Solid state - How wide can 3D image go

what I can say is that using the Philips CD player (has a CD or Transport) I get a huge sound stage. If I then change to a Sony CDP-997 (has a CD or transport) it does not give me that big of a sound stage.

I suspect you have identified your problem. The Sony, which appears to be vintage(?), has a poor or out of spec clocking system, and is creating a lot of jitter in the signal sent to the DAC. I plugged in my old Nakamichi CD player a few years ago to see how it sounded, unlistenable compared to the streamer I had in place. There could of course be other factors influencing the digital output of the Sony, but just letting you know what I have found experimenting with various digital sources running to the same DAC. 

Hi Zione29,

Both CD players are considered vintages, however both I have had them serviced by recently.

The Sony unit plays very well, it just can’t compete with the Philips in terms of 3D image and sound stage.

I’m terms of increasing the 3D image and sound stage on the streaming side, what did you do?

In the end I eliminated both my CD players altogether. Ripped all my CD's to a network drive and used a Sonos Connect for streaming them and online content. The reason I know how much difference a streamer can make is that as an experiment this winter I put together a Raspberry Pi box with an Allo DigiOne streamer board in it to see how it compared to the Connect which is known to be a bit jittery. Immediately noticeable improvement, two different streamers, same DAC. In your case, two CD players, same DAC, noticeably different. Honestly, I would just chuck the Sony as I do not think there is a way to fix the issue.

Hi All,

I know I can improve on my current network/streaming part, I am trying to understand what will make the most noticeable difference in regards to 3D imaging and sound stage. Would it be lps, switch, router, lan converters, power conditioners, etc

Got it, sorry I was missing the point. What are the other components of your system?