What dictates the end results of soundstage/imaging is mainly the last octave (10-20khz).
I'd say using high quality ribbon tweeters such as RAAL helps a lot.
Also, a solid effortless first octave, especially 25-35hz region, will help the overall depth and presence. Obviously, that is not related at all to the stereophonic experience, but not everything about the soundstage/imaging is about the stereophonic thing.
If you're into that, you might also consider line array, which gives a very special ''wall of sound'' sensation. You might lose a little focus of course, but there is tradoffs if you want a very immersive soundstage...
That's quite a big generalisation and not necessarily true. It depends so to speak. Can you get a wall of sound with arrays? Yes. Can you get past that "wall of sound" generalisation and create something better from arrays with minimal help? Yes.
What makes arrays have advantages? Averaging out non common reflections within the driver array (like floor and ceiling). Just absorb (or diffuse) the common reflections and your "wall of sound" changes into something way better.
As I said before: treat your room and speakers as a system. Don't focus on one part (being only the speaker or only room acoustics).
The ''wall of sound'' thing is not something negative, only some kind of feature you might be -or not- into.
Some will prefer a very headphone-like experience with pointsource wideband drivers in a tiny semi-anechoic room.
Some will prefer something more ''extravert'' in a large room with vivid acoustic properties...
Hamburgers, Kobe steaks... Both are beef meat and both can be enjoyable and tasty.
Your problem to hear above 10khz is certainly not as a brickwall kind of thing... It's most probably something like a 6 or 12db roll off, which means you do hear something, just not as loud.
+1
Of the 6 or so DE250 I've measured or used and the multiple DN360 (and DNA350), the DNA ones had smoother response in all cases. When I sold off a pair of speakers I made several years back, I left the DE250 in them as I thought the DNA360 worked better. The DNA360 is supposed to be a clone of DE250, but for whatever reason seems to be more consistent than DE250 -- both largely made in China, so probably comes down to quality control. I know Erich also checks each DNA360 (or at least he used to) so probably any really odd ones got set aside.
All I'm saying is an array can do way more than that. I know you disregard an array for the midrange, yet this is where it can really excel with just a bit of help.
So you can have your Hamburger and Kobe steak depending upon the actual recording. If it's in the recording, you can bring it out.
As long as our ears are on the side of our heads, this stuff works. You can get both great imaging and dynamics. You've got to be willing to work at it though, with both the room and speakers as focus of attention.
Imaging depends primarily on that first wave front that hits our ears. Tonality takes a little longer for us to process. Late diffused reflections can give that "live vibe". Reverb can give a feeling of envelopment. (you don't get actual reverb in a small room)
Combine it all and you can "paint" your stage to your liking. Killer imaging while still having the feel and sensation of live music.
The old: "you are there" or "they are here" discussion. I want to be "right there". That takes work to hide the actual room I'm in.
It's a lot sharper than that. It's been measured by professionals. Cop out answer anyway
Whether you listen to real "live" music or "reproduced" trough loudspeakers. The missing upper part will be the same for you. So if you'd miss it in Stereo, you'd equally miss out in attending a live performance.
So if there is something you're missing at all, the reproduction would still relate very well to the real thing, right?
I haven't seen anyone mentioning the "feel" part of music yet. To me that sets the sensation of a good system apart compared to headphones. Not only our ears play a role in this musical enjoyment. That makes having that first octave so much fun!
Jumping in late to this interesting thread, I'd like to put in a vote for really smooth magnitude frequency response (as perceived at the listening position). In addition to just sounding better, I've been surprised more than once over the years how much this affects the ability to "picture" the soundstage, with both home and car audio systems.
How to achieve this is debatable of course. At home, I use a combination of room placement/ treatment, minor driver correction for the mains, and driver + room correction for the subs. In the car I think it's possible to get away with a more brute-force EQ approach since the listening positions (sweet spots) are fixed. In both cases I started out expecting to hear more things, but have been pleasantly surprised to also better hear where all the things are located after smoothing out the frequency curve.
How to achieve this is debatable of course. At home, I use a combination of room placement/ treatment, minor driver correction for the mains, and driver + room correction for the subs. In the car I think it's possible to get away with a more brute-force EQ approach since the listening positions (sweet spots) are fixed. In both cases I started out expecting to hear more things, but have been pleasantly surprised to also better hear where all the things are located after smoothing out the frequency curve.
It's a lot sharper than that. It's been measured by professionals. Cop out answer anyway
Out of curiosity, can we know how ''sharper'' is your inner lowpass crossover?
Is it a constant smooth roll-off? I mean, if you'd have to EQ your speakers to your ears, would it be unbearable to most people ?
Like i said, i'm curious.
About the 10-20khz thing that is important for the soundstage: Ok, let's say 2 octaves, from maybe 5khz...
I believe that you could do some damage to the soundstage's global feeling by brickwalling any speakers at 5khz. And a bit more with another brickwall highpass from 40hz.
@Jon
It's not smooth, there is a dip at around 6k, around 12dB down from 2k, then it rises again to about 6dB down at 8k and remains flat(ish) to 10k where it does fall off very dramatically. I don't use any EQ at the moment, not even tone controls, but it is something that has been concerning me recently so I'm in the process of building Doug Self's adjustable tone controls to see if I can increase my listening pleasure
It's not smooth, there is a dip at around 6k, around 12dB down from 2k, then it rises again to about 6dB down at 8k and remains flat(ish) to 10k where it does fall off very dramatically. I don't use any EQ at the moment, not even tone controls, but it is something that has been concerning me recently so I'm in the process of building Doug Self's adjustable tone controls to see if I can increase my listening pleasure
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