Hello Joe, I think what is happening is that as your system improves and you increase its resolution it resolves more of the venue in which the recording was made. This a "GOOD" thing. The idea is to transport you to where the recording was made not the other way around. The lowest level information on the source is the ambient and imaging clues, as your system improves and becomes more resolute the spatial information should increase. It's not that you're hearing less detail of the instruments or vocals, you should actually be hearing more details on the instrument in ? plus have a better insight into the actual space where the performers were recorded. I hope this explains to you what you are hearing as your system improves. Good luck, Tom
too laid back, or deeper soundstage?
With every equipment upgrade I do I notice the sound is more and more laid back. I guess you can say the stage is getting deeper. But on some recordings I miss the immediacy, especially on vocals. My upgrades were as follows, Adcom amp to CJ, MIT 330 to new shotgun cables, and MSB DAC to Sony SACD. Each upgrade improved the sound in every other way. My speakers are likely next to go. I currently have Spica TC-60's. I listened to Audio Physic Tempo's and they seem even further laid back. Any suggestions on speakers? What about cables? Cables seem to have made a big difference and are probably easiest to upgrade. Opinions? Don't audiophiles want performers in the room? What is this, "it sounds like your sitting in row Z" talk?? Do listeners prefer this?