To me the common emphasis on soundstage highlights one of the conundrums we face in audio. Do we seek to improve our systems down a path where at each step we find ourselves enjoying the music more and more? Or do we choose a path that takes us closer to the real thing? At first glance it might be argued that these should be the same paths. In practise I fear they are not. The first path is highly subjective and can lead us down alley-ways that may seem musical at first listen, but irritating in the longer term. Yet musical enjoyment is something we must surely seek to maintain or improve on at each step. The second path is less subjective, but unless we were present at the original recording, is difficult to judge. The second path also suffers from being unattainable (being a realist). It seems to me that soundstage fits the second path rather better than the first. If the reproduced soundstage is more like the original venue then we can more easily imagine ourselves at the original event (not to mention we must be getting closer to the absolute sound). But improvements in soundstage do not, from my experience, automatically or even very often spell more musical enjoyment. The answer falls somewhere between the extremes (as always). But I believe there is too much hype about soundstage and I do not focus much on soundstage when evaluating new equipment.
