How high is your soundstage?

Thanks to everyone for all of your great responses. I will see what I can do about moving the speakers out of the nook so that they have the full width of the room to breathe. I will also try some heavy blankets behind and to the sides of the speakers. Wish me luck!

Hi tbooe

I agree that its the speaker/room integration. Aside from playing with speaker placement, and on that point try the cardas.com method of placement, it helps to nullify problem nodes etc. Also, go to a home improvement store and buy a couple of those 4ft tall "bags" filled with sheets of unfaced pink insulation. About 14" diameter or whatever. They are about $40 bucks or so, but their return policies are pretty sweet. Just make sure there are no holes in the bags, or the insulation can get everywhere. Tape up the tops, and you're good to go.

One in each corner behind the spks should give you a good idea of how "bass traps" WILL improve things. I bet the spks are overloading your room and all those built up soundwaves are ruining your soundstaging potential, and just about every other aspect.

JonRisch over at audioasylum.com has alot of inexpensive advice on building your own bass traps/panel absorbers etc....Speaker room interaction is the most important variable. I built four bass traps, floor to ceiling, pretty much identical to those offered by asc, and built panel absorbers for the reflection points. Without them, my stereo sounds broken in comparison.

Hope that helps.

Im guessing you have already done this when setting up your speakers but maybe not. Have you tried playing with the rake? In my new smaller room(not pictured on my system)with the speakers raked to the front i gained about 6"-10" of height. Now vocals are around 5'-0" to 5'-6" from the floor. Just a thought.

try not to be too concerned about soundstage. real music doesn't present a soundstage in the manner audiophiles perceive it or talk about it.

if you enjoy the spectral balance and the timbre of the instruments, you have accomplished a lot.

soundstage height should not be 5' above speaker. one of the most disappointing demo I heard was Wilson X-1 that made any singers 8' tall. if the singer appears to be 5' tall from the floor, your stage height should be fine. you can tilt the speakers up further to create a taller stage height as well.

adding tube amp to the chain will also create that holographic sound you are looking for, that's why I have lots of tubes in my system because most SS sounds flat to me.