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Is soundstage just a distortion?

Years back when I bought a Shure V15 Type 3 and then later when I bought a V15 Type 5 Shure would send you their test records (still have mine). I also found the easiest test to be the channel phasing test. In phase yielded a solid center image but one channel out of phase yielded a mess, but usually decidedly way off center image.

This got me thinking of the difference between analog and digital. At its best (in my home) I am able to get a wider soundstage out of analog as compared to digital. Which got me thinking- is a wide soundstage, one that extends beyond speakers, just an artifact of phase distortion (and phase distortion is something that phono cartridges can be prone to)? If this is the case, well, it can be a pleasing distortion.
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csontos
1,311 posts
 
Ralph, you made a very good point about tone-arm oscillation. All my records have a pencil line on the label of each side which serves as an alignment tool to precisely center the record before play. I've been doing this since my first system. The salesman who sold it to me threw in a Sure test record with a pencil line drawn out perpendicular to the spindle. It took a little while but it did dawn on me. Otherwise, only half the record is being accurately tracked. I know you were referring to something else but I think this is much more relevant.
p59teitel
312 posts
 
"On the reproduction side it is not clear to me that audiophiles are interested in an accurate soundstage reproduction. Wider or deeper seems to be desired whether or not it is warranted. Dipoles, wide dispersion or rear firing tweeters and omnis all overlay additional soundstage info to what is already in the recording."

I never thought of it quite that way, but it's true - I absolutely prefer a wide soundstage as I find it easier to track individual players and singers that way than with a more condensed image. So in this instance I have to concede preference trumps original artistic intent.

Excellent observation!
jjrenman
279 posts
 
IMO if soundstage is a form of distortion than it is in the recordings not the equipment. In my system, in both digital and analog sources, I can play a recording with very little soundstage as well as recordings with huge enveloping soundstages.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 
Learsfool, your answer depends on the "price" of the cartridge and the analog rig, as well as the setup; but we are assuming the set up is perfect in any case.
2chnlben
595 posts
 
Hum... I agree that a well-executed amplifier and crossover is beneficial to the sound-stage, but I believe those benefits are more apparent in the actual staging of the instruments and players within the sound-stage.

The room itself, and the way in which the speakers are placed has more to do with the overall dimensions of that sound-stage. Speaker placement is the key to achieving a wide sound-stage. Then comes room treatments. I have heard some mid-fi gear that produces exceptionally wide and deep sound-stages, but at the same time poor definition within that sound-stage; and it is that definition ('realism") that we all strive for... Which entails much more than just dimensions...
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