laginz,
Sorry I seemed to have missed your post. Currently with the Denafrips Hades preamp > CODA S5.5 > Clayton Shaw Caladans, the soundstage is more similar to what I would consider a live performance. Soundstage is outside of the speaker width maybe a foot and sometimes more. The vocals are front and center with instruments in their location, and the whole presentation comes from a "platform of sound" and not from the speakers themselves. I have not noticed vocals coming forward of that stage, but I may have just missed it if it does.
One of my favorite bands Poi Dog Pondering is a collection of 8 to upwards of 16 musicians and vocalists depending on the track, and I have never heard them properly placed in a recording before.....at least compared to live performances where I have seen them more than a dozen times. Also the instruments all have their own audio space as well, being able to pick out synth, from electric violin, to recorder, to horns, to xylophone, to accordian, to harmonica. The CODA and Caladans do this for me.
I don't tend to listen to a lot of small presentations with minimalist vocals or instruments.
Off topic for you streamers, I'd recommend listening to a couple of albums from Poi Dog "Wishing Like A Mountain, and Thinking Like a Sea", "Pomegranate", and "Natural Thing".....may or may not be your cup of tea, but a real workout for a system.
