Eye-brain effect


Does anyone else think that the eye-brain interaction may have as big (and possibly much bigger) an effect on imaging and soundstaging issues than even the equipment.

For example, when I see speakers a few feet out from the back wall, I am just not able to suspend belief enough to "hear" past the wall. I have trouble imagining a huge orchestra in a 15' wide room. I am very happy with small ensembles in said room and can almost imagine that "they are there". There are times, under those circumstances, when a singer is 6 feet tall and the guitar sounds about the size of the real thing (which I have heard in my living room).
imdoc

Showing 2 responses by newbee

Depends on your defininition of imaging and your expectations. You will never, under any circumstances, hear a SO sound realistic in your living room on any level, dynamics especially, and realness of the soundstage which is never so defined as it is on recordings due to the manner in which the recordings are mic'd. All you will hear is a pleasant and more detailed exposition of the instrumentation used. Actually I like it because it gives me the ability to better understand the role that different instruments play in the orchestration, and it more closely represents what you would hear if you were the conductor on the podium.

I listen with my eyes open (I can walk and chew gum) but I have to admit that some things are distracting visually which can make you believe are detrimental to the sound stage image. I just removed a 3x4x2' cabinet from between my speakers (it was recessed 4' behind the plane of the speakers) and I will swear that I have a more focused center image! But do I? I'm not really at all sure. My best of all worlds scenario is dark(ened) room and eyes wide open. When I close my eyes I relax and nap time comes. :-)
R Burke, Facinating theory. I can't connect reading with critically listening to music (maybe that's why I can listen with my eyes open, withouot my glasses I can't focus on anything enuf for it to be distracting :-), but I do know that when watching TV I love to take off my glasses even though I give up some focus. Hummmm