Walk-in soundstage

I did it with conventional power amps (class AB), no preamps, open-baffle mains, generous amounts of a great power-treatment solution, giving my speakers all the space to breathe they require, first-order crossovers all around and - perhaps most importantly -  I used a digital, speaker management system.

That last one let me actively multi-amp my system and ditch all the audible impacts of using passive crossovers. It also does wonders for the sheer coherency of the imaging/soundstage - front to back, left to right and top to bottom. From that you get that Gordian knot of dynamics, space and the time domain cleaved straight through, (both from mid-to-hi, and from mid-to-low crossover zones if you plan out your system well enough to achieve it). Plus you also get zero sibilance issues, in the bargain.

I plan to also add at some point an atomic clock to my DAC. Not yet certain what all that will improve, but I'm convinced it won't hurt a thing in that regard!

I first experienced it with Magnapans and a SUMO class A amp plying vinyl.  Yes substances were involved but I felt like I was inside John Klemmer's horn.  An experience that happened almost 50 years ago but  still remembered today.

I guess I can think of one system I have heard like his. It was a completely optimized Wilson Chronosonic something and Rowland system. Today I am sure Burmeister / dCS / Wilson will do this. The sitting position was actually about three feet in the air on a platform. The soundstage was so holographic and deep that you could literally hear images as spheres at different depths. The physical depth from the listeners position to the front wall was probably twenty feet. Images would start five feet or so in front of the you and extend three or four feet deep (high and wide as well). Different instruments, different sizes. The kick drums and like were at or in the front wall far behind the speakers. I got to spend a couple hours with it. The cost was around 3/4 million? It’s been a while. 

I was awestruck. But it wasn’t the sound I wanted in my home... but it was wonderful to listen to.

What I think is likely different about the way I did it and the way it was done for you @lanx0003 is that this is Not the kind of thing that collapses as soon as your head drifts out of a narrowly designed sweet spot. In fact it's the kind of walk-through stage that you can effectively 'walk through'. When I walk to the front wall and turn around I can see the same soundstage that I do when I'm in the listening seat. Never once does it roll off, fold, evaporate or collapse. From anywhere in the room.

My system is quite laid back, however. That means the more forward the center image is recorded in the mix, the more it will tend to follow your head as you move laterally to the side from the listening chair. But that's already a known effect of laid-back setups.

Is the way I did it here the ultimate in the walk-through effect? I'm thinking probably no, surely there exists somewhere a setup that beats it, it's just that I haven't run across it myself yet. But, I'm thinking there might be more than one way to achieve the effect.

I also experienced that bubble of sound at a local dealer.  It was a fairly large listening area definitely longer than my room and slightly wider.  No noticeable treatment but perhaps built in.  My listening room is 19’x26’x10’.  I went in to purchase a Bluesound node a few years ago and for whatever reason he let me listen to their dCS Vivaldi stack, Boulder stereo amp, and Wilson Alexia V.  All I can say is it was incredible but perhaps too good if that makes sense.  It took me awhile to re-appreciate my meager system.