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

RV Piano, In that same vein, I first heard holographic imaging in a medium sized demo room at a dealers. They had a CJ 5 preamp driving a Threshold SA amp, driving a pair of smallish Thiel 4’s (preceding the CA series) using a Oracle TT (I don’t recall cartridge) and playing Opus Three "Depth of Image" which has a cut where there is a small group playing pan pipes. If you closed your eyes you could feel that you could walk on stage amoungst the players just as you could if this all occurred in your living room with real players. Obviously I was so impressed I still recall most of the detail. FWIW although for years this was a goal I never achieved it in my music room. I have a long list of the reasons why. :-)

Gulpson, A fair observation, but to make this omission of a warranted  moniker change worse, I've been posting here since about 2002! I think a lot of folks have not bothered with my posts. Who would want to take advise from a newbie. :-)

@rvpiano  Semantics, yes.  Imaging and soundstaging are not the same thing, but *are* complementary.  Simply (simplistically?) imaging~clear definition/location of a particular sound source in the space; soundstaging~the sonic painting of the limits of that overall space, width and depth and perhaps height.  If a speaker does one of these right, it's hard to believe it would do the other particularly badly.

Newbee:

Dont we All!

"It is a parlor trick, although I agree it can be pleasant on small combos (jazz, folk, chamber). You simply don't hear it with live music, even sitting close to a jazz combo. "

You may not hear soundstaging/imaging in live music (which I find strange - presuming you have two ears).  I certainly do.  And certainly with jazz combos. And orchestras (I tend to prefer closer seating).  And plenty of other live music scenarios.  If I close my eyes under those scenarios I usually have no problem pointing to precisely where any particular sound is coming from.

 Our two ears are there to provide directionallity to sound.  It's part of how we evolved/survived.  It works.  The idea that people don't hear any imaging with live music is to me something from the Twilight Zone.   (Unless one is talking amplified music, or perhaps sitting very far back from a performance).