Soudstage Height?

i'm not sure whether the posts so far are based on a common definition of "soundstage height." when i hear this term, i think of the perceived height of the "stage" on which the performers stand or sit. thus, if the image requires you to look "up" to "see" where the performers are perceived to be, you have a "high" soundstage. if you look "down," as from a balcony, you have a "low" soundstage. this phenomenon is, in my experience, affected foremost by speaker design, tho it may also be affected by other components, including wire. and, yes, i agree with sean that at least some recordings themselves vary soundstage height. i had always thought this had more to do with mic placement than design, tho i do think sean is onto something with capture angles. -cfb

Sounds like a phase shift to me. My guess is your jolida used as a preamp or your ss power amp inverts phase. Height info in stereo ordinarily derives from stacking an array of drivers... While we're here, what's that stereo cd with the dog barking just behind the listener on his/her right?

amused to death- roger waters. it works on the lp, too, BTW. -cfb

For the most part I believe Height is changed by the the amount of information being put out, volume, the dynamics of the recording and room reflections. Change any of these and you may hear a different size sound stage. If you would like to try somthing for fun. Get a couple of sheets of stiff foam board 2' by 8' about 1.5 to 2 inches thick and stand them up between your speakers. Then move them around between your speaker. Then cover them with a blanket or sheet and do the same thing. When you move it in a front to rear movement from the wall see how the sound stage changes (height). Get it to where you hear somthing you like then change the volume. Next change the surface (add the sheet or blanket or remove them).

Good Luck.

Aknorth

Initially, after this post, I had in the back of my mind a feeling that there was a slight possibility of myself being flamed to death....hmmmm, another surprise. The responses so far have been extremely informative.

Sean, I must say, many aspects of your response do fit. The ss amp hadn't been used in a while and obviously, another set of interconnects was added into the mix. The feed from the JoLida came from the sub out which is what I consider to be preamp out, while the ac power stemmed from a conditioner. But, at the time when I first switched from the ss pre/power setup to tubes about a year ago is when I noticed a huge increase in the size of the stage.

As far as phase goes, I can switch it with my cd player, and I have a few times just to see the effect. So far I haven't noticed any changes including stage height. By the way, "Amused to Death" is the most involving cd I own, almost hypnotic. I imagine phase mods do play an important part in the dog barking from behind, the submarine captain's activity descriptions coming from my IMMEDIATE left, and the horse-drawn wagon coming from the left rear, across in front, and away to the right rear. I love it, I use it as a reference for system and listening position setup. Is it possible that there is some phase trickery in the output section of the JoLida? It seems pretty well focused.

Volume level. I know things get larger when the sound gets cranked up but the level seemed to be the same in my comparisons. But I didn't check it with my Radio Shack toy.

Bloom. Is this the answer? Is this what I'm experiencing? I've heard the term but never understood what it meant. Till now? How do you get bloom?

The engineering involved in the recording doesn't seem to apply in this case. It's more about the equipment I think.

Finally, S2k dude, you made me think. Does our brain subconsiously recognize sounds that only come from ceilings and floors and somehow calculate size from that information? Therefore, equipment with very high resolution has the ability to pass this virtually inaudible info on to us to create the illusion of height. Is it the resolution?

Thanks everyone.