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Stereo Imaging

I think I've written about this before, but I wonder how many of us who use the same system for HT and music get fooled into suspecting the center channel must be generating the center image. I was playing the Abkco disc of "Let It Bleed" and found myself compelled once again to put my ear to the center channel to assure it was not generating the strong centered image I was hearing. Intellectually I knew it wasn't because I've tested it before, but the image is so strong it creates a cognitive dissonance. In a world of 7.1, I'm afraid I forget just how effective stereo can be in generating a soundstage.

db
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Showing 3 responses by dbphd

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dbphd OP
1,624 posts
 
A strange phenomenon I noticed is that the soundstage seems to extend deeper behind the mains with multichannel recordings. I don't have an explanation for the effect.

db
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dbphd OP
1,624 posts
 
I use a center channel for HT but have tried 4.1 as well. Frankly, I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference now that the HF driver in my center speaker matches those in the mains. The speech seems to track the images projected on the screen. But when the center channel HF driver was different, I really noticed the disconnect when playing opera Blue-ray discs. That's when I set the center channel to none. I went back to 5.1 based on Kal Rubinson's recommendation, but we do sit in the "sweat-spot" so I doubt the center channel is necessary.
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dbphd OP
1,624 posts
 
Although most of my recent SACDs are 5.0, and I play them as such, my own experience is that the forward facing soundstage Kiwi2 writes about can be generated by a pair of speakers with a stereo source. The ability to generate a strong centered image is but an aspect of generating a well imaged soundstage.

db
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