Is Imaging Worth Chasing?
Man, am I going to be torn apart for this. But I says what I says and I mean what I says.
Here’s a long term trend I’ve noticed in the audio press. Specs that used to be front and center in equipment reviews have essentially disappeared. Total harmonic distortion, for instance. Twenty years ago, THD was the start and end of the evaluation of any amplifier. Well, maybe power, first. Then THD. Armed with those two numbers, shopping was safe and easy.
The explanation for the disappearance is not hard to figure. Designers got so good in those categories that the numbers became meaningless. Today, most every amp on the shelf has disappearingly low distortion. Comparing .00001 to .000001 is a fool’s errand and both the writers and the readers know it. Power got cheap, even before Class D came along to make it even cheaper. Anyone who tries bragging about his 100 watts will be laughed out of the audio club.
Stereophile still needed to fill it’s pages and audiophiles still needed things to argue about so, into the void, stepped imaging. Reviewers go on and on about imaging. And within the umbrella of imaging, they write separately about the images height, width, and depth. “I closed my eyes and I could see a rock solid picture of the violas behind the violins.” “The soundstage extended far beyond the width of the speakers.” And on and on.
Now, most everyone who will read this knows more about audio equipment than me. But I know music. I know how to listen. And the number of times that I’ve seen imaging, that I’ve seen an imaginary soundstage before me, can be counted on my fingers. Maybe the fingers of one hand.
My speakers are 5-6 feet apart. I don’t have a listening chair qua listening chair but I’m usually 8-9 feet back. (This configuration is driven by many variables but sound quality is probably third on the list.) Not a terrible set-up, is my guess from reading lots of speaker placement articles. And God knows that, within the limited space available to me, I have spent enough time on getting those speakers just right. Plus, my LS50s are supposed to be imaging demons.
I’ve talked to people about this, including some people who work at high-end audio stores. Most of them commiserate. It’s a problem, they said. “It usually only happens with acoustic music,” most of them said. Strike one. My diet of indie rock and contemporary jazz doesn’t have much of that. “You’ve got to have your chair set up just right. And you’ve got to hold your head in just the right place.” Strike two. Who wants to do that?
(Most of the people reading this forum, probably. But I can’t think of any time or purpose for which I’ve held my head in a vise-like grip like that.)
It happens, every now and then. For some reason, I was once right up next to my speakers. Lots of direct sound, less reflections. “The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads” was playing. And I literally gave a start because David Byrne was standing on the coffee table. Cool.
But, generally speaking, imaging is something I only read about. And if that little bit of imaging is the dividend of dropping more money into my system, I’m not sure that I want to deposit into that account.
I think that I still have a few steps to take that will pay benefits other than imaging. But maybe the high-end is not for me.
Imaging is important and you can do it! Pulling speakers from the front wall is critical. There are many guides out there, but you might look at Paul McGowan's youtube channel or Jim Smith's Get Better Sound. Your speakers are just fine. Good luck! Try watching a few of these: https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+get+speaker+imaging+paul+mcgowan |
**** Imaging is everything. **** Wow! Not even close. Tonal truthfulness, rhythmic and dynamic coherence…those sit way higher on the list of important attributes of an audio system. Imaging is great ear candy and certainly fun, but those other attributes are much more important in conveying the musical message. “Is it worth chasing”? Only you can decide. Depends on one’s priorities.
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To get great imaging, it needs to be encoded in the source, So, that eliminates a lot of music..probably most. To get some imaging value out of your equipment, you need a lot of help from room acoustics. I don’t listen to a lot of classical, but I do enjoy a variety of pieces with a strong vocal component, or simple acoustic pieces. Imaging is something I notice more with this music, but it isn’t the most important part of the presentation and I have no idea how my experience of the soundstage relates to the live recording environment. I do notice differences in soundstage width and depth, but not height and I do notice localization of some instruments like acoustic guitar, voice, symbols, drums, brass and so on when in a less cluttered musical environment. For a you are there experience, I think this is more available in home theater, especially with high channel Atmos, but I don’t know that I would call this imaging. |
First. Primary emphasis on specifications disappeared because, while not meaningless, they are a distraction and are frequently deceptive. The only reliable way to characterize high end audio equipment is descriptions of sound characteristics. Imaging is as @frogman points out only one of many characteristics of a good high end system. Some folks consider it an important characteristic, some could care less. How well your system images is the result of all components of your system, venue and speaker setup. I would start with What you have. Optimize it, then decide what the next step should be. The most useful thing you can do, to allow us to help is to put photos of your system and venue. This way we have some idea of what is really going on. There is a place under your UserID to do so, under virtual systems.
Step one will be slow methodical adjusting speaker placement. Get the triangle correct (speakers and chair), wall distances. Your ears need to be at tweeter level for most speakers… these are what are doing most of the imaging. 1/8” difference on placement can make a difference. Toe in is next. The soundstage opens up as you go from the speakers pointed at you to straight ahead…but, too far and the central image collapses) So this is not a quick process. Then room treatments. If your front and side walls are too reflective then the imaging is confused… you can see my main system to see some of the treatments I have used. The really heavy, thick wool rug on the front wall profoundly improved the imaging in my system. The images go deep into the wall (so, 4’ to the wall and 5’ into the wall), and on both sides of the speakers (so for me the soundstage is about 12’ wide). In special recordings I can hear sounds behind me. You can find detailed instructions about how to approach the above two activities.
Then there is your system. Top priority is speakers that are known to image well, of an appropriate size for your room. High quality stand mounted speakers can be the easiest to get great imaging out of. Then there is your electronics… in general, the better your equipment the better it will image. |
