Hello,
I am new to this. I don't usually participate in forum discussions, although I do in fact read them a lot. I found this discussion very interesting and even though I am probably responding a little late, I find that I would like to add my ''two cents'' to the ideas being expressed.
I am going to respond to the question that was first asked which was, ''Have you had success with your holographic system, and if so, how did you get there?''
My answer to the first part of the question is unequivocally ''Yes, I have had a lot of success with respect to holography.''
So now on to the second part of the question... the ''how.''
First my system: MacMini > Spatial HD (using iTunes as data base) > Stello U3 USB/Spdif interface > Metrum Octave DAC > Crayon CFA-1/90 integrated amp > Gallo Reference 3.5 speakers
In my opinion a wide, deep, holographic presentation is the raison d'etre of stereo, so in building my system I have concentrated my efforts on this without neglecting the basic elements - transparency, timbral accuracy, tonal density, transients and decay, etc. - that are essential to producing the illusion of a ''real'' musical event. But all of those elements you could get in a high end mono system. Stereo is about sound stage and imaging.
So soundstage and hollography are why I have settled on the Gallo 3.5 (after having gone several other speakers, including the Gallo 3.1s). Anyone who has ever heard them knows that a the wide, deep, holographic soundstage with every instrument in its own space is one of the strengths of this speaker. They do that in spades. The walls in my room literally disappear and nothing ever stays within the confines of the speakers and the speakers themselves totally disappear. They produce a wall of music before me and it is impossible to detect any sound coming directly from the speakers. For all practical purposes they might as well not even exist.
The next step in my quest for a yet wider, deeper and more holographic soundstage was the acquisition of the Crayon CFA-1/90 integrated amp. This amp is truly phenomenal in every aspect, but especially in its ability to create a super wide and very holographic soundstage. In his 6MOONS review of this integrated Srajan Ebaen said it is a virtual stand-in for a SET amp. but with none of the drawbacks that triodes present.
Here is some of what he has to say about the holographic qualities of this amp:
''What one notices first however is the connective tissue action of triodes as a completely unexpected and very non-transistory quality. It makes space audible with interpenetrating auras around, and thus between, performers.
Hearing the shadows is a very tubular thing. It creates a natural hologram in which dimensional placements aren't derived from hyper focus against blackness. Instead, our perception of recorded space comes from 'presence halos' which surround the musicians as reflections and decays...
Whatever you want to call that action, the CFA-1 does it exactly like a direct-heated no-feedback single-ended triode amp. I referenced this directly against my A-09S Yamamoto to eliminate all doubts... There was no mistake. The Crayon Audio amp is a virtual stand-in for triodes in matters of depicting audible space which isn't the same as soundstaging per se.''
He goes on to say that where this amp differs from a SET amp is in matters of higher resolution, more extension of bass and treble, more crystalized imaging and separation between instruments and a much wider soundstage. But with respect to how it handles spatial relationships and holography it is ''the antithesis'' of any transistor amp he had heard up to that time.
As an owner of a Crayon CFA-1 I can attest that everything he said in that review, at least to my ear, is absolutely true. Purchasing this amp is one of the most significant things that I did in order to achieve a truly holographic presentation.
The next addition to my system was the Stello U3/Metrum Octave DAC combination. The Octave is a truly great DAC, especially for the price. Up to that time, I had been using the Burson HA 160D and while I cannot say definitively that the Octave brought any significant improvement to the holography, I can say that with respect to things like resolution, transient attacks and decay, extended highs and lows, tighter more musical bass, it just simply outclassed the Burson without giving up any of the Burson's tonal density.
At this point, I thought I had arrived... that is until the day I decided to address any possible room issues.
First let me say that I thoroughly disagree with Gbmcleod's statements about a tree falling in the forest making sound if no one is around to hear it. In fact a tree falling in the forest makes no sound at all. What it does do is move air in waves. But sound does not occur until those waves of air strike an eardrum whose subsequent vibration produces an electrical signal which is then transferred to the brain. And it is in the brain that the sensation that we call sound is produced. Without an ear attached to a brain, there is fact no sound... only moving air.
But while I disagree with him on that one point, I agree with him wholeheartedly on both the importance of the room's role in the reproduction of a musical event and that the room has it ''problems'' whether a Hifi system is present and/or playing or not.
But I also agree with Sabai. You do in fact need some kind of sound signal to discover just how to treat a room. Gbmcleod seems to agree with this when he says you can treat a room for speech. And I further propose that engineers do in fact use some type of sonic signal to trigger their measurement devices. In total silence you could not possibly determine what a room might need.
In any case, however, the room is indeed not only an important component but also an incredibly essential component. Just how essential it is I discovered when I moved to my next purchase: The Spatial HD room correction program.
This is a computer program with which Clayton Shaw of Spatial Computer makes electronic equalization corrections to the digital signal. Clayton installs the HD software on your computer and he sends you, via US mail, a mic and a mic preamp. Then, after the mic has been set up in the optimum position, Clayton using a program called TeamViewer (also provided by Spatial) takes control of the computer and sends a series of signals through your system which are picked up by the mic and sent back to him in Colorado where he does the necessary measurements and maps out the acoustic anomalies of your room. Then he makes the necessary to corrections to the computer's digital signal output, until his measurements are registering a flat response throughout the entire band width of your speakers.
This, of course, is the same thing that is done by signal correction devices such as Audyssey and others. But the difference here is that all of Spatial's corrections are done at the source, in the computer, without the addition of yet another ''box'' in the signal chain which risks creating other problems with respect to transparency and colorations.
