between the speakers and actually spread out beyond them. Ambience reproduction was also excellent in both distribution and spectral content.
April 11, 2000 - Brent Butterworth for etown N24 bookshelf
The JBL's titanium-laminate tweeter is definitely doing something very right, though, because the JBLs out-imaged any other mini I've used in a wall-mount configuration. I didn't think a wall-mounted speaker could image so well. Voices levitated in the air in front of me; the hand percussion in Holly Cole's "Train Song" floated about between the speakers; and I got much more sense of a soundstage than I'm used to getting.
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PI - April 22, 2001
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