Limited soundstage between speakers


No matter what the source, the soundstage in my system remains within the width of the speakers. I read with envy of systems which extend the soundstage outside the speaker boundaries. Is this a problem with my speakers, amplification, room boundaries or something else?

What change should I make to improve the soundstage?

gyrodec/shelter 501/exposure 3010s2d/ spendorA6

 

rrm

+1 @mahgister.  Obviously you have spent many years with the time involved with the development of your sound room.  Unfortunately, while many of us would love to have a dedicated sound room, it is for the most part not a practical undertaking.  That leaves some of us with very challenging room environments, but I applaud your knowledge regarding your experiences and advice.  

tThen tune them like i described and transform them in an Helmholtz resonators or in a diffuser and you will begin to understand.

Uh, I doubt the recording engineers used Helmholtz resonators when they mixed the recording. Also, as a reviewer I got to hear many $500k+ systems in well-treated rooms, and in NONE of them did I hear 50% of the sound coming from outside the speakers unless the recording called for it, and 95% do not. If you’re hearing 50% of the sound coming from outside your speakers, you’re out of phase unless every other ultra high-end system I’ve heard is wrong. Or, maybe you just have a “magic system” that is mysteriously better than every system out there is wrong. My bet, you’ve constructed a room that radically diffuses the sound so you get width at the expense of center fill. You could get that much easier with some cheap Bose 901s. Again, you’re off on your own island and I don’t even understand you.

Well, I know it's possible to achieve what the OP has asked about, but it takes work and a recording that presents the required soundstage. I listen to large scale classical and quartets/quintets. If the recording is mic'd and engineered well I get to enjoy a wide and deep soundstage with a layered and focused image. The full orchestra extends beyond my speakers and each section of instruments is well defined. My all tube system plays a role in this presentation. Of course there are many recordings that don't extend beyond the speakers, but the soundstage extends from speaker to speaker with a focused image. BTW, in post #2 of this thread I stated that the OP needs to check if his system is in phase and are there any components that invert polarity. I don't think we got an answer.

My room is acoustically treated as much as a listening/living room can be. Following the instructions of John Devore for setting up his speakers is what locked the image into place. It doesn't take a masters degree in acoustic engineering to properly set up a listening room, no disrespect to that member. Maybe it helps that I know what to listen for due to my years working as an audio engineer.

 

Comical!

First your remark here made absolutely no sense at all because the acoustic of a personal room dont need to be the exact replica of a mixing studio :

Uh, I doubt the recording engineers used Helmholtz resonators when they mixed the recording.

 

 

Here it is easy to understand that you listen to your system perhaps in some room with some acoustic passive treatment but not to a mechanically controlled room if the sound scape of your system/room stay between the speakers 95 % of the time.... This illustrate the importance of Helmholtz mechanical control for fine tuning specific speakers to as specific room...Because most of my albums not only have imaging but a depth sound scape out the speakers surface axis in the front/back direction , not so often in the left/right direction outside of the speaker... like i say in some rare recording it is even better, my soundscape may come AROUND me and from behind or some voices be beside my ears with the orchestra behind the speakers inside the wall...

lso, as a reviewer I got to hear many $500k+ systems in well-treated rooms, and in NONE of them did I hear 50% of the sound coming from outside the speakers unless the recording called for it, and 95% do not

 

 

Also being a reviewer you may probably be like many audiophile a "gear fetichist" sorry, ignoring the power of acoustic and especially of psycho-acoustic, thinking that S.Q’ come directly from the system speakers instead of the system/room...

Divide the speed of sound by the size of your room if you want to know how many times in one second the soundwaves crossed your room and your ears to understand how REFLECTED waves play also a fundamental role even in NEAR listening position in most small room...In my room it is 13 times per second....If you want to know my room dimension use the speed of sound and make this child calculus...

You sell gear upgrade, i sell creativity and acoustic method at no cost in a dedicated room...

By the way i never pretended that my system is BETTER than most, it is only a relatively well chosen basic low cost one vintage; in the contrary i know perfectly well that half people in audiogon own better system than mine BUT IN BAD ACOUSTIC environment or in not so well treated and controlled room for sure....

My bet, you’ve constructed a room that radically diffuses the sound so you get width at the expense of center fill. You could get that much easier with some cheap Bose 901s. Again, you’re off on your own island and I don’t even understand you.

 

 

You are comical ...I dont bet often myself sorry, i made 2 years listening experiments in my room, enough to know that between DIFFUSION/ ABSORPTION/ REFLECTION, what matter is the appropriate ratio to apply for a scpecific speakers/room /ears relation...

And by the way the first acoustical factor to get right to begin with and the last one to get right in an ongoing set of experiments is naturalness of TIMBRE perception...You cannot have timbre right with DISTORTIONS and excess of diffusion , or excess of absorption or excess of reflections... You cannot have piano timbre right in a bad pressure zones room distribution... Read about timbre perception in acoustic and psycho acoustic...

Timbre perception is the most important acoustic cue... The guide to tune a room, not listener envelopment factor, not imaging and not soundstage...Because you can have "some" imaging with an imperfect system/ room but you cannot have a good instrument timbre in an imperfectly controlled room... Natural sounding Timbre is the hallmark of audiophile experience...

You dont understand me because you read too much audio articles magazine and not enough acoustic/psycho acoustic basic...I dont read marketing article ...

Try Helmholtz...And dont bet about room acoustic you dont know about....

All acoustic effects you dont know about are not explained by alleging "out of phase effect " from the audio system, or excess diffusion or excess reflections in a room ...

I am not deaf, i dont listen to any of my 7 headphones, do you think that i prefer distortions all across my room to a good Stax headphone?

If i could bet with you,  i will  bet you never know what the acoustical definition of "listener envelopment "means in psycho-acoustic, and the way to gain it,  and i bet you never wrote about it in your reviews about the gear...

It is a safer bet than reducing my room to be a distorted mirror with no coherency because you dont know acoustic basic BY YOURSELF AND WITH YOUR EARS experiments......

😁😊😊😊😊😊

I apologize for my impertinent answer to your presomtuous post...

My best to you....

 

 

Maghister, please give example recordings where the soundscape extends well beyond the loudspeakers.  Thank you very much in advance.