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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
 
I believe most people who use single wiring throughout their system are unaware that holographic sound has virtually limitless gradations -- unless they have visited a showroom or listened to a friend's system where exceptional sound opened their ears and mind to something unimagined. In fact, most of the very high end showrooms I have had the pleasure to visit had a rather simple front end and rather simple cabling that undervalued the components they were displaying.

Most people build the cabling in their system by purchasing cables from one company or by mixing and matching cables from different companies. This is a process of adding a cable here, subtracting a cable there, a rather simple process where, if the audiophile is lucky, he or she may discover a really good addition to their system, for example, any of the HiDiamond cables or a Synergistic Research Hologram D power cord.

But few audiophiles that I know get into "tweaking" with inline products. None that I know do cabling in series and only two that I know do parallel cabling. Very few audiophiles daisy chain isolation transformers, power regenerators and power conditioners. So, it is understandable that the reaction of many to an unconventional approach to building a system using components and cables in series would be scratching the head and a good measure of disbelief.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
Mapman,
You stated, "Tweaks are what they are...tweaks." All tweaks are not created equal. If you had the pleasure of having Bybee "tweaks" in your system I think you would agree.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
Orpheus10,
You asked, "How do you do that?" regarding hearing holographic sound outside the sweet spot. This seems to be a function of the amazing imaging that my system has. Once the voices and instruments have their own positions on the sound stage and the ambience of the venue is created by the system, the sound does not fundamentally change outside the sweet spot.

It is like attending a concert. There is no sweet spot in a concert hall. The music is rendered holographically in three dimensions so that when you are seated in a different position in the hall the sound just takes on a slightly different aspect but does not cease to be holographically three dimensional.

Of course, in my system, this also depends on the recording. It does not apply to old Beatles albums. The better the recording, the better this effect will be rendered. On better recordings the sound is stunning. As to "how" I do that, it is the daisy-chained front and and the series cabling that is producing the effect.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,341 posts
 
"The music is rendered holographically in three dimensions so that when you are seated in a different position in the hall the sound just takes on a slightly different aspect but does not cease to be holographically three dimensional."

That is the thing often attributed uniquely to omnis.

As I mentioned, my Dynaudio monitor setup that runs off this same gear as my more omni OHMs exhibit this quality as well, as do many well set up rigs I have heard at dealers and even shows over the years.

The key difference I notice between the omni OHMs in particular and the Dynaudios in this regard is that with the OHMS, if I move say to the left the holographic image shifts to the right, much like in real life. WIth the Dyns, if I shift left, the image does as well. ALso the OHMs will continue to exhibit this behavior from most any location in front of the speakers, even if well to the outside of either. With the more directional Dynaudio monitors, the soundstage will tend to diffuse sooner if listened to from more highly deviant locations.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Sabai wrote,

"I have upwards of 20 Bybee products in my system and upwards of 20 other "tweaks" in my system. My system would not exist without Bybee products. I recently added a pair of Combak Harmonix MIC Enacoms to the system and they are a wonderful product. But there is nothing I know of that could substitute for most of the Bybee products that I have in my system."

Have you tried the WA Quantum Chips from Germany? They're all the rage.

Link to WA Quantum Chips at:

http://www.kempelektroniks.com/Accessoires/WA-Quantum-Chips-(1).aspx

Back on the subject of information retrieval, ever try any of the Belt products?
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