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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
chadeffect
586 posts
 
Csontos,

I know some would challenge you and say that most SS amps are incapable of producing that 3D sound.

For me personally 3D or holographic sound has usually come from tubes. I know of few SS amps that can have that density and image depth. The SS ones i do know of are mind bogglingly expensive. (Solution, ML, edge)

Having said that I have heard many tube amps that were just plain rubbish at nearly everything...! I won't name and shame but some really highly thought of ones. Lets blame the tube choices.

As an audiophile you have to try other equipment in your system to find what works for you. then maybe you can see what is missing or can be refined. I think tweaking is a way of fine tuning a system to get that last bit of communication out. But if the equipment isn't capable, no amount of tweaking will help you.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
To me, the most important aspect as an audiophile is to focus on the objective, measurable, and demonstrable attributes of a system so I sense consensus here but also a little irony.

chadeffect
586 posts
 
Csontos,

Measurable would be nice, but I am not sure which printed specs tell me about sound staging or image depth?

Demostratable can only be defined by the listener and this is where I suspect the trouble starts. I say x sounds better while you say x makes no difference (or measurable sense). Then Geoff pipes up!
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Measurements vs perceived sound

A long long time ago in a galaxy far away we found out that Total Harmonic Distortion of amplifiers did not dictate the sound, the perceived sound, of the amplifier. Not that THD does not carry some weight, but amplifiers, such as many tube amplifiers, with THD ten times higher(!) sounded subjectively better than some amps with vanishingly low THD, especially in terms of perceived distortion! We also learned that digital technology - for both electronics and software - with theoretical Dynamic Range and Signal to Noise ratio *Far Exceeding* that of analog, were neither as subjectively dynamic or clean as analog technology. It should have been a Slam Dunk. In reality off the shelf, untreated CDs quite frequently sound two dimensional, thin, tizzy, threadbare, compressed, unnatural, electronic, strident, rolled off, piercing, cluttered, like papier mache. What is going on? We also found out that room acoustics plays a crucial role in determining what the system actually sounds like, in particular soundstaging capabilities, but also in terms of distortion, naturalness and musicality. How good can a system get? You know, without changing out electronics and cables. Answer at 11.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
I happened to have visited that galaxy. I believe it was called the 1970s. It was also discovered that certain other parameters outside of THD were responsible to a large extent for the perceived performance characteristics and attributes of the gear that was considered high end at that time. The cat wasn't in the bag for very long after all the major manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon. Hence the small handful of SS amps on the scene with the levels of THD that was just mentioned. So sorry to burst that little bubble, but tubes didn't and don't have a monopoly on desirable sound characteristics. Not that it was suggested they do, but just in case.
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