3-Dimensional Soundstage

@lonemountain - I agree 100% which is why I went with stats in my 12 X 16 (small) room.  No first order reflections.  Also, as for room size and bass, problem, in my opinion, can only be solved by applying real eq (parametric, not graphic) at, probably 200hz or 250 hz and below.  Bass in a small room will always smudge the lower midrange at any reasonable listening level.  

I have appreciated a quite nice separation of instruments in my system’s soundstage. I have read many times about people experiencing depth in their music and have never appreciated this.

Category 1: Least expensive

If you are happy/satisfied with a flat 2D sound that becomes a face smacking wall of sound when you crank up the volume, that’s all there is to it. That’s the old school "hifi" that many dudes have been happy with for decades. Don’t worry about depth or 3D if you fall in that category.

Category 2: Very expensive

No matter the recording, some level of partial 3D and pertinent depthwise spatial nuance is created primarily in the digital domain with FPGA dacs, processors like BACCH, etc (still inside the domain of channel based stereo)... There are also elements of speaker design, analog circuits design and setup - speaker positioning/listener positioning/room, etc that play into its conduciveness.

Category 3: Can be as expensive, more expensive or less expensive than category 2

True immersive 3D envelopment/immersion/detail/full on spatial nuances/etc, which is more representative of live unplugged events in great acoustic spaces can be accomplished with object based audio, i.e. more than 2 speakers and pertinent object based audio processors.

Note: "All knowing seers" in the 3 above mentioned categories will claim that they achieved audio nirvana in said category (to each his own/who cares).

I am of the mind that "time alignment" is very important for the best 3D image.

I had been working on a replacement pair of speakers for my JBL L200/300s that would do justice to the female voice and developed the "Mermans" that use JBL 2241H (18"), JBL 2251J (9.5") and the ESS Great Heil. The crossovers use Audyn Q4 caps, heavy gauge air core chokes, and high wattage, Dale 1% resistors.

At first it was a matter of getting everything to play nice together. Then it was a matter of getting a smooth flat frequency response in the room, and I wasn’t getting it from the Heil.

So I made modifications to the Heil, and Carlos Santana’s amplifier jumped out into the room infront of the other instruments. It just happened! The RTA shows that the modification filled in a dip in the 3-8kHz range vasting increasing the "order of the crossover" and this is where the detail lies! Further modifications, and the soundstage and imaging are like anything I’ve ever heard at any price. And I have one-off, Altec Big Red Supers (triamped), LS3/5As, JBL L200/300s, and L112s), as well as have been to shows and showrooms (Magico, Focal, etc.) so I’ve heard some decent stuff. My source is an Oppo95 through a Yamaha RX-Z9 RECEIVER in "Pure Direct" mode. I use no eq or room correction, electronic or physical and the room is ~5,000 cubic feet. I can play clean to concert levels and believe that you need a certain amount of volume (i.e., loudness) to envelope you for proper imaging.

And, the other day one of the gents from AudioKarma came by for a listen. He has Altec 604 Hollywoods, ADS, and ???). On the first track (equipment not even warm), he said this was nothing like he’s experienced and he just heard a $100,000+ system with $40K monoblocks. He said he was going to have to re-assess everything.

BTW, I am in Orange County, CA, and anyone is welcome to come by and experience this for themself.

There's no one answer fits all.  All the components in the chain as well as room acoustics, speaker placement etc. play a part.  It took me over 40 years of learning, trial and error to put together a room and a system that sounds "3D" with pretty much any recording, and cost played a small part, but was not the deciding factor.  Knowledge, experience and knowing what to do and look for is the key.

Well said and welcome ...

😊

There's no one answer fits all.  All the components in the chain as well as room acoustics, speaker placement etc. play a part.  It took me over 40 years of learning, trial and error to put together a room and a system that sounds "3D" with pretty much any recording, and cost played a small part, but was not the deciding factor.  Knowledge, experience and knowing what to do and look for is the key.