Geoffkait,
I stated, "I have not heard of a single "person in the industry" or a single "senior reviewer" who minimizes the importance or denies the existence of "holographic sound". Of course, there is a world of difference between minimizing the existence of "holographic sound" and denying its existence. "
In typically cryptic fashion you replied, "Clarke Johnsen and Kal Rubinson, senior reviewers/writers at large for Stereophile magazine and Positive Feedback, respectively, to name two industry insiders, have expressed the opinion that obtaining a real, 3D soundstage is either (1) not of great importance overall or (2) not obtainable at all since any 3D soundstage is "artificial" or imaginary (in the mind of the listener). These opinions were expressed over on AA. Lord knows where their statements are archived, but somewhere, no doubt."
You seem to have an excellent memory for the content of the AA posts you site without being able to give us any specific references at all regarding exactly where we can find any specific articles or posts to verify exactly what they in fact said.
In fact, if you do an AA search on Clarke Johnsen here is the only result:
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=general&m=382142
And, in fact, Kal Rubinson did a review of the Adcom GFA-7805 five-channel power amplifier for Stereophile. In that review he stated, "The soundstage was as wide and deep as I have ever experienced with this system, but the central images lacked some of the etched specificity I've come to expect from the Revels." It is hard to imagine a reviewer giving a positive review about a 5-channel system while talking about the depth and width of sound stage who, according to your allegedly excellent memory, "have expressed the opinion that obtaining a real, 3D soundstage is either (1) not of great importance overall or (2) not obtainable at all since any 3D soundstage is "artificial" or imaginary (in the mind of the listener)."
Hmmm.