How Do Amps Affect Soundstage?

I believe that imaging and soundstage are primarily impacted by the design and performance of the speakers,  their positioning within the room and relative to lhe listener, and the room acoustics. The contribution from the amplifier falls far down the list compared to these factors. As @othercrazycanuck  mentions, tube amps are more prone to variations in frequency response and higher distortion, which are more likely than SS amps to impact imaging and soundstage. I tend towards the school of trying to recreate the intent of the musicians and recording/mastering engineer, which suggests minimizing additions to the sound. There are as many opinions on this as there are audiophiles, however, and beauty (and soundstage) is literally in the ear (and brain) of the beholder. So if it sounds good to you...enjoy.

Many good responses above.

Anytime an electrical signal passes through an electrical component or circuit or device, it will affect the music.  Be it distortion adding, soundstage, etc.

The discussion regarding the amp (Audio Research REF 6) paired with the Bryston is a great example.

Each device has a manufacturer's recommendation regarding input impendence, output impedance, sensitivity, etc.

If you try to match a pre-amp to a particular amp without paying attention to the manufacturer's technical recommendations, you are asking for trouble.

this is like trying to pair a particular amp to a particular speaker without paying attention to the specifications and requirements.

The REF 6 is one of the best pre-amps made.  I bet it doesn't match well technically to the Bryston amp and the specs probably indicate a mismatch.

Assuming that amps are amps, or pre-amps are pre-amps is the problem.

Of course different amp will affect soundstage.  They have totally different circuitry. Not an apples to apples comparison.

And by-the-way, don't fall for the old solid state vs tube argument.  There are some outstanding solid state amps out there that are just excellent.  Just as there are some outstanding tube amps out there.

I have heard some crappy tube amps and some crappy solid state amps also. Totally depends on the design, construction, circuitry, power supply, etc.  each is different.

It's funny.  I'm a member of a Mopar car club.  You know, Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth.  I restore classic cars and currently have a restored 1970 in-violet, 340 four speed pistol grip Plymouth Barracuda ("Cuda").  Anyway,  People in my group always hype Mopar and with good reason and talk down about other cars.  I will step up and say loudly, you mean to tell me that if someone gave you the keys to a 1963 Split window corvette you wouldn't take it in a heartbeat?  They all laughed and said absolutely they would.

Tube or solid state.  What ever suits your needs and likes.

enjoy

@mossyrocks I humbly apologize. Now I am going to offend you again :-) but it is Parts Connexion. I don't know Chris. If you told him the same thing that you said above, that

I was finding I could not get the system to 'juice.

Than perhaps what he meant is that the volume control design of the Ref 6 is such that it is the chief cause of a high-ish (footnote here) output impedance. Footnote-the output impedance of the Ref 6 is not, in relative terms for a tube pre, all that high.

The Ref 6 in balanced mode has output impedance of 600 ohms and the recommended load of the amp for the Ref 6 is 20k ohms or higher. In balanced mode the load of your amp is 30k ohm so you don't have a mismatch on paper but it the margin is not great. This would primarily affect frequency response though it also affects maximum power transfer.

So again, yes, the match is not great. But the OP was asking about soundstaging and you SEEM to be talking about power transfer with "I was finding I could not get the system to 'juice.

In my admittedly limited experience, amplifier soundstaging is most affected by channel separation/crosstalk (hence, all else being equal mono blocks better than true dual mono better than stereo), sufficient real power (voltage and current), and competent design. For a moderate power and price amplifier, see Stereophile and Audio Science Review test results of the Benchmark AHB2.

The more info I have the better thanks