Widening Soundstage


Question for the Audiophile Experts

How do I go about widening my soundstage without moving my speakers further apart
I like the imaging i'm getting but want a bit more air in the music
Any ideas how to proceed
Check out my systems page for details on positioning and equipment
musicfile
Dude,

You and I are so lucky with our uniquely shaped rooms!

Mine is a 20X30 L shaped demon.

I found speakers I owned prior, like Maggies and B&Ws just could not synergize in this room for big soundstage and all the other fixings of good sound.

The Maggies in particular were imaging and soundstage champs in my prior home where the room they were in was perhaps a tad smaller but a more normal rectangular shape.

I found the only way to really get the most out of rooms like these are omni-directional design speakers. These tend to be champs in regards to presentling a large soundstage, even in assymetrically shaped rooms.

I owned OHMs also prior and ended up going that way. In fact, I ended up with 2 new pair for two different rooms. Y

ou might consider doing an in-home audition of a pair of OHM Walsh 100 or 200 series 3 in that room. YOu have to contact OHM to discuss your case (www.ohmspeakers.com). John Strohbeen, the owner, designer and an MIT trained engineer will probably help talk you through to a solution himself. They offer a very generous in-home audition period so there is no risk if they don't pan out.

There are other omni designs out there as well that might pan out that you could consider. OHM is the one I would recommend.

You might tweak a wider soundstage and better imaging with more air out of your system in that room by jumping through various hoops to get there, but seriously, I think omni's are the fast track way to go for your case.
I'd try to get the listening position a bit further away and free from any reflective surfaces. This might require placing your speakers closer to the wall behind them, which may be challenging for the bass (EQ perhaps or experiment with a sub).
With what you have, I agree with Shadorne. Your listening position might be too close to the speaks and things might open up better with more distance. Play with the position of the speaks relative to your listening spot carefully. A few inches could make a big difference.

Also that open door behind the system could be sucking some of the life out of the soundstage. Try to keep it closed.

You might try to do more acoustic dampening of the side and rear wall also to help with the near field listening, but it looks like that could be a major project.

Try the omnis. If they don't work, send them back or buy them used at a reasonable price and resell them.
Trading the Sason's for Omni's is not worth it IMO. Try working with the room and speaker placement. What are the dimensions of your room? How close is the listening position to the back wall? How far out from the front wall are your speakers?

My room is not an ideal shape and I've been able to optimize it so that it has a nice 3D sound stage that extends out beyond both speakers. Could it be better - sure - but not until I get a bigger and more symmetrical room.

If your speakers are toed-in try them more straight on. Like Shadorne also suggested either move the speakers back a bit or your chair to be farther away.