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

Has anyone mentioned Bob Carver's C9 Sonic Hologram? 

Newbee mentioned Bob Carver . . . that he tried it and was initially impressed but found it distracting over time.

I  believe the achievement of the "holographic" image you refer to is fully a function of the manor in which the music was recorded. There is a passage at the very end of season two Game of Thrones program where all of a sudden a crow calls out from high to the right of my room and sounds as if it flies right in front of my face. The first time I heard this I about jumped out of my chair. It is an amazing effect. But that's what it is, an effect. Most music is recorded in a studio with close mikes and then reverb and other signal processing is added. This can effect the holographic image you mention. In a live situation where acoustic instruments are played in a concert hall venue, the image is based on how the venue is recorded since a sense of space is naturally present vs. say a studio setting.

I guess my point is that a decent system should reproduce whatever effect  is inherent in the recording. A good example of imaging in my mind vs. "holography" is found on the track "Down to the Waterline" on the debut release from Dire Straits. Knopfler's guitar is positioned far left of the rest of the instruments which creates a very impactful effect. This is an example of a recording technique vs. room acoustics which, as stated, more naturally lends itself to the "holographic" effect mentioned.

Falconquest,

As I stated and, indeed “meant to say,” the holographic effect is a real thing.
As you state, it “...is fully a function of the manor in which the music was recorded.”  

Re Carver,
I grew up listening to my Dad's set up, which consisted of the Kef 105.2 speakers, driven by Carver's M-400t Magnetic Field Power Amplifier Cube, and the Carver C-1 Sonic Holography preamplifier.

It was incredible sound and certainly introduced me to the magic of imaging.

Though I found over time playing with the sonic holography that I often turned it off, as it sounded just a bit more artificial to me, and slightly altered the tone of the speakers (which imaged amazingly on their own).