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
The most educated decision you can make if you're reading this thread is to understand and follow Al's responses, however sometimes veiled they may be. He can be far too diplomatic at times imo. But he's been pretty clear here once you've weeded through it. The thing with conditioners is that when you use your power at the optimal time of day, it'll probably sound better without it. Biggest difference I've experienced with that issue is when I installed a dedicated line. I once accidentally plugged my amp into the wrong strip and wondered what was wrong till I noticed it. Very significant difference when I changed it back. That and decent interconnects/speaker cables with large enough awg. is what you need to realize the potential of your gear. The probable non-existent change you'll realize by spending huge money on gimmicky products is far better spent on a nicer piece of gear.
Csontos,
Regarding your competence to judge this matter on more than a "my-opinion" basis, please let us know how many Bybee products you have in your system and if you are running them in series with HiDiamond power cords, interconnects, digital cable and speaker cables and a equivalent line-up of Synergistic Research active cables.

Once you fill us in with the details of your system we will have a basis on which to judge if you have enough experience in this area to make competent judgments about the systems of others who are doing series cabling. Please give us the details of your system and your cabling.
What we're starting to see here is typical of many threads that begin to destruct when the "special" posters take over and do their thing. I would like to keep this thread going in the positive way it was started, if possible. Once the positive discussion is over and the thread is ready to be archived it should be allowed to arrive at the archive on its own -- not by sabotage. In the latter case interested posters back off because of all the flack in the air where they would normally be participating in a positive way.

If anyone has bones to pick with me I have no problem with that. They can start a special thread entitled "Sabai is a nut case" or "What rock did Sabai crawl out from under". These thread titles are only suggestions. You can make up your own.
Csontos,
With all due respect, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

Mapman,
Using only a power conditioner will not get you there. I have four elements in my front end and the addition of the isolation transformer and power regenerator made the biggest difference to the sound.

Mapman, you stated "Even if it turns out a particular gadget seems to work, why it does what it appears to do is still a mystery and the chances of similar results being repeated elsewhere in any kind of predictable manner is probably low." I use Bybee products throughout my system and the addition of each Bybee has given a predictably significant improvement to the sound.
Mapman,
Yes, cleaner power is definitely a prerequisite here. I heard two very expensive systems in Bangkok recently -- beautiful Tad speakers with Marantz amplification and the amazing all-Accuphase showroom. Both lacked basic AC cleaning that I consider minimal and it showed. They could have done so much better if they had paid attention to their front end, their cabling and their "tweaks". But that would not have made for a pretty showroom.