Cartridges for rear of stage orchestral resolution

Stringreen,

Regardless of the extent to which recordings reflect reality, IME, sound stage depth is an enjoyable consequence of recording technique, and the ability of a system to reproduce it through high resolution fidelity to the source and speaker set up, not phase problems, and is worthy, IMHO, of pursuit.

Re: soundstage depth and speaker placement, IMHO, many experienced audiophiles are missing out by putting their speakers to close to the backwall. If you haven't experienced speakers halfway into the room you'll be amazed at the natural depth. I put mine halfway into the room, fairly close to the side walls to regain bass support, but towed in to point at the sweet spot located at the apex of a right triangle. This somewhat unusual orientation will give a VERY deep wide soundstage with centerfill being optimized for each recording by moving forward or back. Stereo miked recordings benefit from surprisingly forward position, mimicking headphones, limited only by the upper midrange frequency beaming of the woofers whereas those frequencies will loose focus if you move too far forward. Conversely, multi miked recordings will gain focus from a position further back.