From whence does Sound Stage come?
What drew me back to this hobby after dabbling in High School, was listening to a friend’s system, in a room over his garage filled with over-stuffed furniture, at least seven different amplifiers and twice that many speakers. What was new to me was a room literally filled with sound, and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I climbed over the furniture and put my ear to speaker after speaker, but I was never able to locate the source of the sound. It was a wonderful, awe-filled, experience.
Fast forward to the present. I have now built several systems, in different rooms, with different components. Sometimes I get a ‘sound stage’ where the speakers disappear, sometimes I don’t. I have been told that getting the speakers to disappear is all a matter of placement in the room: “Give me your room dimensions; and I’ll tell you where to place your speakers.” But I can tell you, some speakers disappear, and some speakers announce their presence with every note. I have had odd staging where a particular sound appeared un-naturally at the wrong place (like a cymbal hit at my feet); only to have the issue resolved to a more coherent shape with an upgrade to the analog output stage of the DAC. I have had a decent sound stage cast by a particular pair of speakers, only to have it destroyed with the use of a sub-par power amplifier. I’ve heard reviewers and designers talk about how their component offers sound stage depth as well as width (depth seems to be more difficult to achieve). And then there is the old canard about how tube amps present a ‘halo graphic’ sound stage. I can detail the equipment configurations that have I have put together that succeeded or failed at the goal of presenting a great sound stage, but I’m trying to ask a general question, I am not a bot, and I’m not seeking help with a particular configuration, just help on developing a strategy to tackle the issue of sound stage and imaging of instruments within it.
I will say that the best sounding solutions I have developed thus far both involved a Schiit Yggdrasil (now at ‘Less-is-More) into a SS McIntosh C100 (circa 1992) and either a tube Rogue ‘Stereo 100’ or a SS McIntosh MC252 power amp powering either the Warfedale W70E or B&W 801 Matrix speakers. If I substitute different amps, speakers, preamp, or DAC, the pyramid crumbles and I start hearing two speakers again; I lose my ‘sound stage,’ which is really concerning (to me). Anyone with more than two years into this hobby is qualified to address this question. I need some help, I can’t just keep throwing equipment (and money) at this issue. Any ideas?
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!
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@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. |
Be certain all the drivers in your left channel's speaker system are functional. If possible: undo any changes made in the room, since the last, full (L/R) soundstage you recall. Try to get your listening area as symmetric as possible, as regards reflections. In my case (small/crappy listening room, after divorce): I'm able to place the system/speakers ALMOST equidistant from the side walls, bipolar drivers (mains) 2' from the front wall, with diffusers behind, where their greatest radiation concentration will be focused. Behind listening position: 2" Sonex, from 3' off the floor, to the ceiling (completely eliminated the room's Slap Echo) and LENRDs, same height, in the corners. My listening position is 1/3 into the room, away from the back wall and what would have to be considered Near Field (at the apex of an equilateral, 8' sided, triangle). Having used planars (Acoustats and Magnepans) for so may decades; I'm used to not having to deal with the wide dispersion, of the typical box speaker and find the output of my Emerald Physics (still very narrowly beamy), easy to predict, with any reflected speaker back waves, directed behind my head/ears, toward the Sonex. My seat has a nothing but soft material, round corners and a high back, so: I hear virtually nothing from the back of the room. Though Sabine effects are unavoidable: they're minimized and I use DSP (via TacT RCS 2.2X), to mitigate what's left, beside time-aligning my woofer systems, which now are forced to reside (the small, crappy room, again) behind the mains. Played back at any levels approaching those originally recorded; the listening room disappears. Closing my eyes takes me to the original performance and venue, with a good recording. For the naysayers: YES, I DO have a number of my own recordings, not to mention: a number, made in (otherwise) very familiar venues. Sorry for the loquaciousness! Happy listening!
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