More than anything it's the room.
I currently have an all tube setup (Don Sachs/Primaluna/Salk) and don't have nearly the soundstage I had in my old home.
Back then, I had a NOS Carver TFM35, a amp that has always been described as "nice upper end detail but lacking bass and having a 2D soundstage". In that room, with a humble Technics 1200mk2 and a AT7V cartridge, I got a deeper and wider soundstage.
I have much better equipment now...and there are some things that do sound better...no doubt. But I am so curious to know what this system would sound like in my old room.
Here are a list of the things that I did that made the biggest difference from most effective to least effective:
1. I had a very good acoustical ceiling. Not the soft kind with asbestos...this was a 1950s concrete product. You would need to tear the ceiling to the beams to remove it. Acoustic ceilings get a bad rap...these things are golden for a good sounding room.
2. Nothing between the speakers but air. A year ago I would have put this at number 1 but I do believe the ceiling is more important now. I had the audio rack along the side wall...quite a bit away from the speakers. I was considering putting the rack on the other side of the wall in the bedroom and just having the speakers in the living room. That would have been inconvenient but maybe completely remarkable!
3. I followed the 1/5 rule: Tweeters 1/5 of room width from side walls. I could not follow the 1/5 from room depth for tweeters and listening position. Tweak from there.
4. Remove all reflective artwork from the walls. Replace with wood carvings, framed tapestries etc.. Also try to mirror image the left and right walls as much as possible. My walls looked like a dense collage of artifacts.
5. A big, heavy Persian rug with heavy felt pad underneath. None of that non-slip netting stuff.
I currently have an all tube setup (Don Sachs/Primaluna/Salk) and don't have nearly the soundstage I had in my old home.
Back then, I had a NOS Carver TFM35, a amp that has always been described as "nice upper end detail but lacking bass and having a 2D soundstage". In that room, with a humble Technics 1200mk2 and a AT7V cartridge, I got a deeper and wider soundstage.
I have much better equipment now...and there are some things that do sound better...no doubt. But I am so curious to know what this system would sound like in my old room.
Here are a list of the things that I did that made the biggest difference from most effective to least effective:
1. I had a very good acoustical ceiling. Not the soft kind with asbestos...this was a 1950s concrete product. You would need to tear the ceiling to the beams to remove it. Acoustic ceilings get a bad rap...these things are golden for a good sounding room.
2. Nothing between the speakers but air. A year ago I would have put this at number 1 but I do believe the ceiling is more important now. I had the audio rack along the side wall...quite a bit away from the speakers. I was considering putting the rack on the other side of the wall in the bedroom and just having the speakers in the living room. That would have been inconvenient but maybe completely remarkable!
3. I followed the 1/5 rule: Tweeters 1/5 of room width from side walls. I could not follow the 1/5 from room depth for tweeters and listening position. Tweak from there.
4. Remove all reflective artwork from the walls. Replace with wood carvings, framed tapestries etc.. Also try to mirror image the left and right walls as much as possible. My walls looked like a dense collage of artifacts.
5. A big, heavy Persian rug with heavy felt pad underneath. None of that non-slip netting stuff.