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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
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
Orpheus10,
What have you done since you left Carver behind to attain holography in your system? Would you care to share some of this here? As you so rightly observe, holography -- at a sufficiently high level -- really brings the music alive and makes it so enjoyable.

I would love to have heard the systems you are referring to. I do my auditioning in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore. The Adelphi 1 Audio Mall in Singapore is the all-in-one audio emporium that I enjoy best of all.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Sabai wrote,

"But I can speculate. Electrons travel awfully fast through cables. And as they travel through a series of cables they are being organized in a unique way through each unique cable -- and through each unique "tweak". It is the combined effects of this multiple-stage organizing of electrons that produce very special results. This is where the word synergy enters the picture. From my way of thinking, having experienced this first-hand, the shortest path is irrelevant in the search for better sound through series cabling. There is virtually no difference in how long it takes for the current to pass through a short signal path versus a long signal path. And that time difference is not a deciding factor when it comes to the issue of sonic synergy. This is an issue that is cable-dependent and "tweak"-dependent -- not an issue that is "length of signal path"-dependent."

Just for the record, the velocity of electrons through audio cables, the drift velocity, is actually extremely slow, on the order of one meter per 12 hours! On the other hand, the electromagnetic wave - the musical signal travelling through audio cables - travels at a high percentage of the speed of light.

Also for the record, Shakti Hallographs are actually IN the signal path, assuming one considers reflected acoustic waves in the room that reach the ear to be part of the Signal Path. Ditto for Tube Traps, Corner Tunes, Skyline and other diffusers, Sonex and such. LessLoss Blackbody, Tice Clock and Schumann low frequency (7.8 Hz) generator are much better examples of devices that most folks would deem NOT to be in the signal path.
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Regarding Doug's finding that a longer XLR cable that was not designed for digital applications outperformed a shorter RCA digital cable, that is not at all implausible or surprising.

For one thing, it can often be expected that a modestly longer cable will outperform a shorter one in a digital application, depending on a number of system-dependent variables. For the explanation, see this paper by Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio ("Audioengr" at Audiogon). While the paper discusses S/PDIF, similar considerations can be applicable to AES/EBU, although the specific numbers may be different. None of this is applicable to the much lower frequencies of analog audio signals, however.

Also, of course, a comparison between an unbalanced interface and a balanced interface introduces many variables into the mix besides the intrinsic differences between the cables. In digital applications those would include differences in signal characteristics such as risetimes and falltimes, which are directly relevant to jitter; the fact that different interface circuits are being used in the two components; and differences in susceptibility to ground loop effects and pickup of low level noise, both of which can affect jitter.

Regards,
-- Al
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Onhwy61 wrote,

"Some people fall outside the curve because they are brilliant
outsiders blazing paths into the unknown. But for every person like that
there are probably a thousand who are just oddballs. I honestly don't know
where Sabai falls. I applaud him for his willingness to share, yet at the
same time some of the things he says sound like an elaborate inside joke.
Not all that different than the post by the guy selling the over the telephone
test tones."

Most folks would probably consider tiny little bowls that improve bass
frequencies, 7.8 Hz frequency generators, the Red X Coordinate Pen, LP
demagnetizers, the Quantum Clip, Tourmaline Gun, liquid cables, CD edge
bevelers, directional fuses and Rainbow Foil to be elaborate jokes or cruel
hoaxes foisted on gullible audiophiles. Side note: the telephone thing does
not involve test tones.

GK
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,437 posts
 
My apologies for misdescribing the telephone thing. Although I note you are careful not to say it wasn't a joke.
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