The result created in my room by the Spatial HD corrections was revelatory. Actually, it seemed magical. I am still blown away by it. I can honestly say that I had absolutely no idea as to just how good my system could sound prior to Spatial-izing. My room, acoustically speaking, had been no slouch. When Clayton first measured it he commented on how good it already was. Yet, the results of Spatial were dramatic to say the least. Improvement was effected in all the usual parameters that make for an ''authentic'' sound - timbre, attack, decay, clarity. But where it really shone was with respect to soundstage (it widened/opened it up even more) and instrument placement and holographic 3 dimensional imaging. In those parameter the enhancement brought by Spatial HD was superb. All I have to do, in order to test my memory on this, is simply turn Spatial off and take my system back to what it originally was... something I do only on occasion to remind myself or to demonstrate to others. But I can tollerate turning it off for only a minute or so. Then I have to turn it back on.
I am convinced that many people considering spending yet more money for a ''better'' component or cables etc. might just change their minds after hearing what their present system is really capable of after digital room correction. But, in any case, if you don't have your room treated in some way - either digitally or via physical room correction devices - you may be missing as much as 50% of your system's true capabilities (depending on the room, of course.).
Now on to cables (This seems to be a subject near and dear to Sabai's heart): I had tried several different cables. For a while I had been using Analysis Plus Blue Oval interconnects and speaker wire. This was a step up, it seemed, from the rather ordinary cable that I had been using.
Then, after having read quite a bit about DNM cables, I decided to try them and I liked them. They certainly were priced right!
But when I started using the Crayon CFA-1, I could no longer use either the DNMs nor the Analysis Plus speaker cables because with the CFA-1 you can only use banana plugs. So, when I bought it I also got some rather expensive speaker cables that the manufacturer of the CFA-1 felt worked especially well with his amp. This brand is called COLOURS and I have not been able to find any information for them on the net. But, in any case, they did indeed work very well with the CFA-1, so much so that later, when he had a pair of COLOURS interconnects to sell at a reduced price I bought those as well. And in this way my system had reached a level of quality performance os which I could not even have conceived when I first started on my ''HIFI Journey."
Now as we all know cables are a very controversial subject, and the general audiophile population seems to be divided into 3 camps: 1) those who say that cables make no difference whatsoever; 2) those who believe that cables can make a difference, but the difference is, at best, subtle; 3) those who believe that cables can make a big difference (these people are, I believe, much fewer in number and usually they refer to cable that cost a lot... really a lot.)
I was in category number 2. I felt that the various cables I had tried all had had an effect, but that it was subtle.
Then I decided to try some cables about which I had read nothing but good reviews: Tellurium Q Ultra Black Speaker cables and interconnects. And from the moment I put them into my system, the question about how good cables could be was answered for me... forever!!!
For me, the addition of the Tellurium Q's was like going to a new and much better DAC. They are that good!!! Tellurium Q claims that their cables correct for phase distortion Perhaps this is so, because in my system they certainly did correct for something.
Everything became clearer. Timbres improved even more. Bass became tighter and (most importantly) more musical. Trebles became more extended, clearer and sweeter. Incredibly, the sound stage became yet wider and deeper and the instruments within the sound stage even better individuated. Here I want to say, however, that the significant improvement was created by the speaker cables. The interconnects did bring some improvement to the sound, but, in their case, it was very subtle. I could have lived just as happily with the Colours interconnects. In any case, I couldn't believe what I was hearing as a result of these cables and I was very very satisfied.
But then, out of curiosity, I decided to give Clayton Shaw's new Spatial Quantum Field cables a try. Clayton's Spatial HD room correction had invoked a significant improvement in my system and I respect his philosophy. I like the way he thinks and I like his ''ear.'' So I had him send me a pair of speaker cables and a pair of interconnects. I had every intention of sending them back if they did not outperform the TQ Ultra Blacks (and I really didn't see how they could).
Well, I did not send them back for once I again, I was more than satisfied... for several reasons.
First let me say that the Spatial cables do not represent as huge an improvement in the sound quality over the TQs as did the TQs over the Colours before them. But, to my ear, they are every bit as good as the Ultra Blacks... except in those areas in which they are even better. And the ways in which they are somewhat better are important to me: 1. The bass is a yet a smidgen tighter and slightly more musical than that produced by the TQs; 2. the sound stage is even a litte wider and more open (definitely more open); 3. and finally (and most importantly to the question of holography) all of the elements in the sound stage are better ''sorted out.'' I have no other way to put it. Perhaps there is more air around the instruments, I don't know. What I do know is that they seem to be positioned more naturally... less ''bunched together'' as it were. The presentation is more relaxed - musically natural, if you will. Even when the music becomes busier, more agitated and frenetic, every instrument retains its spatial correctness and the musical composure is somehow maintained.
And this is from cables that cost little more than a third of the price of the Tellurium Q Ultra Blacks. And further more, the interconnects do indeed have a significant effect bringing even more improvement to the whole. My girlfriend, who is not an audiophile, can easily hear the improvement that the interconnects bring. I later had Clayton send me another pair of interconnects that are terminated with WBT Nextgen plugs. For me this settled the issue as to whether plugs can make a difference. I know now without a doubt that they certainly can and do... and the difference, while not as great as going to the new cables, is not subtle. I can hear it and so can my girlfriend. It is very noticeable. So, I ordered more plugs from WBT and had the first pair of Spatial interconnects terminated with them as well.
I am extremely satisfied with the results of all my work. My system is absolutely one of the very best that I have ever heard, in all respects, but most certainly with respect to soundstage and holographic imaging.
Have I reached the end of my quest? Probably not, as a matter of fact I am thinking about upgrading my DAC to the Metrum Hex. But at this point I do not feel that anything is missing and I am not lusting after the next thing that I will do. I am in no hurry. Life is good!
