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My soundstage is terrible. i need help bad.

Ok i have the following pieces. Pioneer 39tx a/v reciever. I have Psb stratus silver i speakers, allantis biwire speaker cables. Tara labs vector 2 i/c. And a large subsonic 5 subwoofer. rarely used. I have little to no soundstage at all. almost sounds like a 5yrs old boom box. i dont understand which direction to go. I am going to be getting some psb stratus gold speakers here in the next 2 weeks from a buddy and im trying to get things straightened out before the new arrivals. do you think going to the better speakers will help or is it that i have everything setup wrong in the house. Cathedral ceiling home. Equipment set up on the highest wall. 26ft. and the seating postions at the lowest around 12ft about 4ft from the back wall. Im just confused on wehere to strart. My kitchen has to open doors to the right if ur sitting in my seating postion. I dont think the room is ever going to be able to give me what i want at any price. I just need some help on setup. lmk what you think i should do first. aprreciate all the info guys. this site rules. Kevin
flyin2jz
jpaik
42 posts
 
I thought you were concerned about soundstage. Now you're concerned about the tv?
johnnyb53
3,490 posts
 
Going from Stratus Silver to Stratus Gold will mostly make a difference in bass extension and ability to fill the space. If you put them where you have the Silvers, they'll pretty much image the same way. With this big a listening area, you need the speakers out more like 4' out from the wall behind them. And the Stratus Gold's extra bass extension will make proximity to walls more likely for the bass to overwhelm the tonal balance.

Is your Pioneer Elite a rear projection TV? Nothing kills a stereo image quite like filling the area between the speakers with a big flat surface.

Instead of getting Stratus Golds, maybe you should spend the money on a plasma or LCD display (I've even seen 65" 1080p LCD for as low as $2500) and hang it on the wall behind and between the speakers.
cleaneduphippy
323 posts
 
Flyin2jz.

In responds to your question "How far out in front of the tv do the speakers need to be?" you're going to have to experiment with your own speakers, and find how far forward to go. With my speakers (Madisound AR.coms), I moved them 15" forward of the front of my entertainment cabinet, and that seem to get me the best mix of soundstage and bass responds. Truth is, speaker placement is often a trial and error type of thing simply because of the different variations of people's rooms, furnishing, listening wants and needs, ect.
jb8312
247 posts
 
To suggest the quality of your amplification, CDP and pre cannot positively impact the size and depth of the soundstage you are perceiving is simply rubbish....and so is the claim that only omni-directional speakers can throw a solid and large soundstage! Your speakers are fine and are capable of doing what you wish....

I would in order:

1. Check, play with, and/or tweak the Speaker set up as recommended above,
2. Upgrade your CDP and Amplification,
3. Treat the Room,

One or all three should get you were you want to be...

Enjoy the ride!

John
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
5,112 posts
 
You speak of room treatment... I just moved to Scottsdale, Arizona from Short Hills, New Jersey. My stereo system sounded wonderful there. When I got here, the system sounded awful... like it was playing in a steel drum. The room here is 16 feet wide, 30 feet long with 12 foot (not cathedral) ceilings. The floor is French limestone solid with no basement. It was awful. I got furniture, rugs, big live cactus for the corners, etc. It sounded better but awful until a few days ago. The draperies were installed. One whole side wall (30 ft) is glass which looks out over the pool and gardens...very nice. The drapes are sheer panels of silk/linen..3 panels ..one on each side, and one about in the middle. The panels are only about 2 feet wide or so. Suddenly the bass extends way deep down in the netherworld... the mids have depth and air...there was none at all before..the highs are silky sweet...they were brittle and unpleasant before. What a surprise.. 3 light and airy pieces of cloth really brought the whole thing together. I would never have guessed..
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