A few thoughts:
A deep, layered soundstage is fairly difficult to achieve IME. Choose a couple recordings to use as a reference that will give you a basis for judging your progress. "Coal Train" (Hugh Masekela - Hope album) and "Roughest Place in Town" (Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand the Weather) are good audio show favorites that have a lot of depth in the right system. If you are into Classical music then Massenet (City of Birmingham Orchestra, Klavier Records) is almost eerie on the right system. I have a pair of Thiel CS6 speakers driven by a Krell KRC-2 and KSA 300S. I have a big room and lots of flexibility of placement. The speakers are about 5 feet from the front wall and 4 to 5 feet from the side walls and about 9' apart.
Speaking of audio shows, they are coming back this year and going to a show is an excellent way to calibrate your ears and figure out where your system sits in the scheme of things. At the shows I've been to I have heard excellent soundstage depth on only a few systems. Most have excellent articulation in the left/right dimension but most do not really allow you to see deeply into the soundstage.
There are several pieces of gear that do what you are seeking. Carver made a "Sonic Holography" C9 processor (I have one) that adds depth but you have to sit right in the sweet spot to get the effect. You might have to be patient to find one but they are not very expensive on the used market.
A company called BSG made a processor with the model designation of QOL that also performs this function (I have one of these too). I like this processor better because it is more forgiving about exactly where you are sitting and the effect is a little more subtle than the Carver. These are more rare than the Carver but if you patient you can find one for under a grand.
The other option I know of is the Atmosphere by Synergistic Research. I heard one of these at AXPONA and it was pretty amazing on a large pair of Magicos. I'm looking forward to hearing one of these again.
I got a nice confirmation about my system when an audio buddy visited for a few days recently. He is the guy who sold me the Thiel speakers. He was very impressed with the way my system sounded and particularly commented about the soundstage depth. He could readily hear the positive difference from the QOL processor. He told me that he had never heard the Thiels sound that good in his system.
A deep, layered soundstage is fairly difficult to achieve IME. Choose a couple recordings to use as a reference that will give you a basis for judging your progress. "Coal Train" (Hugh Masekela - Hope album) and "Roughest Place in Town" (Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand the Weather) are good audio show favorites that have a lot of depth in the right system. If you are into Classical music then Massenet (City of Birmingham Orchestra, Klavier Records) is almost eerie on the right system. I have a pair of Thiel CS6 speakers driven by a Krell KRC-2 and KSA 300S. I have a big room and lots of flexibility of placement. The speakers are about 5 feet from the front wall and 4 to 5 feet from the side walls and about 9' apart.
Speaking of audio shows, they are coming back this year and going to a show is an excellent way to calibrate your ears and figure out where your system sits in the scheme of things. At the shows I've been to I have heard excellent soundstage depth on only a few systems. Most have excellent articulation in the left/right dimension but most do not really allow you to see deeply into the soundstage.
There are several pieces of gear that do what you are seeking. Carver made a "Sonic Holography" C9 processor (I have one) that adds depth but you have to sit right in the sweet spot to get the effect. You might have to be patient to find one but they are not very expensive on the used market.
A company called BSG made a processor with the model designation of QOL that also performs this function (I have one of these too). I like this processor better because it is more forgiving about exactly where you are sitting and the effect is a little more subtle than the Carver. These are more rare than the Carver but if you patient you can find one for under a grand.
The other option I know of is the Atmosphere by Synergistic Research. I heard one of these at AXPONA and it was pretty amazing on a large pair of Magicos. I'm looking forward to hearing one of these again.
I got a nice confirmation about my system when an audio buddy visited for a few days recently. He is the guy who sold me the Thiel speakers. He was very impressed with the way my system sounded and particularly commented about the soundstage depth. He could readily hear the positive difference from the QOL processor. He told me that he had never heard the Thiels sound that good in his system.