2. speakers
  3. 1315679530

Strange Klipsch thing

I stopped by a local shop this afternoon because the guy had recently set up a two channel room. At the moment he's carrying Cary amps - which I use at home - and Klipsch speakers. He had an SLI-80 integrated run through the big Klipschorn speakers placed in the corners. What I heard was an enormously wide soundstage with exceptional image height, BUT, the whole thing sounded like it was being projected onto a perfectly flat wall. Not so much as a shred of stage depth. Is this fairly common with Klipsch speakers? It really seemed like an odd effect. Not my cup of tea at all.
grimace

Showing 8 responses by unsound

unsound
7,344 posts
 
I would offer for consideration, that having speakers close to the wall compromises their opportunity to present the imaging that is on the recording.
unsound
7,344 posts
 
What I'm suggesting is that the early reflections from nearby walls might mix with the direct sound, and the combined sound might be perceived in such a way as to distort the original recordings sound stage.
And, oh yeah maybe the other thing too. ;-)
unsound
7,344 posts
 
There is (sometimes) reflected sound on the recording, from the venue in which it was recorded. This depends a lot on the recording techniques and the venue. IME, the venue's contribution is more often found on classical recordings and less often found on pop recordings.
That's not to say it can't be supplemented by the reflected sound in the listening room. The distance/timing of the reflected sound in the listening room can supplement or detract from the recorded soundstage.
unsound
7,344 posts
 
Mapman, headphones introduce their own set of perception peculiarities that compromise your point.
unsound
7,344 posts
 
Headphones, typically have greater channel isolation, and don't typically present sound to the outer ear in the same way as speakers do. Without electronic manipulation or unique recording techniques, the sound is typically perceived as coming from within ones head as opposed to from a sound stage.
unsound
7,344 posts
 
The actual hearing process differs.
unsound
7,344 posts
 
Actualy, I think you make a very good point, just that to be fair, it's not quite so black and white. As an analogy, it's a bit like, pushing a spoonfull of sugar deep into ones mouth so that only the back of the tongue is exposed to it, and keeping the spoon there till it's swallowed. Since the tip of the tongue is what is most sensitive to sweetness, one doesn't get the opportunity to taste it as thoroughly, as one typically does.
unsound
7,344 posts
 
^Big Brother?
More to discover