A More Forward Sound Stage/ Cables the answer?

AZ Matrix Ref II will be around 85% performance of the Silver Ref II. Detailed, brings the mids out and excellent separation of instruments. Matrix II should be really good with Satori speaker cables. I had this combo and it was very nice. In the same price range, say up to $300 used for ICs, I'd go for AZ Matrix II. You most likely won't get anything that comes close to it from Virtual Dynamics in this price range. Virtual Dynamics Master series is excellent but it is a lot more money. JMO.

Thanks for all the great input. I was up half the night and this morning moving speakers around, trying several radical positions that I hadn't tried before. What a learning experience! The most extreme was getting the speakers as far apart as the room would allow and as near toward my head as the foot of the bed, creating an 8 ft wide but only six foot deep triangle. This widened, deepened and brought the stage forward with decent fill in the center, but too much separation on some cds. Unfortunately it also made the traffic pattern impossible, so I gradually shifted the speakers back and in, as a compromise. I also tried moving the speakers ( as suggested ) a foot from the front wall which did bring the stage forward, but no more so than the last speaker position I tried which seemed to be the best. I use a combination of solo voice & orch. ( Renee Fleming/ Bel Canto cd ), small vocal ensemble, string quartet and cello and piano (Rostpovich, Serkin / Brahms ) and a few modern orchestral recordings. I found the string quartet to be the most useful and settled on speaker placement having what I felt was the best three dimensional image in the room. All this evavuating was done in total darkness or with my eyes shut, I wonder If I was successful in fooling myself? Subjectivity aside, I will continue to experiment with speaker placement when I ( hopefully soon ) locate my Patricia Barber Companion cd! Bottom line is a marked improvement , somewhat closer sound stage and the best imaging so far. Now regarding ICs and cables. Thanks for your vital input re Virtual Dynamics. I had already pretty much settled on finding used AZ Matrix ll ( Silver Ref is a bit more than I can do ) with used Satori cables if I can find a deal on them. But now I will read up on V Dynamics and their potential to bring evreything forward, and look for them as well. I have a small problem with bass resolution and have it in the back of my mind to add a DAC later on after settling on cables. But I keep reminding myself ONE THING AT A TIME! The term 'audiophile' ( which I don't yet consider myself ) surely must fit some clinical definition of disease. Again thanks so much for you valuable help. A-Goners are the best.

I agree with Clio09, look into Virtual Dynamics cables if you want a forward soundstage. I prefer the 'laid back' sound, that's why Virtual Dynamics cables did not work for me. I believe you can get their entry level Power/Testament level at a reasonable price.

Regards,
John

Clio09 has a great suggestion: try sitting closer to your stereo. I really like a near field sound it seems that is what you might be after.

If that doesn't quite do it and you want to try cables to solve the problem (realizing they are cheaper than electronics), you might want to give NBS cables a try. They have a very clean and present top end but don't seem to fall in the usual trap of being grainy. In my system, even just a power cord of theirs was enough to bring the soundstage forward.

Arthur

When I was auditioning the Einstein Tube preamp my soundstage came forward a lot. In my current setup I am about stage 3-5 and hear the music in a panoramic so to speak. With the Einstein, the music was on top of me with the soundstage appearing to be direct in front of me. I liked both presentations, however, I decided to keep my Octave tube preamp as I prefer being to see the panoramic sondstage over the close in your face one.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life

Can you move the listening position closer to the speakers, say maybe a foot or two? This will help create a more forward sound and closer presentation. It worked for me as recommended by some information I found on the Galen Carol website.

I too agree that some cables will affect sound stage depth. Virtual Dynamics cables come to mind, but this is a pricey line of cables so they may not fit your budget. In most cases though, listening position, speaker positioning, room treatments, and components will have greater sound stage influence - both width and depth.

By having speakers as far as possible from the front wall you are actually increasing the soundstage depth.
you can bring the stage forward a bit by reducing the distance between the speakers and the wall, if that's possible.

Also, by getting cables that are detailed you can bring the stage closer once again.
I recommend silver interconnects from cd to integrated.
Try Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII. You should still have depth to the soundstage, but detailed as this cable is, it will bring you closer to the stage.

Good luck.

It has been my experience that electronic components affect sonics much more than cables. Cables do have some effect, but if you are looking for a significant change in a more forward and immediate soundstage, I would look to component(s) changes. That being said, I heard for the first time some new cables incorporating carbon nanotubes, i.e. "buckyballs". The effect on the soundstage size was pretty startling. If you are interested there is a review on this site of the Mosaic Chimera cables.