The funny thing about imaging is if you chase it it keeps moving on you.
Is Imaging Worth Chasing?
Man, am I going to be torn apart for this. But I says what I says and I mean what I says.
Here’s a long term trend I’ve noticed in the audio press. Specs that used to be front and center in equipment reviews have essentially disappeared. Total harmonic distortion, for instance. Twenty years ago, THD was the start and end of the evaluation of any amplifier. Well, maybe power, first. Then THD. Armed with those two numbers, shopping was safe and easy.
The explanation for the disappearance is not hard to figure. Designers got so good in those categories that the numbers became meaningless. Today, most every amp on the shelf has disappearingly low distortion. Comparing .00001 to .000001 is a fool’s errand and both the writers and the readers know it. Power got cheap, even before Class D came along to make it even cheaper. Anyone who tries bragging about his 100 watts will be laughed out of the audio club.
Stereophile still needed to fill it’s pages and audiophiles still needed things to argue about so, into the void, stepped imaging. Reviewers go on and on about imaging. And within the umbrella of imaging, they write separately about the images height, width, and depth. “I closed my eyes and I could see a rock solid picture of the violas behind the violins.” “The soundstage extended far beyond the width of the speakers.” And on and on.
Now, most everyone who will read this knows more about audio equipment than me. But I know music. I know how to listen. And the number of times that I’ve seen imaging, that I’ve seen an imaginary soundstage before me, can be counted on my fingers. Maybe the fingers of one hand.
My speakers are 5-6 feet apart. I don’t have a listening chair qua listening chair but I’m usually 8-9 feet back. (This configuration is driven by many variables but sound quality is probably third on the list.) Not a terrible set-up, is my guess from reading lots of speaker placement articles. And God knows that, within the limited space available to me, I have spent enough time on getting those speakers just right. Plus, my LS50s are supposed to be imaging demons.
I’ve talked to people about this, including some people who work at high-end audio stores. Most of them commiserate. It’s a problem, they said. “It usually only happens with acoustic music,” most of them said. Strike one. My diet of indie rock and contemporary jazz doesn’t have much of that. “You’ve got to have your chair set up just right. And you’ve got to hold your head in just the right place.” Strike two. Who wants to do that?
(Most of the people reading this forum, probably. But I can’t think of any time or purpose for which I’ve held my head in a vise-like grip like that.)
It happens, every now and then. For some reason, I was once right up next to my speakers. Lots of direct sound, less reflections. “The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads” was playing. And I literally gave a start because David Byrne was standing on the coffee table. Cool.
But, generally speaking, imaging is something I only read about. And if that little bit of imaging is the dividend of dropping more money into my system, I’m not sure that I want to deposit into that account.
I think that I still have a few steps to take that will pay benefits other than imaging. But maybe the high-end is not for me.
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- 102 posts total
@kota1 ,
Does your incessant attempts to discredit me make you feel better? Perhaps if you actually responded to anything I said and listened maybe you could reach an effective retort? How these two speakers image will be dominated by room / speaker interaction which can be controlled. If I DSP correct for flat response on axis on both and listen to them on axis near field imaging will be surprisingly similar, though perception is complex hence bass response differences, distortion, will influence overall perception. Since you keep putting yourself up as an expert @kota1 why not tell us all about imaging. School is. We are all ears.
@mijostyn for the record, I do have line arrays but with dynamic speakers with waveguides for the tweeters. Planars and E-stats have trouble hitting the volume peaks I like at times. I also have as you would call them point sources. The line arrays don't image any better than a good point source in a proper space especially near field and I am exposed to those almost many times a week. I do think for many that line arrays would be easier to integrate into their rooms but I doubt the spousal factor is any better than acoustic panels. This market is not set up for the straightest path to the best sound.
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Since you keep putting yourself up as an expert @kota1 why not tell us all about imaging. School is. We are all ears. All you have are ears, when you get some speakers I will tell you where to place them for great imaging, just post a pic and your system NP. Until you get a system you can wear some ear buds I guess. 😢
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- 102 posts total