The key to a realistic sound stage and imaging is to work to lower the noise floor. Particular attention has to be paid to a myriad of things to get there.
First, concentrate on micro-vibrations. Everything vibrates ... tubes, caps, resistors, turntables, equipment racks and each individual electrical component, including the chassis.
Second, treat the room. Do you have hardwood floors that look like bowling lanes? Get some nice carpets and lay them on the floor. There are tons of products and tweaks that deal with rooms. Tube Traps, Shakti Holographs, SR HFT's are just a few, and they have a profound effect in controlling room anomalies.
Third, Speaker placement. Precise measurements need to be done to assure proper placement. Each speaker should be the same distance from the listening chair. Tow-in of the speaker is important. Moving the speakers out into the room, instead of having them flush against the wall is important.
Fourth, Explore various tweaks that lower the noise floor. Getting to the micro-vibrations as stated above will really help here, but there is plenty of help to be gained by tweaks, such as the Perfect Path Technologies products, all designed to do one thing ... lowering the electronic noise and hash coming through the system via the electrical power lines. SR's aftermarket Black and Blue fuses also lower noise. A good power conditioner is another option.
Once all of the above is taken care of, and only then, should one consider upgrading to more expensive equipment, including cables. Take care of the basics, and you just may find that there is no need at all to upgrade your electronics.
Frank
First, concentrate on micro-vibrations. Everything vibrates ... tubes, caps, resistors, turntables, equipment racks and each individual electrical component, including the chassis.
Second, treat the room. Do you have hardwood floors that look like bowling lanes? Get some nice carpets and lay them on the floor. There are tons of products and tweaks that deal with rooms. Tube Traps, Shakti Holographs, SR HFT's are just a few, and they have a profound effect in controlling room anomalies.
Third, Speaker placement. Precise measurements need to be done to assure proper placement. Each speaker should be the same distance from the listening chair. Tow-in of the speaker is important. Moving the speakers out into the room, instead of having them flush against the wall is important.
Fourth, Explore various tweaks that lower the noise floor. Getting to the micro-vibrations as stated above will really help here, but there is plenty of help to be gained by tweaks, such as the Perfect Path Technologies products, all designed to do one thing ... lowering the electronic noise and hash coming through the system via the electrical power lines. SR's aftermarket Black and Blue fuses also lower noise. A good power conditioner is another option.
Once all of the above is taken care of, and only then, should one consider upgrading to more expensive equipment, including cables. Take care of the basics, and you just may find that there is no need at all to upgrade your electronics.
Frank