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

@orpheus10 said "You guys are funny; while you're enjoying what you have, your subconscious is reaching for the grapes; "I wonder how I can get better bass", or some other refinement."

No incongruity there at all. I never claimed that I don't wonder about things. I never claimed that I had the best system in the world. I never claimed my system had no flaws. I never said that I wouldn't seek any sort of improvement. What I'm saying is that some of us have the ability to be satisfied with what we have and to control impulses that will likely only account for small, incremental improvements as well as enough risk aversion to avoid spending money on 'improvements' that might end up being detrimental. 

And again, this is about sound stage. Spending money to get improvements other than sound stage means sound stage isn't my addiction of choice. That's all.

Again, I'm not knocking anyone for whom that .01% improvement is worth a week's vacation some place nice. That is their business not mine. Its all entertainment after all.

@orpheus10 said "N80, mentally, I will never settle; it's just that my bank account has put the brakes on."

In the end that's still settling. And if you're not willing to eat Ramen seven days a week and walk to work for your hobby....well, what can I say?  ;-)

The point is that we all have reasons for how far we push things. And it really isn't our position to question someone else's.....especially when they have the real prize, the best grapes of all: great music and contentment.

To me, precise holographic soundstage is the holy grail of hifi.
The totem hawk i am listening to are phenomenal in this regard... Comes to mind magnepan and ls50s that i have owned previously.

Soundstage is important. Air is more important. Dynamic range is a must. You always want what you can’t have.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls; a "holographic image" is what "everyone" in high end audio is striving for; it's not a separate entity, but what "automatically" occurs when you have it altogether, but not before.

it only occurs when you have top notch high end equipment. I'll give you an example of this; me and the fellows; me being the resident customer, and they being the salesmen, were grooving mightily to Santana "Abraxas", on a lineup of top of the line ARC electronics, that even included the CD player, plus, the best Thiel speakers, when a real customer came in and requested to audition a Rotel amplifier.

Before that occurred, I was focusing on the organ; it was isolated like I've never heard it before or since; this was on the cut "Incident at Neshabur";


  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-s2uFgMRjA


Can you dig it?


We were all seated in the small auditioning theater just grooving; that's when not a word is spoken, and each person is off in his own private inner sanctum; that holographic image with the individual instruments right in front of you will do it; put you out there where you want to be.

"And then the doorbell rang"; it was a customer who wanted to audition a Rotel Amp; when his request was honored, the soundstage collapsed. Nothing else had changed, but no more holographic soundstage; a chain is no stronger than it's weakest link.

That sums up a "holographic soundstage".

Hey, if you know what you’re doing for the most part and you don’t have five thumbs on each hand, if you persevere and have a little bit of luck you can have it all. But soundstage is not black and white, it’s not as if you either have it or you don’t. There are degrees of soundstage, you’ll know it when you hear it. You can even get air, maybe, if you’re real lucky. If you can achieve a wide, deep and high transparent soundstage chances are pretty good everything else will follow, detail, tone, dynamics, frequency extension. Maybe air.