Um, that may or may not be the ‘source’’ of the pinched width of the sound stage.
My SAA modded 800's have no shelf liner, creatology foam, felt, nor inner covers, and the spatial cues are pinpoint precise and expansive, where the recording calls for such.
I suspect there are 'other' influences at play.
But what I do notice as a result of all of these (Anax & SAA) mods, is a major reduction in LFF (Listener Fatigue Factor), which 'allows' me to turn up the DRC (Dynamic Range Control, aka, the volume control), to 'higher' levels before I reach 'too much' and don't wish to go any higher, mostly due to the (lack of) ‘comfort' level of the SPL (Sound Pressure Level).
When the LFF is improved, by whatever means, the SQ raises accordingly.
I hear this as an increase in the degree of being ‘in focus’, for the entire acoustic presentation.
And interestingly, as the LFF is improved, this 'additional' degree of being ‘in focus’ remains quite evident, even when the volume is turned down.
What this allows is a greater dynamic range in the playback of the music, which in turn increases all of the subtle cues (spatiality, and all the other related harmonics associated to each instrument/voice), not to mention better bass due to our hearing's natural frequency gain of the low end, as the overall SPL is raised.
And there seems to be another 'mechanism' at play as well.
As the 'choke points' in the entire system are ameliorated, the overall 'get out of its own way' factor 'allows' more of the original signal to arrive at the transducers, in the first place.
And
As we reduce the transducers ‘unwanted/undesirable’ acoustic 'traits', this can also 'allow' more of the actual signal to be heard, because these ‘bad’ traits no longer act as a 'mask', which means the need for further masking the mask, can become both unnecessary to begin with, and unwanted.
But as we all know improvements to the transducer (speakers, headphones) are usually most effective.
And these types of mods, such as adding masking with foam/felt, experimental removal of 'extra' parts (grills, etc), have been popular forever.
And further it is also commonly held that these sorts of improvements can sometimes be quite significant, as is the case before us.
So it can be a challenge for us DIY’rs to figure out the ‘best’ balance between different mods.
Which has lead me to the understanding that as further 'choke points' are removed from the system, it is able to resolve to even greater degrees of inner definition, and be able to deliver 'more' of each instrument/voice, with a greater sense of acoustic 'realness' as the level of precision and resolution is increased.
That's another thing I’ve noticed, namely, as our systems become more and more precise and resolving, it becomes all to easy to assign causation of the undesirable sonic traits, to an incorrect originating source of the 'irritation'.
But not always…
Like, with some 800's that have a 'resonant?' peak in the ≈ 5-8KHz region.
Or (fill in your favorite example here)…
But with any reduction of the causes of LFF, the overall sound level seems to lower at the same time that the DRC has been raised. Which is rather curious, if you think about it. (I raise the DRC and the volume goes down????)
Because now, to reach the same level of LFF as before the last improvement of LFF, the DRC needs to be increased, even further…
It sounds like the acoustic presentation seems to present less ‘energy’ (SPL). And due to the reduction of the causative factors of LFF and other choke points, the available acoustic energy seems more tightly ‘bound’ to its original ‘parent’/source.
Which points back to the increase in the Dynamic Range, because while there is less ‘smeared’ acoustic energy (since more of it is ‘bound’ to its acoustic source), the amount of silence between individual notes for each instrument/voice/source of acoustic energy, has increased. And so there is a greater amount of time where less acoustic energy is being generated, and we can perceive this as lower SPL.
IOW, when the amount of available acoustic energy is aligned and associated more precisely and accurately with its original source, there is more complete coupling of the original sonic signal to its re-created acoustical cousin, which also means there is less acoustic energy where it doesn’t belong.
Which is another way of saying the sound level seems to drop due to the reduction of LFF, as the entire system has gotten ‘out of it’s own way’, all the more.
And, "You don't know what you've got til it's gone !" indeed! :thumb
JJ
![DT1990-ChSd-1024x555[1].png](https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/12230656.png)
