@dhite71 - If you think of how we "percieve space" from sound e.g. live music...
- think about the various artists are spaced on the stage
- as the sound of each instument reaches our ears, our brains interpret two slightly different sounds
- one ear hears a slightly louder sound
- which provides us with the ability to
- assess the location of the artist in the ’left to right’ plane
- when both ears hear a slightly louder sound we can
- assess the location of the artist/instrument (front to back) in relation to other artists/insrtuments
- however those sounds are also slightly out of phase
- it is the phase that provides that final piece of the puzzle
- the various phase differences between what the left and right ears actually allows the brain to build a more accurate representation of the live performance in relation to "our location" within the venue
- so if we are located to the side we build a totally diffeent image to that of a person having a more central location
- Also, when we listen to a recodring, the image may or may not be confined to the boundaries of our listening room.
- i.e. provided we have good system in a perfect listening environment
The sound engineers in the recording studio can manupulate EVERY aspect of a recording
- each instrument and artist are recorded on their own track
- the signals can be manipulated, such that the "sounds" of each track can be "placed" with great precision in any part of the resulting image in left/right and front/back planes
- and using the subtle differences between what our left and right ears will eventualy hear, by adjusting volume and phase differences between the left and right channels - they can build a pretty convincing "image"
- these days, even "venue acoustics" i.e. those little echoes and reverberations generated by music being played in a venue, can be emulated, to achieve a more relaistic reproduction.
When playing back a recording, better systems will take the recorded signals in the left and right channels and reproduce them with an amazing degree of accuracy, such that, it convices our brain that we are in the venue where the recording took place OR in the "vitual venue" as created by the very best sound engineers.
The really great thing about today’s electronics is that you do not have to have the very best components to get a reasonably realistic sounding image.
- but you do need to have pretty darn good cables!
- because cables actually play a significant role in conveying those incredibly detailed signals while maintaining the ever so subtle variances in phase between left and right channels
- thus allowing the components to build that amazing image
Every cable in a system will impact sound quality in some way.and it isn’t until you start using excellent cables that you will be able to hear very noticeable improvements in imaging.
Those mega expensive systems you hear at audio shows and at those high end audio stores all have excellent cables.
Hope that helps - Steve