What Does Holographic Sound Like?


And how do you get there? This is an interesting question. I have finally arrived at a very satisfying level of holography in my system. But it has taken a lot of time, effort and money to get there. I wish there had been a faster, easier and less expensive way to get there. But I never found one.

Can you get to a high level of holography in your system with one pair of interconnects and one pair of speaker wires? I don't believe so. I run cables in series. I never found one pair of interconnects and speaker wires that would achieve what has taken a heck of a lot of wires and "tweaks" to achieve. Let alone all the power cords that I run in series. Although I have found one special cable that has enabled the system to reach a very high level of holography -- HiDiamond -- I still need to run cables in series for the sound to be at its holographic best.

There are many levels of holography. Each level is built incrementally with the addition of one more wire and one more "tweak". I have a lot of wires and "tweaks" in my system. Each cable and each "tweak" has added another level to the holography. Just when I thought things could not get any better -- which has happened many times -- the addition of one more cable or "tweak" enabled the system to reach a higher level yet.

Will one "loom" do the job. I never found that special "loom". To achieve the best effects I have combined cables from Synergistic Research, Bybee, ASI Liveline, Cardas, Supra and HiDiamond -- with "tweaks" too numerous to mention but featuring Bybee products and a variety of other products, many of which have the word "quantum" in their description.

The effort to arrive at this point with my system has been two-fold. Firstly, finding the right cables and "tweaks" for the system. Secondly, finding where to place them in the system for the best effects -- a process of trial and error. A lot of cables and "tweaks" had to be sold off in the process. I put "tweaks" in quotation marks because the best "tweaks" in my system have had as profound effect as the components on the sound. The same for the best of the cables, as well. For me, cables and "tweaks" are components.

Have I finally "arrived"? I have just about arrived at the best level that I can expect within my budget -- there are a couple of items on the way. In any case, I assume there are many levels beyond what my system has arrived at. But since I'll never get there I am sitting back and enjoying the music in the blissful recognition that I don't know what I am missing.

I should mention that there are many elements that are as important as holography for the sound to be satisfying, IMO. They include detail, transparency, coherence, tonality, and dynamics, among others. My system has all of these elements in good measure.

Have you had success with holographic sound in your system? If so, how did you get there?
sabai
Holography is a story of increments. There are many stages in the process. Please read below. Each increment has improved the holographic imaging. Some increments have had a bigger impact on the sound than others. Holography goes hand-in-hand with continuity.

Onhwy61, here's my system -- via cables in series at each stage. Listing everything would be too complex -- and confusing. I give a general idea below.

FRONT END BEFORE COMPONENTS

1. TESLA Plex SE receptacle in series with one more TESLA Plex receptacle.
2. Medical grade isolation transformer (rated at 1380VA).
3. Monarchy AC regenerator for DAC and transport.
4. Bybee Stealth power conditioner.
5. Synergistic Research Power Cell 10SE MKII power conditioner.

COMPONENTS

1. Marantz PM 15 integrated amplifier -- the original 1993 version from Japan.
2. AMR DP-777 tube DAC.
3. PS Audio PerfectWave Transport.
4. Joseph Audio Pulsar monitor speakers.

Wiring and tweaks are too numerous to mention in detail. In series, before the component stage, there are 5 levels of Bybee Quantum AC Chargers and 3 levels of Bybee Ultra power cords. The series is completed using Supra LoRad with Oyaide plugs and IECs (with burn-in adapters). This is before the system reaches the Bybee Stealth power conditioner. All components are plugged into the Bybee Stealth.

In series, there are many levels after the Bybee Stealth power conditioner including power cords, digital cables, interconnects and speaker cables. For example, there are 5 levels on the interconnects (balanced) and 6 levels on the speaker cables. This includes cables and tweaks. I use cables from six different companies -- HiDiamond, Synergistic Research, Bybee, Cardas, ASI Liveline and Supra (LoRad only).

There are many tweaks in my system. Each one has been carefully chosen -- and carefully placed in the system -- to maximize its sonic attributes. I use tweaks from eight different companies, the most significant and numerous being Bybee.

Mapman, in my system, speaker distance from walls has little effect on the holography. Our house is being remodeled. Until the work is complete I am in quarters that are less than ideal with the left speaker one foot from the left wall and 2 feet from the back wall. The right speaker is two feet from the back wall and four feet from the right wall. There is little effect on the sound coming from the left speaker. The left wall disappears, as does the back wall. The sound may open up even more when there is no left wall.

Mapman, recordings made to sound 3-D make a big difference in my system. But there is a great measure of holography in my system even with old recordings that are not made for 3-D. The more refined my system has become the more astonished I have been when listening to some of these old recordings. I use many old recordings as reference for this very purpose. Oscar Peterson, The Sound of the Trio, is one of my favorites. It was recorded Live in 1961 at The London House in Chicago.

Rcprince,
Creating a series -- it's really quite easy. The power cords are run in series using a burn-in AC adapter from VH audio. Balanced cables are simply daisy-chained. Speakers cables use special connectors from Supra as well as Synergistic Research Galileo speaker cells.

Marakanetz,
Before I improved my system I had the same reaction. Many recordings that use to sound "like crap" now sound terrific after all the system improvements. Holography emerges. There is a lot of hidden information on stereo recordings -- even old recordings. But most systems cannot extract this information. The more refined my system has become the more of this information it has been able to extract.

Eldartford,
In my system you can sit or stand almost anywhere in the room. The off-axis rendering is astonishing.

Mapman, I have the phase inverted on the AMR. This gives a better rendering of recordings across the board.
QUOTE: "... Hmm, my experience is it is not all that complicated. Recipe: 1) good quality gear.."

Mapman nailed it : Short & sweet.

That "gear" includes the hardware, speakers and cables that actually "work" with each other to create that expansive soundstage that extends well past the walls L-R and deep front-to-back as the speakers, as point sources, simply disappear. Once you get it, the music is now engaging and "floats" even well off-axis.

The problem is that most of the available kit compendium is an alchemy that lacks that synergy to create it.

Regrettabbly we all know that frequently one man's steak is fare that tastes like **** to the next guy. (particularly in this forum) . Happily, when that 3-D holographic soundstage is there, we all see it immediately; we instantly know it; and all those personal and subjective differences vanish and the listener is simply "engaged" in the music.
Rlwainwright,
If you had read closely you would have seen that I was talking about holographic sound in my comments about cables.
Jeffreybowman2k,
There are no power strips in my system. Please see the posting in this thread with the details about how I run cables in series.