@maritime51, sure thing. The sound stage is the most stable and focused I have experienced in my listening space. Side to side is the most expansive too.
For example, on one Niyaz CD that is very beat oriented and propulsive, making for some exciting listening, there's a loop or musician playing along but he/it's about 4' to the left of my left speaker, all on his/it's own.
On 21 Strings, of the three musicians playing, two of them are between the speakers, and the third is about a yard out and a foot to the right of the right speaker. I've never heard it that way before. I can turn my head right to left and back again, eyes open or closed, and he stays right where he is. It is not holographic, per se, but a very stable image. If I sit on the ottoman, which puts me about a yard in front of the speaker plane, the image retreats to about a foot in front of the speaker and not in or from it.
On a Jacintha CD, a xylophone playing on the right appears to be fully facing forward and when the lower notes are struck, they are out a good two feet to the right and when the higher notes are played, they end up just inside of the right speaker. Nice and level, left to right, and no truncation.
Everything I've described used to be scrunched up somewhat between the speakers with little spilling out to the side. They were distinct, but overlapped, with not the best depth rendering.
Front to back layering is somewhat limited due to my room constraints. Take a look at my set up on vinshineaudio.com and imagine sitting back a little more than 8' and that should give you a good idea as to why. I'm close to the front wall as you can see so I don't have great depth but still really good layering. On the percussion CD, Drums & Bells, there's a track where the drummer starts hitting something around the 6:30 position and continues striking things until the 11:00 position. As he goes around, striking various things, he describes a perfect ellipse that steadily rises until he finishes almost behind himself. I didn't have that with my Marantz, as much as I liked it.
Back up singers are off to the side or behind the main performers, unless they're badly miked or mixed. Trying anything with just two performers highlights the deftness that the Kinki is in resolving them. Small classical ensembles, when nicely miked, are spread out from left to right in, again, another nicely laid out ellipse.
Not all recordings put the performers into my living room like the ones mentioned but it's all down to the quality of the recording so don't expect miracles, but when that great recording is played back with an amp that plays so cleanly and clearly, it can make my speakers disappear like I've never experienced. I wish I could add another yard or so between my speakers and me and have another two feet or so behind them to see and appreciate the capabilities and potential that I know my set up has. But that's for later. I hope this gives you a good idea of how this piece images.
All the best,
Nonoise
For example, on one Niyaz CD that is very beat oriented and propulsive, making for some exciting listening, there's a loop or musician playing along but he/it's about 4' to the left of my left speaker, all on his/it's own.
On 21 Strings, of the three musicians playing, two of them are between the speakers, and the third is about a yard out and a foot to the right of the right speaker. I've never heard it that way before. I can turn my head right to left and back again, eyes open or closed, and he stays right where he is. It is not holographic, per se, but a very stable image. If I sit on the ottoman, which puts me about a yard in front of the speaker plane, the image retreats to about a foot in front of the speaker and not in or from it.
On a Jacintha CD, a xylophone playing on the right appears to be fully facing forward and when the lower notes are struck, they are out a good two feet to the right and when the higher notes are played, they end up just inside of the right speaker. Nice and level, left to right, and no truncation.
Everything I've described used to be scrunched up somewhat between the speakers with little spilling out to the side. They were distinct, but overlapped, with not the best depth rendering.
Front to back layering is somewhat limited due to my room constraints. Take a look at my set up on vinshineaudio.com and imagine sitting back a little more than 8' and that should give you a good idea as to why. I'm close to the front wall as you can see so I don't have great depth but still really good layering. On the percussion CD, Drums & Bells, there's a track where the drummer starts hitting something around the 6:30 position and continues striking things until the 11:00 position. As he goes around, striking various things, he describes a perfect ellipse that steadily rises until he finishes almost behind himself. I didn't have that with my Marantz, as much as I liked it.
Back up singers are off to the side or behind the main performers, unless they're badly miked or mixed. Trying anything with just two performers highlights the deftness that the Kinki is in resolving them. Small classical ensembles, when nicely miked, are spread out from left to right in, again, another nicely laid out ellipse.
Not all recordings put the performers into my living room like the ones mentioned but it's all down to the quality of the recording so don't expect miracles, but when that great recording is played back with an amp that plays so cleanly and clearly, it can make my speakers disappear like I've never experienced. I wish I could add another yard or so between my speakers and me and have another two feet or so behind them to see and appreciate the capabilities and potential that I know my set up has. But that's for later. I hope this gives you a good idea of how this piece images.
All the best,
Nonoise