A deeper more holographic soundstage.

From everything I have heard of some amazing obscenely expensive systems, right down to just above average systems, I have found the totality of the small ‘lesser’ adjustments to make the biggest difference, so long as the basic componentry is not average. It shocked me at first, because like almost how we all started, the primary components appeared to be most important.

Your observation must be printed in gold before any other thing said in all audio forums...

It is also my experience i summarized in 7 words:
Dont upgrade anything before embedding rightfuly everything....

I will only add that my experiments are there only for inspiration in others... You are right and i know that it is not all people who can experiment in a dedicated audio room with  non-esthetical devices...But my ideas can be realized many of them in a living room, and some can be replicated more esthetically by others with better craftmanship than me. The point is small cost good system can sound "relatively" like high end modulo embeddings controls...

This is important for people to hear that, then, instead of throwing money or being frustrated, they can became more creative and less conditioned by the false dogmas circulating in marketing and audio reviews...



Thanks kevn for you astute mind reading me and kindness toward me.... 😌

From everything I have heard of some amazing obscenely expensive systems, right down to just above average systems, I have found the totality of the small ‘lesser’ adjustments to make the biggest difference, so long as the basic componentry is not average. It shocked me at first, because like almost how we all started, the primary components appeared to be most important. 

Do you believe everything you have read?  I can assure you, this is most definitely not the case, with the exception of speaker placement, but that is hardly a lesser adjustment, that is pretty major.  The next big one is room acoustics, and again, that is really major.

However, if you follow what everyone is trying to sell, and what everyone is trying to justify they bought, then yes, you may convince yourself that the small details matter, and you can ignore the big stuff. You can't. Talk to actual acoustic engineers, people who build concert halls, etc.

The fastest way to get there is a small room is with monitor speakers and a nice little tube amplifier. Remember that not all tube amps are created equal. Soft dome tweeters are as edgy and good for a small room. Lots of air around the speakers is important, price is not. Yes you need a recording that has ambience to hear ambience, Get the basics first. 

Hi, thanks for an interesting discussion.

My hifi equipment is now at such quality level (but by no means exclusive/very expensive) that decent cabling makes a difference. I have just changed all power cords ensuring all are plugged-in correctly phase-wise, and deployed a cheap power filter/conditioner. The difference is audible giving me more punch and holographic sound image.  

That said, I have already perfected speaker placement using quite a few different methods. One of the most educational was "The Art of Rational Speaker Placement" found here https://youtu.be/84Pf0ycbyBM. I even contacted the presenter, and bought his written guide.

Since then, I have diverged from this speaker placement, but following his process gave me insight into what is possible with speaker placement. Especially, careful backward-tilting of the speakers mentioned in the end of the video and guide, is the icing on the cake: it opens up the stereo image submerging the listener into the sound.

Maybe, careful tilting could give you the extra depth and height in your stereo image.