Does your system place You in the the Front rows or in the Back rows

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Mike from NYC, Jul 16, 2017.

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  1. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    My system and especially my speakers, Revel Ultima Studios, place me in the front few rows which is where I like to sit. Other speaker systems place you in the back rows which I don't like. I want presence and immediacy, not so much that it becomes annoying or hard on the ears or etchy, but enough to make me feel more intimate with the performer.

    Of course depending on the way the music was recorded effects this perception - with some music I sit in the back and in others like Cowboy Junkie's Trinity Sessions I sit a foot way from the mike.

    So where do you like to sit?

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    Last edited: Jul 16, 2017
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  2. richbdd01

    richbdd01 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    It places me in my listening room
     
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  3. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    With headphones I like gear that puts me a few rows back. Front row style sound on headphones is too close and results in a soundstage that is flat and lacking depth. It's already very difficult to get space and depth with headphone listening and I don't want to compromise what depth and space I'm able to get. Being a few rows back with headphone listening still sounds like you're very close.
     
  4. Dream On

    Dream On Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I think it depends largely on what is on the recording. Some systems for sure will not be able to reveal low-level information and everything will have a kind of homogeneous sound to it.

    This has sort of hit home lately to me because I have "downgraded" to a set of Audio Note AX-Two speakers. It was a downgrade in price only. Amazing speakers, and for the money these should be waaaaayyyy more popular. I am hearing more subtleties in all of the recordings that I own, be they an up front kind of presentation or more relaxed. Put a real good amp in front of them and the result is amazing. If I ever upgrade these it will be to a speaker higher up their line, but to be honest unless I find myself in a larger room one day I don't think this is necessary.
     
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  5. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    I'm about 12 feet from my speakers so I'm in the front row with some burly security guys between me and the act. ;)
     
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  6. Raunchnroll

    Raunchnroll Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Front. A large image - with depth - that fills the room in front of me as I sit back.
     
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  7. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Depends on what I've had to drink !!!!:laugh:
     
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  8. Otlset

    Otlset I think I am I think

    Location:
    Temecula, CA
    The more I turn it up, the closer I get to the stage. Front row center is cranking it!
     
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  9. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    Mine is front rows. I like it that way. : )

    Yes, cranking it makes it closer too.
     
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  10. bhazen

    bhazen ANNOYING BEATLES FAN

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    Isn't this just rephrasing the "you are there" or "they are here" thread a different way ...?

    :D

    So I'll kind of rephrase my answer to that one -- my system reproduces the sonic perspective of the mic placement and recording techniques used at the gig. Everything on stage close-mic'd, it'll seem very immediate. Maybe a binaural head in the middle of the hall (Row M, say)? That's what I'll get.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2017
  11. Tim Irvine

    Tim Irvine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    For classical I like the middle of Row M best. That's also, coincidentally, where they usually sit to set things like lighting up for ballet and opera, mikes, too, if the performance is miked. For jazz I like being closer. For rock I just want to get in!
     
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  12. JRJ

    JRJ Forum Resident

    Front row!!
    With Tannoy Buckinghams (1983) in a high rise condo, Yes! And a Bryston system powering them up, Yes!!
    Even though I can't play them too loud I had a neighbor ask what I was playing a few years back ( could tell due to his culture he was into Tosh and Marley)
    I said the Clash Sandinista and this is all I heard from the unit below me for a good month!
    Cheers;
    John
     
  13. Colin M

    Colin M Forum Resident

    About row 6. Unless it's a Glenn Gould recording! Then I'm just too close.
     
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  14. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    There's overlap between the two topics. But they're not the same. At least for me and headphone listening.
     
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  15. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    The other day, I had Pandora One playing while I was sitting and doing some work on the laptop. Just was listening to some middle of the road music at a slightly lower than normal listening volume.

    At one point I paused and decided to turn the volume up on all three amps that were playing.

    Once it was cranked to a more room filling volume, the music just filled out and became more robust and fuller sounding.

    The difference almost stunned me. It moved everything from the rear to the the front row, in just an instant.

    Everything just morphed from listening to music, which was fine, to being there.

    As Otlset commented, my system can do both!.
     
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  16. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Thinking about various symphonic recordings—it really depends on how it was recorded. Some are rather up front, others place you back a ways. Never thought of this as a function of the system, but rather the recording.
     
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  17. TLMusic

    TLMusic Musician & record collector

    When listening to a hifi system, the illusion of front row / back row is determined largely by the artists and engineers who made the recording.

    Their choices of microphone proximity and effects like reverb, delay and EQ control create the sense of space. A good system will highlight this.

    If your system is only giving a front row or back row experience, in my experience that means there is something wrong with the seating location or the acoustic treatment in the room. For example, if everything sounds like you are in the back row, even for close mic'd "in your face" recordings, that could indicate the listening room has too much ambient echo, or the listener is sitting too far back.
     
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  18. RiCat

    RiCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT, USA
    In general we experience being 10-12 foot from the center of the stage, 14-16 feet from the outside edges of what would be the band stage setup and the entire sound stage presents about 2 feet "up" off the floor. So we are 1st to 2nd row in and modest size club that has an average riser for a stage height. Holly Cole-Girl Talk is so intimate it feels like she is in the room singing for us personally. While the Rolling Stones can be a bit "in your face" when turned up.
     
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