What is very good imaging and soundstage exactly.


I do not often listen to systems other than my own and so I don't have much to compare to. I'm really curious what others are hearing when their systems are dialed in, especially regarding the soundstage thing. Briefly, what I hear from my sweet spot goes something like this. Always a focused center image.....it often seems to be coming right out of the center of my preamp, which is 3 feet behind the plane of my speakers and centered. It will move slightly if I move my head from side to side. On most recordings, the soundstage is mainly back there as well, somewhat behind the speakers. Once in a while, a part of the music seems to come directly from a speaker.....like the banjo player on Alison Krause/Union Station.....that boy lives in my right speaker. It sort of bugs me that he is right at the speaker, rather than behind it, but this doesn't happen very often. Most of the time my speakers disappear quite well. Once in a great while, I hear information outside of the speakers to the right or left. So my question is, is this good or bad, is it normal? Do you have favorite recordings that are impressive in terms of soundstage, and what do you hear as far as depth and width, etc.?
240zracer
sounds pretty normal to me. I know what you are referring to with Alison Krauss. His placement on stage, I think, is pretty accurate to that.
Sounds about right. Do you have any room treatments ... especially right and left of your speakers at the 1st reflection points? That would help with the width of the image.

Enjoy,
Bob
Alison Krauss/Union Station

They are set up with the banjo on the far right...inline with the rest of the group (except the bass player and drum set...bass player is center/rear and drums are rear/right)...if the banjo were set back in the soundfield then it would be incorrect. Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski (vocals) are just left and just right of center stage,ie...she is not dead center.

Dave
240racer

you bring up a topic which I always think about as well. While I feel I have my system right, I have little point of reference to know how my system stacks up to someone elses.

I am making a point to join a local Audiophile Society in 2007 as they often do tours of members homes which allow you to hear other peoples systems.

I recall many many years ago, I was able to meet someone in person when buying an audio accessory from him. He asked if I'd like to hear his system. He played Annie Lennox, the track "Why" and to this date, I use that experience as my "chasing the dragon reference". His system was the most 3-D, huge soundstage I have ever heard and this was within a smallish apartement.

It turned out this person was Jason Serinius, who I beleive contributes to Stereophile and other On-line reviews. A few years after that Demo, he was selling the speakers which he used during that Demo, which I now own. To date, I have not been able to replicate the Soundstaging and Imaging his system had, but is something which I am always chasing and getting close.