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Speakers with Depth Layering abilities

It seems we all know speakers that provide depth; depth layering is a bit different. I don't notice that many speakers do that. They give depth, but you can't tell who's on first, and who's on second, so to speaker, just that there's a row of violinists in the front and a bass drum in the back, and all the other instruments are in between.
What are the best speakers have you heard that actually layer the rows of musicians front to back? Do any of the Hale Design speakers or the Alon speakers do this?

In TAS, back in issue 68, HP averred that the "IRS, the Magnepans, the quads, the Martin-Logans designs, and even, yes, the Avalons, the Thiels and the Mirages" provide a "...layered field of depth."

It would be nice to know which speakers, given all the money we spend on our electronics, give the audiophile thrills, not to be confused with the musical thrills of a performance. Even in the audio mags, TAS itself, as well as Stereophile, there's little notice of the speakers or other electronics ability to provide this.
So. Whatcha got? What other speakers do this?
gbmcleod
xpcf89
1 posts
 
Jmlab Electra 926 driven with a quality amplifier has a nice layering.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,262 posts
 
Reynaud Trentes

I owned Maggie 1.6s for a few years and the Trentes are clearly better at revealing subtle audio cues in very fine gradations front to back, they go deeper with finer precision.
loontoon
301 posts
 
Spica's do nice depth, at a low cost, good driver two ways do depth, 3 ways are harder to do, due to baffle width.

Amp/speaker combo is the big difference, layers and such come out with system tuning and tweaks. Your into the short and curly's now.

jeff
gjames
35 posts
 
My Legacies, both FOCUS and Whisper, do an amazing job of layering the soundstage. With orchestral performance and small ensembles especially, you can hear definite 3-D imaging of the performers. The Whisper improves the vertical pattern over the FOCUS in that regard. It also gives a more linear front to the sound image as opposed to a "horseshoe" image with the center instruments, etc., sounding a little more distant (other than when the musicians are arranged this way, such as an orchestra) that the Focus projects.

I have always marvelled at how some listeners can't appreciate accurate musical soundstaging. The gold standard to judge the accuracy of the system is the real thing. Next time you have the opportunity to go to a live performance, note how much differentiation of soundstage layering you can perceive. There is no way you can tell a difference between the rows of the same instruments, but you should be able to tell the woodwinds are a little further away than the strings, then the brass, then the percussion, etc. Jazz or acoustic ensembles are probably the easiest to detect because of the relatively few instruments involved and distinct positioning of the musician in space. I like to listen to a recording then check the insert to see if there is a picture of the musicians being recorded to confirm my impressions of where the performers are relative to one another.

Of course, if the music is recorded in a studio not as an ensemble (in other words, each musician in a different recording room), the image either is artificial, or layering doesn't exist at all. This is the case in most modern music. If all the instruments are amplified and the amplifiers are stacked or otherwise near one another, again there will be no depth to the soundstage. Keep that in consideration when evaluating equipment.

Have fun and great listening!
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