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 1 response by jaybo

listening to a stereo is a completely different experience from listening to live music.....even listening to a band play in the studio, and then playing the music back through monitors later is totally and tonally different.....when a set of loudspeakers are doing their job, they trigger a reaction that makes you forget all that...you just enjoy them. with the climbing prices of exotic hi end, 2 channel components, we all have weak moments upgrading where we believe can hit some 'ideal' in our listening rooms that captures the 'live' experience.....this fuels the hi end industry, but nirvana comes from just digging your stuff and the way it sounds, and most of all, collecting the music that best defines who you are....