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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
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Seeing my post from 2004 gives me motivation to thank the Lord for his goodness to me in the past eight years!

The "etherial sound system" I referred to was an allusion to Heaven, not an audio system. My priorities will always surround my faith. As such my lifetime giving plan (Yes, I have planned it and am executing the plan) to the Lord is intact, and in fact my wife and I have been able to increase it as a percentage of our income over the past eight years. Audio has never and will never cause that to deviate.

As a result of an invitation from Constantine Soo of Dagogo.com I began reviewing in 2006 and that has allowed me to buy far nicer gear. As my wife and I save, budget and invest, as well as received an inheritance I have been able to obtain some items which were not within reach years ago.

I would like to encourage those who don't see fancy gear in their lives to be patient and work consistently toward that goal, as audio dreams do become reality!

So, I appreciate the opportunity to look back and give thanks to God! :)
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Now, to return my discussion to the topic of the thread...

Regarding discussion of various technologies which produce the "holographic" soundstage, I have found no greater technology than the Omnidirectional speaker. I have used far more capable speakers, but none create the specific "holographic" experience like an Omni.

There is a dearth of omnidirectional speakers in the market, imo. I felt the King Tower, which I obtained as a cancelled product it seems from Kings Audio, is a fantastic device at the price point. If it had been set up well and showcased at shows vs. put off to the side and not run I believe many would have been sold.

Then again, the zany blue foam balls which were stuffed between modules didn't help! I removed them immediately, which improved the speakers performance markedly.

But as to the most profound way to elicit a holographic soundstage - imo it's the transducer technology. Why? Basically any piece of gear (excepting special conditions ie. low power amps etc.) will alter the "3-D-ness" of the soundstage to a degree, but never as much as a complete technology shift in terms of a speaker. Whereas different cabling, amps, etc. display less fundamental shifts in spaciousness of soundstage, differing transducers display it fundamentally. YMMV
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,341 posts
 
"Regarding discussion of various technologies which produce the "holographic" soundstage, I have found no greater technology than the Omnidirectional speaker."

Agree, though as mentioned it is still quite possible with more directional designs as well with proper setup.

ALso certainly quality speaker designs including use of quality transducers are key. Poor quality in the speakers will likely greatly limit or mostly prohibit what might be obtained via other subsequent tweaks including to power otherwise.
bryoncunningham
890 posts
 
I agree with Sabai that “holography” is difficult to achieve.

I agree with Newbee that ‘holography’ needs to be better defined.

I agree with Kijanki that shorter cables are usually better.

I agree with Al that shorter cables are not always better.

I agree with Douglas that daisy chaining cables produces a lot of confounding variables.

I agree with Al that cable performance is highly system dependent.

I agree with Mapman that good speaker placement improves “holography.”

I agree with Onhwy61 that good room acoustics improve “holography.”

I agree with Douglas that omnidirectional speakers improve “holography.”

I agree with Orpheus that the degrees of “holography” never end.

I agree with Csontos that Sabai might achieve even more "holography" if he changed his ratio of spending on tweaks vs. equipment.

I agree with Douglas that Sabai's experimental creativity should be commended.

I’m feeling agreeable today.

Bryon
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,429 posts
 
"I agree with Al that shorter cables are not always better"

He mentioned exception of digital cables related to timing of the reflections, but shorter analog cables should always be better. I've never heard of anybody claiming improvement with longer analog audio cable, other than salesmen trying to find excuse to sell more common longer cable (1m vs. 0.75m or 0.5m IC) that he has in stock.
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