Is it my room, hearing or speaker setup? I just can’t get image depth.
I bought the book “Audiophiles guide: The stereo” and the files for the book. There are 3 depth check tracks for 3, 6 and 9’ What I hear is voices that are lower in volume on each track.
For the last years I had my speakers everywhere in the room, also bought a lot off acoustic panels.
The panels gave better sound but not more depth.
I got a very strong center stage and a good right to left image.
My System:
Tekton Design Double Impact, LM 845 premium, Doge 7 DAC, NUC with Roon ROCK, miniDSP SHD Studio as a streamer and Uptone ER.
Greetings Martin. Just going on your pic… the tall diffusers behind your speakers, have you tried them center on the wall just above your tubes instead? You may have to much reflection on the mids and highs from that wall. Or try absorption in the center wall too.
Also, not shown, are you employing any first point of reflection treatments on the side walls? If not a combination of these things may make a big improvement.
Also, how much have you experimented with your speakers ± toe in? Have you ruled out an improvement in that regard?
That’s my thinking too.
I’m finding great depth, and decent width to my soundstage with my middling system of NAD electronics and Wharfedale 9.6 speakers.
I’ve listened to the three depth tracks and feel they could have been better recorded. There’s a high frequency whine and low hum on each track that is distracting to the illusion.
There are audible cues like echo, coupled with the less loud vocals, that give the illusion of depth. To that point, the speaker setup has to be pretty spot on to place the singers at different distances. You want to find the right amount of room reflections to allow the ambient sounds of the recording to create a background for the vocals to contrast against. The voices should become more reverberant as the singers move away from the mic, creating the illusion of depth.
I’ve found Isoacoustics to pull away some nuance from the music with my speakers, so it’s worth putting them back on spikes with discs to see if it helps.
Hi @njlinuxmike I just removed the TV and it’s going up again. That’s why I don’t have any diffusion on the center of the wall. When I listen I put a blanket on the TV.
I have treated the first point of reflection.
Toe in is very important for my speakers. The DI has a very narrow sweet spot
No I don’t think so better stereo imaging and a more relaxed sound.
This Weekend I am going to take all the acoustic material out, then listen and put it back piece by piece to see how much it helps and also see if I has to much. I think I maybe have over damped my room
It’s hard to se on the picture but this is my speaker setup
Front wall to tweeter 130cm
Distance between tweeters 235cm
Listing position 265 away from center
Try seating positions down to 220cm without adjusting anything else on the 3ft track. You should hear the center image getting less precise. Stop there and test the other tracks again.
If you like where your speakers are currently set for other reasons, try moving your prime listening position to a point where your ears are approximately the same distance from each speaker’s tweeter as each speaker is apart (i.e., 235cm).
See if you like it better for image depth. If not, start moving your listening chair back away from that spot in about 15cm increments until you find something that sounds better.
If that does not work to improve things significantly, then do as suggested earlier and put your diffusers more behind and between your speakers, then experiment with the width between your speakers as well. Every room is different and there is no substitute for seat and speaker location experimentation.
Good luck and have fun.
[PS: One more thing. If moving the L&R speakers around is in the cards, then try starting out by moving them along a line (starting in the corners) that ensures they are always the same distance from the front wall as they are from the side walls. This can help with working with the room rather than against it, IME, with regard to good “soundstaging”.]
I’m impressed with all the effort you are making, and the help that is being offered. I had a set of these speakers, but with the Special Edition changes. After 3 months I sent them back. I could not get decent imaging with them, other than what you are describing. I had hoped they would be a fun change to my system for a couple of years, until I could afford the PS Audio speakers.
I’m back to using my DIY Thor speakers with only 3 drivers each (MTM arrangement). The imaging was good on them and I’ve recently reworked the crossovers and connectors so now the imaging is even better.
My personal feeling as to why the Tektons did not image well is that there are too many drivers which blurs the “point source”, and that the quality of each driver is compromised (quantity vs quality). I found that the speakers were just not detailed - at any frequency. I also peeked at the crossovers and was disappointed in what I saw. Manufacturers have to control costs for the dollars charged.
At a distance (elsewhere in the house), the Tektons provided big sound and were enjoyable - I just found they did not match up with the quality of the rest of my system for critical listening.
I wrote this somewhat reluctantly as I know that others love their Tekton speakers, and you have made a significant investment. I am hopeful you can make them work well.
I’ve always had really good imagining, solid center with left/right pan and instrument separation, but no depth until I put in the BHK 300s. Until then it was a flat wall of sound. But, it was really subtle change; maybe the drums a bit behind the vocals. Then I upgraded my DAC and went balanced… new pre. Now I have depth but it’s not significant deep. Still need some room treatment… speakers are, maybe, showing their limits… maybe I need a dedicated, small, 2-ch near field set-up
subtle. Depth is hard. I’m finding it’s that last little squeeze of the sponge. It’s that last little bit to ring-out… and its not cheap.
Can you always get depth with any set-up? My experience is “no”. I hope I’m wrong… following this thread with interest.
