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Listening out of the Sweet Spot - What Works?

What factors most contribute to a system's ability to portray a realistic impression of live music when listening from a separate room in the house. I've had some systems that were startlingly live sounding from another room, or even another floor. I've also have had systems that were hair-raising in the sweet spot, but once you were out of the room that same system sounded very hifi and not at all convincing. I wonder what system-specific factors determine how convincing a system is away from the sweet spot. Obviously the space, and inter-relations of spaces within a house or apartment will play some roll, but I have a hunch that the system-specific factors may play an even stronger roll. In general I've found the SS systems I've used to be more convincing from afar, where tube-based systems tend to fall off more sharply when out of the room. There have been exceptions in my experience, but in general this has held true. I am limiting my own observations to more simple acoustic music and not more complex layered music like a symphony performance or rock concert. In those cases I can't think of any systems I've owned that have convincingly created the illusion of a symphony orchestra from a room or two away. Obviously soundstage and scale is not a factor here. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject or experience to share? In turn, where is one's money best invested to create a system that convincingly realistic from other rooms in the house, or outside of the sweet spot?
jax2

Showing 2 responses by boa2

boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
Marco,
Yes, that's exactly it, and this is precisely the reason we moved from SET to SS. For the past year, we have not had the time to sit in front of the system and actively listen. But we still want to listen to music. Our 104dB speakers surely don't need more than a few watts to fill the room with music, but the SETs--and we've heard at least 5 of them in our system--sound thin when listening outside the audio room. On the other side of the tube spectrum, higher wattage push/pulls often sound nightclub-ish boomy when outside the room. I'm sure it has much to do with the layout of our place.

Using the higher watt SS amp with a tube preamp proved to be the ticket for us. It fills the entire house with an even pressure of emotionally engaging music. When I can actively sit in the sweet spot, nothing connects quite like that triode sound. But for moving around the house, the SS does the trick.

Great topic, Marco, one that is often ignored when someone asks for a recommendation, or declares component XYZ to be 'the best'. Because whether a person mostly listens actively or passively can dramatically change which system setup, and which component options, will in fact best fit the individual's goal.
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
"Thin"? Yes, I guess you could describe it that way
I did say "thin", didn't I? I meant to say it sounds lightweight. My connection with music has at least as much to do with physically feeling the weight and heft of the music as it does with hearing the notes. When I'm down the hall, and I can no longer feel the music, I lose a big part of the sensory connection, because I have to expend a certain amount of energy to 'extract' the music, as opposed to having it come to me. I have the same difficulty trying to get into a movie when the volume is so low that my effort to hear it circumvents my ability to be absorbed. It's like playing see-saw with a child, if that makes sense.
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