How important is it for you to attain a holographic image?

There are no tricks involved with acoustic instruments when proper mic placement is used. I'm referring to all forms of classical and small jazz combos, even when the combo includes an electric guitar. A revealing system should reproduce a 3D image and depending on the recording, a holographic image is possible.

Listen to older well recorded rock music in which the band was recorded together in a studio. I can hear space between the musicians. Early Hendrix releases sound like the artists are playing together in the same room. There is 3D space with natural reverb and ambience around the drum kit. Not so for the remasters.

With the best mono’s, the sound is expansive and fills the space between the speakers completely. Granted, there’s nothing outside the speakers, but there’s a certain "rightness" or "correctness" garnered from mono recordings that’s really hard to get from stereo records. Personally, I like both.

Oregonpapa.

With mono classical I agree the music sounds correct. It’s like sitting mid-hall and the orchestra is accurately positioned on stage.
Once again, it means the mic placement was done well.

newbee,

Have you considered changing your name? After over 4000 posts, it is slightly outdated. Nothing to do with the thread topic, but I just noticed.

Apparently it's not very important for most, judging by how many jam their speakers right up against walls and/or large windows. 

Hearing a live performance through speakers has always been the goal and what attracted me to the hobby when I first heard a high end system at the Sony Center in Berlin as a kid. I played second bassoon in the Wisconsin Youth Orchestra for awhile, sung in the Madison Boys Choir and my father played a number of two hour piano concerts practicing hours a day. I know what live music sounds like, just as many of you do. What I want to hear when a good recording is played is exactly what was played. In my opinion it is holographic meaning that I can close my eyes and feel like I’m in the concert hall and place each instrument that is played in space. The Tympany is far left rear, the bassoon and oboe middle right center, the flutist front left. Yes the speakers need to also produce the dynamics and hold a properly sized image of the instruments  . . . I just played Peter Hurford playing Bach Organ music this weekend and I felt like I was in the church, organ 200 ft in front of me. That’s not a parlor trick. That is a great performance meshing with a great recording on a high end system that is dialed into the space that it exists. Yes there are many poor recordings and I actually usually prefer studio produced rock albums because live performances are usually poorly recorded from a badly set up PA system. It can be engaging being a part of the crowd but if I want to hear the music I go for the studio album. As mentioned above I find most holographic recordings are those jazz and classical recordings miked correctly. . .