From whence does Sound Stage come?

@rodman99999

Well the Chesky CD arrived today, it came from the San Francisco Public Library via eBay. In my case, it seems the question, ‘From Whence comes Sound Stage?” is answered “Whither goes the Stereo Image!” That is to say, both of my systems completely failed the very first test, and thus all following tests, with the exception of the Bong and Test Tones. Both rooms have issues on the left side; for different reasons, both rooms have a heavier accumulation of reflective surfaces on the left side, and again, for different reasons, are more open on the right side. The net effect is that the image tracks perfectly as the speaker walks toward the right, even coming in loud and clear beyond the right speaker; but I never hear him speaking from left of center, the entire left half of the test sounds like he is talking just inside the right speaker. There is no a discernible’Up’ or ‘lateral,’ even though I can tell from the VU meters that the signal is coming from the left side, I hear it on the right.

The downstairs system is more resolving (the speakers are a bit more sensitive, and I have a balance control available to me downstairs (actually two ways of balancing left and right), but the balance has no appreciable effect on the stereographic image, to my ears.

I’m not sure where to go from here. Upstairs, I think the acoustics were affected when my son stowed several boxes of CDs & DVDs on the floor behind the couch on the left side of the room. The room could also be about ten ft wider, the sound doesn’t want to travel beyond the left and right speakers. (But then again, they may not have been designed to do so to begin with.)

Downstairs, I can move the storage shelves from the left side of the room and treat window in the door to the right. I can also clear out the boxes and bookshelf at the rear of the room to try and give myself greater than the current 54” between the speaker and my listening position, but the greatest distance I can imagine is about 8 ft from ear to driver if I slam them to the front wall.

Thanks again for recommending a tool that really helped me zero in on the problem.

Edit: @stuartk I tried moving the speakers quite a few times downstairs, but experienced no appreciable difference. When I’m not so disappointed, I’ll give it another try with PS Audio’s CD. 

@oldrooney

Perhaps they are already dialed in... or you need to play with them, more... ;o)

In my case, I played around with them a lot before the "eureka" moment. In fact, I became rather doubtful along the way that it could actually make much difference. But I kept at it and was rewarded in the end. Sound-stage depth is a wonderful thing! 

@stuartk I’ll keep trying, don’t worry. At this point, I’m wondering if the speakers are too big for the room. I certainly enjoy how their sound ‘fills the room,’ but I’m missing how the Warfedale’s (which I still have) radiated a decent sound stage, or at least seemed to do so to me. I’m also wondering about the hearing in my left ear; maybe I need to put my hearing aids in before listening. I’ll update this thread as I (hopefully) make progress. I just wanted to let you know that I am experimenting with speaker placement as part of the effort. 

Soundstage is in the mind. Mind models waveforms into 3D model of the world. Duh.

Hearing differences, however big or small, is nothing to do with your system and everything to do with your mind. It only seems you can't hear because you aren't listening. Hearing and listening are conflated. Get them straight and the differences go away. Learn to listen and you will hear.

       Can't help but notice: the forum gas a new Cargo Cult member.