Soundstage Height

[jadis]

DaveyF's thread on 'Depth' made me think of another dimension in the soundstage - height, and if that is exclusively or mostly attributable to the speakers' height itself.

Having lived with mini monitors in the past (on stands), and then tall speakers like the B&W800s and now the Magnepan 2.7QRs, I have found out that very little amount of tweaks, cable swapping, tube rolling or amp switching can increase the soundstage height of my system, at least in a dramatic fashion. For monitors, I have found out that toe in or toe out can affect the soundstage height a bit, but when I went to the 6' B&W800 from the 4' B&W801, the soundstage height increased dramatically and even towards the end of the stage that is where the most obvious change had happened, the people singing are now standing instead of sitting. From then, it was hard for me to go back to a 'short' speaker system.

 

[mep]

Phil-Did you miss the height food-fight we already had?

 

[garylkoh]

Since you have MG2.7QR's - which IMHO do have good soundstage height.... try this.

On track 2 of this disc (it is also track 2 on SuperSound III):
http://www.firstimpressionmusic.com/product_p/fimuhd073.htm

In the first few seconds, there is a shaker that is supposed to sound like a bird flying from left to right. The path that the shaker defines - when you are sitting down in front of the speakers - is from about mid height 2 feet outside the left of the left speaker, then it comes out towards you and downwards and between the speakers, then it floats back to the right speaker and flies upwards, disappearing into the upper right corner of your room.

If the shaker does not fly upwards as it goes back on the right, tilt the right speaker towards you slightly. You will want to put a small, about 1/8" piece of wood or something (may be a piece of paper folded over 8 times) under the back corner of the legs of the speaker. This tilts the top of the right speaker towards you. Sit down and listen again.

 

[jadis]

Phil-Did you miss the height food-fight we already had?

Hi mark,

I think I missed that.

 

[jadis]

Since you have MG2.7QR's - which IMHO do have good soundstage height.... try this.

On track 2 of this disc (it is also track 2 on SuperSound III):
http://www.firstimpressionmusic.com/product_p/fimuhd073.htm

In the first few seconds, there is a shaker that is supposed to sound like a bird flying from left to right. The path that the shaker defines - when you are sitting down in front of the speakers - is from about mid height 2 feet outside the left of the left speaker, then it comes out towards you and downwards and between the speakers, then it floats back to the right speaker and flies upwards, disappearing into the upper right corner of your room.

If the shaker does not fly upwards as it goes back on the right, tilt the right speaker towards you slightly. You will want to put a small, about 1/8" piece of wood or something (may be a piece of paper folded over 8 times) under the back corner of the legs of the speaker. This tilts the top of the right speaker towards you. Sit down and listen again.

Hi Gary,

I'm quite satisfied with the height of my 2.7s and I'll try to take a look at the test you mentioned. Thanks.

 

[NorthStar]

Phil-Did you miss the height food-fight we already had?

Mark, do you have the direct link? ...More for Phil than I. :b

 

[treitz3]

www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?5764-What-is-quot-Sound-Stage-quot

97 pages later.......

 

[jadis]

www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?5764-What-is-quot-Sound-Stage-quot

97 pages later.......

thanks, treitz3. 97 pages! how did i miss that. it might take me a few days to read.

 

[JackD201]

PM me for the deleted OT portions regarding a certain pretty Jazz artist. Hahahahahaha!

 

[treitz3]

Jack, are you referring to the Stars Fell On Alabama - Renee Olstead's Skylark album?

 

[JackD201]

Her pics

 

[NorthStar]

www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?5764-What-is-quot-Sound-Stage-quot

97 pages later.......

Only!

 

[NorthStar]

pm me for the deleted ot portions regarding a certain pretty jazz artist. Hahahahahaha!

Yes

 

[jadis]

Wow. From soundstage to soundstage height to Renee Olstead's pic that have been deleted. Umm...is she a tall girl?

 

[jadis]

Only!

Each of those pages seems to be very long and maybe that's why I missed out reading that thread before. My mind seems to filter out long reads nowadays.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Different "height" subjects as far as I can see. Perhaps it is the proximity of near field listening, but I can the height of the image from my monitors very substantially by tilting them back. It goes from "sitting" to "standing."

Tim

 

[JackD201]

Jadis has one of the best proportioned soundstages I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. I pulled a prank on him once and said his left Maggie was raked differently from the right one. Lo and behold, a protractor magically appeared! LOL.

 

[jadis]

Different "height" subjects as far as I can see. Perhaps it is the proximity of near field listening, but I can the height of the image from my monitors very substantially by tilting them back. It goes from "sitting" to "standing."

Tim

Ah, yes, that's a good tweak for the monitor speakers, Tim. And I now recall, the Spica TC-50s, having a sloped baffle, to me, projects a soundstage height substantially above their actual height on stands. Perhaps that's an effect of tilting backwards.

 

[jadis]

Jadis has one of the best proportioned soundstages I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. I pulled a prank on him once and said his left Maggie was raked differently from the right one. Lo and behold, a protractor magically appeared! LOL.

Hahaha...It's a good thing I had one of those carpenter's protractor in my toolbox.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Ah, yes, that's a good tweak for the monitor speakers, Tim. And I now recall, the Spica TC-50s, having a sloped baffle, to me, projects a soundstage height substantially above their actual height on stands. Perhaps that's an effect of tilting backwards.

Works like a charm in the near field. I have mine tilted back and it puts the top of the image several inches above the speakers, and that's from just 4 feet back. By experimenting with toe-in and tilt, a good pair of monitors with sub(s) could project a very nice sound stage, even into a sizeable room.

Tim