Can Speakers really present the "Soundstage" to the listener?

[RacerChris]

The audiophile in me hears and understands what soundstage is and when it's wide and when its not, but the engineer in me can't shake the technical issues.

I believe that all recordings have each instrument mic-ed into a multi-track recordings. The engineer then combines these tracks creatively. It would seem that if he puts an instrument equally in the left and right channels, then it will appear to come from the center. But how would he have an affect on the depth of the instrument as we all seem to be able to hear?

Does he actually consider the layout of the instruments in the "soundstage" as he decides on which channel receives which instrument?

How does this process find coherence in what you and I term as "soundstage". Am I missing something?

[Shane Martin]

I firmly believe they can and alot of that is due to speaker placement. I don't think speakers were designed to have a big tv in the middle of them or a big entertainment center as often is the case. By moving them out and about away you can set up your speakers properly and present the "soundstage". Then it falls back on the speaker if in the proper placement to produce it. Some speakers just don't have it regardless of where they are placed. I call this "sounding like a box".

[Bruce]

Chris,

Speaker/room interaction is the deciding variable with "soundstage" effects.

How various frequencies are affected by room reflections dictates how "soundstage" will be perceived by our ears. This means how far speakers are from the walls, how much acoustic absorption and/or diffraction is present, and how large the room is all
play an important role in "soundstage" developemnt.

The best text on this phenomena is "Master Handbook of Acoustics" by F. Alton Everest, a book every HT enthusiast should read.

[robertwb70]

I believe that all recordings have each instrument mic-ed into a multi-track recordings. The engineer then combines these tracks creatively. It would seem that if he puts an instrument equally in the left and right channels, then it will appear to come from the center. But how would he have an affect on the depth of the instrument as we all seem to be able to hear?

not ALL recordings are done like this-most pop music is though-most "audiophile" recordings are not,at least the good ones that are often talked about (mapleshades,windham hill,etc)many of these audiophoole labels are minimalist in their recording techniques,and on a good system it shows -but at the same time it is possible for a good engineer to make outstanding recordings using the same tools as the bad engineer-I guess it's kinda an art thing at that level

and all reproduced "imaging" or "soundstages" are just psychoacoustic effects created in our head anyway...

[RacerChris]

...and all reproduced "imaging" or "soundstages" are just psychoacoustic effects created in our head anyway...

Yeah, I think this is what may be going on...

[ThomasW]

Yes the brain creates the illusion of a soundstage, but it can't do that without receiving the proper information from the recording.

The recording cues that create a 'soundstage' are a function of the high frequencies, overtones, echo, delay, reverb, etc.

The room can't be too dead acoustically or those cues are absorbed.

I've heard monaural recordings played on a single speaker that had 'depth'.