Soundstage and image height, does it exist?


On another site, there is a discussion on soundstage, and there are a few people clamming, that, since there is no vertical information encoded on stereo recordings, that soundstage height does not actually exist. It is a product of our minds filling in missing information. 

Are they correct?

Please explain your position, with as much technical details as you feel needed.

 

128x128simonmoon

Well I have no idea if they are right or wrong regarding the non-vertical coded information, but what I do know is I prefer my speakers (Forte III) adjusted slightly up. If I were to keep them leveled to the floor I find myself looking down to hear the music. Sound waves seem to travel in the direction you send them, and I would imagine expanding the farther they travel. It is possible that there is no need for a vertical code only a slight speaker adjustment. And, might I dare say a little imagination or trickery of the brain. 

I run Acoustic Zen Crescendo speakers.  Transmission line design. There is clearly the impression of height in the soundstage.  Sometimes it's actually annoying to hear an instrument that appears to be several feet above the rest of the band.  I put in down to the upper postion of the midrange and tweeter.  They are a couple feet above my ears in the listening position.  I just close my eyes and picture a two tier stage.  Works for me.  

If you can hear it, and I think most of us can, then it (perception of height) exists. It's not just speakers. Years ago, I had an Apt Holman amplifier and a McIntosh 2105 and I tried them in the same system with the same music. The Apt Holman had a very squat height and the McIntosh much taller comparatively. With speakers I guess it's all about the way the drivers disperse the sound. With electronics, I'll leave that to better minds.

My friends and I have tested this by trying the same gear in different rooms. Our conclusion is that image height is a function of ceiling height and position of the drivers. Canting the speakers fore and aft can change the image height as well. Give it a try. 

the human hearing mechanism encodes height information based on frequency contouring caused by the shape of the ear. there is a tone map in the brain that instantly "translates" certain directional sounds as "higher" or "lower." SOME stereo music recordings contain enough of this information, a FEW of them. i have heard it demonstrated on the LEDR [Listening Environment Diagnostic Recording] on a Chesky test disc, with the synthetic cabasa rising above one speaker and sailing across the ceiling to the other speaker, as well as sailing backwards.