Thanks for the interesting and informative responses. I agree with what has been said and continue to learn from you all daily.
My real re-interest in soundstage stems from a demo back when the Devore Nines came out. I owned the Super 8 at the time and was never really satisfied with the speaker despite the rave reviews and member accolades.
I went to a dealer that carried the Nines and heard them in the same room on the same gear as the Fidelio Encores. I recall the gear being all ARC reference. The pre was the Ref 3, Ref 110 tube amp and cd7. I'm aware of price discrepancy between the speakers, but that is not the point, as both are great.
I was shocked at the difference in presentation between the two speakers. Neither had a perfect synergy with the electronics, however both where in the same very well treated room with identical electronics, cables, conditioning, etc.
The soundstage of the Verity's was set up around 6 feet behind the speakers and remained firmly planted. The air in the room gave the sense of distance and placement. Not only did the speaker control the soundstage, but it gave the space in between me and the soundstage a clear and firm perspective. Air, space, distance, etc.
The Nines did something very different. They also had a great stage, but the individual instruments took on more of the focus rather than the entire presentation. The air in between me and the soundstage was less firm and stable and perhaps less separated than the Verity's. It was easy to listen to one instrument and then move to another, but the stage was less planted in one space.
To add personally to what Blindjim said, in this case, my mind was more at ease and relaxed with with the Verity presentation. I just fell into it instead of trying to listen.
Speakers and systems are individual and I hope to gather more opinions.
My real re-interest in soundstage stems from a demo back when the Devore Nines came out. I owned the Super 8 at the time and was never really satisfied with the speaker despite the rave reviews and member accolades.
I went to a dealer that carried the Nines and heard them in the same room on the same gear as the Fidelio Encores. I recall the gear being all ARC reference. The pre was the Ref 3, Ref 110 tube amp and cd7. I'm aware of price discrepancy between the speakers, but that is not the point, as both are great.
I was shocked at the difference in presentation between the two speakers. Neither had a perfect synergy with the electronics, however both where in the same very well treated room with identical electronics, cables, conditioning, etc.
The soundstage of the Verity's was set up around 6 feet behind the speakers and remained firmly planted. The air in the room gave the sense of distance and placement. Not only did the speaker control the soundstage, but it gave the space in between me and the soundstage a clear and firm perspective. Air, space, distance, etc.
The Nines did something very different. They also had a great stage, but the individual instruments took on more of the focus rather than the entire presentation. The air in between me and the soundstage was less firm and stable and perhaps less separated than the Verity's. It was easy to listen to one instrument and then move to another, but the stage was less planted in one space.
To add personally to what Blindjim said, in this case, my mind was more at ease and relaxed with with the Verity presentation. I just fell into it instead of trying to listen.
Speakers and systems are individual and I hope to gather more opinions.