The first time I heard a holographic soundstage was when I
was young and looking for a surround receiver in 1995. I
went into this store that had a sign that simply said
"Stereos".
I went in and I looked around puzzled. It was a very classy
looking place. Well decorated. Lot of style and comfort. But
I looked around thinking 'where the heck are all the shelves
of stereos?? What are these brands I've never heard of these
before!!". OMG THE PRICE YOU PEOPLE ARE INSANE TO PAY
THAT!
Then the nice owners came over and the listening began. They
sat me down in one of the comfy chairs. In a dimly lit room
with two big speakers in the middle. Why are they so far out
in the room?? This is a little weird.
Then the music starts....'wait where are the other speakers
hidden?? After explaining there weren't any I was just blown
away. It was mind boggling. The voices and instruments just
float in mid air, I can hear into the recording room. It's
like everyone playing or singing was standing there in the
room.
Once she hauled in the Laser Disc player and played return
of the Jedi I for me (just sound no video or screen, and I
remember her barely being able to carry that player and
telling me it was 50 lbs!). The entire forest wrapped around
me. The soundfield was immense. Lasers shot from upper right
behind me to the front left ground. It was insane.
From that day forward as a young lad I was hooked. I would
never again touch mid fi mass market junk again..
By the way that was an Avalon Eclipse speakers and spectral
gear in a large treated room. I chased that sound and affect
for years.
I got out of Stereos for a bit. But now came back again. And
boy I came back with a vengeance. I've been trying to crack
it and trying to figure it all out. The formulas for it. And
I've got it. I have a holographic sound from a reasonably
inexpensive system. I didn't even think I'd hit it with this
set up. I thought I was just getting going.
Anyway here is what I've found. Speakers must be revealing,
non that gloss over the sound. A lot of people like to warm
of a sound to cover over bad recordings or bright gear.
Those won't work for a holographic sound stage. They need to
tell you exactly what is there or before it.
Point the speakers right at you toed in. You want to hear
right into that tweeter. That will give you a direct sound.
If it's not pointed right at you you'll get more of a
diffused sound and lose the tiniest of details and spatial
cues you need.
Speakers pointed slightly up helped a lot. They say it's to
time align but what I figured out is that is keeps the
speakers from shooting the sound to the direct wall behind
you and bouncing back and forth in the listening spot
between the front and back wall a million times and messing
up the sound. When tilted this way once it hits the back
wall it's hitting it at an angle and breaking up the sound
quicker and it's bouncing up toward the higher spots of the
room. If you have more room conditioning it might alleviate
needing to do that though. But I've found it very effective.
The most important thing is keeping that delicate signal
intact the best you can. That means when it leaves the
source (or being created in there) it needs to keep as pure
as possible. It's very delicate. It's just a small voltage.
This means the fastest most direct route with the least
stops or turns (figurative turns). The less in the way the
better. The first thing was getting rid of the preamp. The
preamp only adds more color and more connections and more
noise. When I got rid of the preamp I heard the purest most
blackest quietest background I've ever heard. My jaw dropped
at how much more real it sounded. (although a super very
good and expensive preamp can not degrade the sound as much,
but to get rid of it all together is the best, less wires
too)
Voltage moves the best through pure copper or silver. It's
just a fact. I got rid of (well still working on some,
orders are on the way) the brass in my system. No gold
plating either. Pure copper ends. Gold plating is 30% less
conductive, why in the world you'd want to add a layer of
something that is less conductive is beyond me. There is a
reason why silver caps and things sound better too. The
delicate signal flows effortlessly through it.
Get the thickest copper wires and interconnects you can (or
silver but the silver needs to be very thick too, they
usually skimp out since it's so expensive and use a thin
gauge of silver). The thicker the gauge the less resistance
for that delicate signal. I made all my own wires with 8
gauge of wiring and with pure copper ends. Only one set of
interconnects (source to amp). Have the shortest distance
you can. The longer they are the more voltage they lose,
that means less of the true signal.
The room: This can kill you from the get go. You could
already have this amazing secret holographic stereo but your
room is hiding it. Bouncing that signal all around. Get the
furniture in the right place, have even some minor room
treatments, but keep those echos down and the sound modes
broken up. Anything to break up and diffuse or absorb the
sound after it's left the speakers and after it hit your
ears. Wood or solid floors are horrible for echo and sound
bouncing. Throw as many rugs over it as you can.
Electricity: If you can, get dedicated lines. Plug right
into hospital grade outlets from home depot. The fact is the
outlet you are plugged into now might be going through 5
other outlets and dirty connections first with thin 14 gauge
wire. Get a dedicated 10 gauge line to the room. Huge
difference. I promise you that you won't need a line
conditioner and it will sound better without one.
I'm telling you every single time I upped the gauge or
replaced some brass with pure copper it upped the level of
the system to knew heights. Every time I listen I can't
believe I got this sound from my system and with how little
I spent (relatively). I'm almost laugh in disbelief. Massive
lifelike soundstage, speakers totally disappeared 100%,
lifelike 3D placement of instruments layered when
appropriate. I can hear people behind the studio glass, hear
into the recording room or venue, a plane flying overhead in
the recording is overhead in my room. Sounds come from
behind me very clear or beside me even. It's just SO much
more involving and real. I feel like I'm there and stop
listening to my system and just listen to the music. The
naturalness is what blows me away the most. What I used to
think was a bad recording is not anymore. It sounds so much
more natural and real. It's just before I was missing parts
of the signal that were getting lost in a maze of roads and
stops to get to my speakers.
With that being said I know I can get even more out of it
and look forward to a bigger room, bigger speakers for more
weight, and even more resolving speakers. I'm working on
making my own room treatments, got some mineral wool on
order. I'm almost done making my new larger room also. A few
more weeks on that.
There really is a formula to it. In the end yes it's all
physics and science. To many people try to muck it all up
with theory and conjecture though.
