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What should you hear?

I'm new to the hobby and curious what type of imaging sound stage you should hear.  I have a pair of Vandersteen 2ce signatures and they sound great.  What I find however is that the imaging, sound stage is very dependent on the recording.   

Norah Jones?  She sounds like she's sitting right in the room.  It's amazing.  

One I'm particularly interested in learning more about is Brubek's Take Five.   The saxophone images great.  Sounds dead center.  The piano however is clearly coming from the right hand speaker and the drums are clearly coming from the left.  Is this typical? 

Thanks for your input and tolerating a "newbie" question. 
mvrooman1526

Showing 3 responses by lowrider57

lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
Listen to a well recorded symphony if you want to experience good imaging and soundstage. There is width and depth with each section of instruments placed correctly on the stage. 
With a large orchestra you can hear that the string section forms a semicircle, the wind instruments are centered behind them, percussion in the back, etc.


lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
@rodman99999 
I agree on seating position in a concert hall or club and the acoustics. Here in Philly we have a mega million dollar overdamped concert hall which is such a shame. The orchestra moved from a 150 year old venue with excellent sonics.

As stated above, the recording of an orchestra may not give a true reproduction of the live event. Depending on engineering and recording techniques, it may sound flat and closed-in or may sound open with great depth. I prefer not to compare it to live, but to enjoy a great performance with the ambience of a concert hall. I like my listening spot to sound like I'm sitting in mid-hall orchestra seating.


lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
My go to for recordings of great music and imaging are remastered Blue Note. Here is an example of the very best in remastering of old recordings.
Credit must also be given to the original engineers for their miking and mixing techniques.

Tonal accuracy, proper placement of the musicians and room ambience make these recordings a close representation of a live event.

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