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Solid state amplifiers and sound stage, especially front to back "depth"

I've been enjoying my trial period with the Van Alstine SET 400 stereo amplifier. When I'm done and have collected my thoughts, I may write up a summary.

In the meantime, a question for folks with more experience. I've noticed is that the amp produces a sound stage that is nicely defined and articulate from left to right, but not as much from front to back. (My Adcom was also unable to create sound stage depth.) I know my room is capable of that sound stage because my tube amp accomplishes it.

Question: Is it typical of solid state amps to have less of a front to back sound stage than tube amps? Do they vary in this regard? Or, perhaps, am I failing to do something -- such as re-position my speakers? (After all, I immediately get that sound stage back when I switch amplifier without moving anything else.)

If you have any experience with solid state amplifiers and sound stage -- front to back, left to right, or whatever, I'm curious.

This is not about me keeping or not keeping the amp. There are many things I already really like about it. But I'm wondering about this aspect.

Thanks.
128x128hilde45

Showing 1 response by arafiq

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 
@hilde45 -- I had a similar problem when I went from ARC GSi75 to Luxman 590AXII. The soundstage width offered by the Luxman was just as wide but I felt the depth, while decent, was not as good as ARC.

In my case, adding acoustic panels behind (lower front wall) and right besides the speakers (lower side walls) helped greatly with improving the soundstage depth. I still need to replace the painting on the front wall with more panels at some point though. You can checkout my system pics in virtual systems.

P.S.: The depth is still not quite on par with the ARC amp though. IMO, the tube amps provide a better illusion of palpability which possibly translates into better soundstage depth perception. I'm hoping adding more panels on the front wall will take it up a notch or two.
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