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The “They are here” vs “You are there” sound topic

Hi all,

I want to start a topic about the “They are here” vs “You are there” type of sound. I have read that different audiophiles usually fall in one of either categories, but what does it actually mean? So here a few questions:

- what is the definition of “They are here” vs “You are there” in your opinion?
- what is the main difference in sound? E.g. soundstage
- which kind of sound do you prefer?
- which type of speakers fall in one or the other category in your opinion?
- what type of sources, amplifiers or even cables fall in one or the other category in your opinion?

For instance, I believe the Esoteric products from Japan fall in the they are here type of sound. Do you feel the same?
128x128richardhk

Showing 4 responses by kenjit

kenjit
1,771 posts
 
They are here=recordings with no reverb 

You are there=recordings with plenty of reverb 
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
The "you are there" acoustical signature on the recording is reverb and lots of it. The more of it you have the less the brain focusses on the competing in room sound signature cues. When the recording has no cues, the in room cues dominates and the performers appear in your room. 

However the elephant in the room is TONALITY. That is the holy grail of loudspeaker theory. All high end speakers are wrong when it comes to this. Forget about off axis response. Fix the tonality or you will never be happy.

kenjit
1,771 posts
 
About 800hz down to bass. 
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
Personally I do place tonality ahead of spatiality on my list of priorities, but tonality was not the topic of this thread. In general I agree with the approach of fixing first that which matters most.
you say that but your focus is and always has been off axis response. That is your holy grail. The problem is its not hard to do what you so eagerly seek to achieve. Cheap dsp speakers costing a few hundred bucks can give you smooth perfect off axis response if thats the goal. 

So even if your goal was the key to perfect sound, it has already been done and very cheaply at that. 

your injunction to "forget about the off axis response" overlooks a vital aspect of tonality:

No it does not. My definition of tonality is completely different than yours. Tonality, according to my definition is the area well below the crossover point. So it has nothing to do with off axis response. 

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