@helomech Yes, a walk-in soundstage is indeed >/= 90% room and speakers. The majority of the remaining 10% or so is the amplification. I’ve heard enough $60K+ digital front ends paired with six figure speakers in enough rooms to know that the front end accounts for nearly zero of the effect, because many of those systems failed to produce said effect. Money ≠ equal performance when it comes to digital components.
I see it as counterproductive to keep this subject contentious simply because it’s not supposed to be. I can only agree with the “Money ≠ Performance” part of the statement, and I’m a strong proponent of that notion. I recently acquired two sub-$1k DACs—far from the price range you referred to—that are fully capable of producing a tall, wide, and deep soundstage with pinpoint-focused imaging. I don’t know which specific DACs or digital transports in the $60k+ range fail to do that effect, but if such units exist, it would be a huge pity to see that investment wasted.
I don’t pretend to hear what I don’t. Before acquiring these two DACs, all my previous units could produce a decent soundstage (SS) in all dimensions except depth. And believe me, I’ve already optimized my setup and speaker placement in rooms prepared to reveal deep SS once a capable DAC and digital transport were in place. After months of tireless experimentation, the day my R2R DAC and transporter combo was fully broken in, I could hardly believe what I was hearing from that combo—a soundstage wider than the speakers, taller in a way that mimicked an actual singer’s or performer’s presence, and most importantly, deep enough to feel as if you could walk into it. Without pinpoint imaging and a dark background, such a space simply doesn’t exist.
Of course, this experience doesn’t occur with every piece of music. As many have noted, the spatial cues must be present in the recording. Ultimately, it comes down to whether your gear can preserve and reproduce that information. As I’ve said before, if your DAC only produces a “wall of sound,” forget about a walk-in SS. And if your digital transport suffers from jitter or electrical noise, spatial cues will be lost due to timing errors.
Here are two specific music tracks that reproduce this effect in my listening spaces:
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“Zulu Voodoo” – Kalya Scintilla, Illusions
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“Flamenco’s On Fire” – Kalya Scintilla, Illusions
Let me know if you’d like more examples or different genres.
Speaker placement is equally important—on par with the digital front end, in fact. In my case, I pull my speakers 4 feet from the front wall (for depth) and 3 feet from the side walls (to avoid smearing from early reflections). The speakers are 11 feet apart with a slight 15° toe-in for my main rig in the living room, and 8.5 feet apart, facing straight ahead, for my second rig in the master bedroom. I’ve found these distances beneficial for widening SS and improving instrument separation. Finally, I have heavy window drape up front and bass traps but don’t treat the side walls, since I’ve found some reflective sound can help widen the SS—as Floyd Toole has also pointed out.
