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A More Forward Sound Stage/ Cables the answer?

Cables and ICs can help position the sound stage, as I understand it. Amps, speakers and other gear more so? My modest small bedroom set up is: Music Fidelity A3.2 integrated amp, Modded Sony Sacd c222 changer, Revel m20's, and soon to be replaced budget cables and ICs.The speakers are as far forward as possible, about 4 ft from the front wall, 5ft apart ( limited by furniture ) and 8 ft from my ears which are against the bed headboard and the back wall.
The problem is that the sound stage is all behind the speakers. I would like to bring it more forward. The amp presents, what the reviewers called a " laid back" or "tenth row" presentation of the sound stage. Being a former classical musician, I yearn for a closer sound stage and imaging ( presently good but not what I enviously read about ) that puts me more "inside" the ensemble. Finances being what they are, I'm reluctant, but am seriously considering changing the amp. Meantime, with cables and ICs, can I pull the sound stage forward and maintain or even improve imaging? Or is this only a minor tweak with my amp ( and/or speakers? ) presenting the major obstacle to my quest? As a budget restricted newbie, I've looked through many of the threads, and there's lots on "wider and deeper" but I don't find this issue of forward sound stage positioning addressed much. A-gon has been revelatory and a real service. Thanks in advance for your input.
jeffkonicek
rlawry
479 posts
 
It has been my experience that electronic components affect sonics much more than cables. Cables do have some effect, but if you are looking for a significant change in a more forward and immediate soundstage, I would look to component(s) changes. That being said, I heard for the first time some new cables incorporating carbon nanotubes, i.e. "buckyballs". The effect on the soundstage size was pretty startling. If you are interested there is a review on this site of the Mosaic Chimera cables.
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,124 posts
 
By having speakers as far as possible from the front wall you are actually increasing the soundstage depth.
you can bring the stage forward a bit by reducing the distance between the speakers and the wall, if that's possible.

Also, by getting cables that are detailed you can bring the stage closer once again.
I recommend silver interconnects from cd to integrated.
Try Acoustic Zen Silver Reference MkII. You should still have depth to the soundstage, but detailed as this cable is, it will bring you closer to the stage.

Good luck.
clio09
3,355 posts
 
Can you move the listening position closer to the speakers, say maybe a foot or two? This will help create a more forward sound and closer presentation. It worked for me as recommended by some information I found on the Galen Carol website.

I too agree that some cables will affect sound stage depth. Virtual Dynamics cables come to mind, but this is a pricey line of cables so they may not fit your budget. In most cases though, listening position, speaker positioning, room treatments, and components will have greater sound stage influence - both width and depth.
audioquest4life
772 posts
 
When I was auditioning the Einstein Tube preamp my soundstage came forward a lot. In my current setup I am about stage 3-5 and hear the music in a panoramic so to speak. With the Einstein, the music was on top of me with the soundstage appearing to be direct in front of me. I liked both presentations, however, I decided to keep my Octave tube preamp as I prefer being to see the panoramic sondstage over the close in your face one.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life
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