Whenever I listen to my Hifi system the sound almost always sounds as if it’s coming from the dead centre of the T.V.

Only on some discs I can clearly identify the sounds coming from either the far left or right.

It this good / normal? When I read about soundstage I imagine a sound, spanning the “landscape” completely in front of me, not just the centre stage.

I know the answer is to experiment, but do you think toeing my speakers in less would help.

P.S ignore the awful décor, the little money I have got has been spent on the hifi!

In an ideal world I see two problems, the first is the CRT panel, I bet if this was out of the room the sound would improve dramatically, more focus, more depth the the sound, a CRT will ruin a lot of your sound quality, the second problem I see is the big sofa to the left, as this will adsorb a lot of the sound coming from the left speaker.

Try moving the sofa out of the way, and then bring the speakers right in to the room about 1 metre more so that that are well in front of the TV panel, then see how it sound, I always find the further the speakers are in to the room the better and more focused sound stage depth you get, you think you get less bass but actually you get less boom too.

The main problem I have is the size of the room. I dont really have the space to move either the speakers or the sofa.

I knew that the T.V in the centre is a big no no, I think it was one of Jimmy Hughes "tweaks".

Its not bothering me that much, I put on a tina arena cd earlier and the soundstage on that did open up. So I think it depends on the recording.

When I upgraded my amp, I had to move the speakers out from the wall, to where they are now, as they were booming. The problem I have is I actually want more bass extention.

I've got what I think is the best balance for the cirumstrances at the moment.

I want to upgrade the CD player next, then the speakers. With the size of the room, and the sofa's I will have to look at standmounts / small floorstanders. Will have to audition as I dont want boom.

I quite fancy a pair of Dynaudio C1's or Wilson Benesch Discoveries.

I never had a problem with a tv in the middle.the sofa ain't good but try something like ' space oddity ' by Bowie or King crimson ' 21st century schitziod man '
The bowie track is a million times better song than the corny crimson and they are both a bit show offy in the stereo dept but if your source is anywhere near the vinyl both tracks wll show off the soundstage.
Not knowing to much about your music collection it's hard to reccommend stuff.... some tracks are bad though.I don't know if modern producing takes stuff like soundstage into account. Not much need for it with digiwank is there ?

As you rightly say the recoding plays a big part, so if I was you I'd look at getting some audiophile recording that test things like sound depth, image height, left to right, these really are great test disc and demo disc, also the naim label is very good along with Chesky recording, these will really show off your system in its best light.

I'd look at the speakers before the CD player, if you want deeper bass go for a speaker with a bigger main driver and quite a low sensitivity as this will give you much better bass.

CRT TV radiate a lot of RFI plus will mess up the stereo image, really like me i'd like my rack to the side of the room, but for me it's not possible but I think it's best just to have nothing inbetween the speakers and to have the completely in free space, this will really show just how good the stereo image, depth and height can really be.

Do you use the amplifier and speakers to listen to AV as well?

I am asking as, if the answer is 'no', would it be possible for you to place the speakers facing the sofa, on the right side of the room as we're looking at it?

Adam's suggestion is also very valid, in respect of soundstage depth. To get real depth in the sound, you need to move them away from the front wall , ( the wall you're facing), the more the better.

Also, try covering the screen of your TV with a blanket or similar linen material and listen carefully, if there's any difference in the sound.

As a general comment though, reality is, the speakers will dictate where in the room they like to stand to give optimum sound, including fast bass, good depth and wide soundstage.

Unfortunately, due to space restrictions and aesthetics / practicality, this approach is not easy to achieve in most 'normal' living rooms, and so, it becomes a choice of priorities and necessary compromises.

What speaks are they? Audiovector?

Arthur, to be honest I almost always listen to the T.V through the Hifi, but I am trying to wean myself back on to the T.V speakers.

I could reposition the speakers opposite the white sofa, so that they are forward, either side of the fireplace, but they will be firing across the shortest length of the room.

In reality, I’m not too bothered. I’d rather spend the money on Hifi, than some fancy flat screen T.V that I probably watch for less than five hours a week.

If music matters; my system consists of:

MF A3 CD player (2002ish)
MF A1 Preamp
MF 550k Monoblocks
Audiovector Mi1 Signatures on Partington Dreadnaught Broadside stands.
Nordost Red Dawn interconnects throughout, and Solawind Speaker cable

That's a very nice set up with quality parts, for some odd reason when I first saw them I thought they were Dynaudios.

I'm sure it's down to positioning etc, but even then with my set up the sound is very central like you, more than a big sweep from left to right, but I put it down to Kudos C30 speakers which are fast and dynamic plus class D amplifiers which I find are more about resolution than the big massive soundstage, I find class A/AB amps do those sonic tricks better.

So I'd definitely try some experimenting before spending on a well balanced set up.

Awsome set up, sometimesuk!

There's no problem with the speakers firing down the short length of the room, in some cases it may even work better when it comes to soundstage.

It's certainly worth experimenting but, don't do it just for 5 minutes. Give it a couple of days of listening to different types of music, and give a chance to your ears (and brain), to adjust to the different sound.

You'll soon know if it's the sound you're looking for.