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

A couple things. The Trial and Error method of speaker placement - move a little, listen a little - or a random or convenient placement can only result in finding local maximums - at best. There is no reason to fiddle endlessly, nor any benefit. Second, the optimum speaker placement changes as the room is treated over a period of time and should be re-evaluated whenever room acoustics changes. Lastly, most people believe that the best holographic soundstage is achieved by placing the speakers relatively far apart and toeing them in toward the listener. Actually that’s not true at all. Generally, most speakers should be placed relatively close to each other, let’s say for argument sake, five feet. With no toe in. My 2 centavos.

I had to think way back when I was a kid and got my first record player. What a piece of crap. I listened to Vivaldi, and some Mozart to start with. At the time, the record player, with built in speaker, was housed in a cabinet with a door on it. I soon learned that the position of the door affected the sound, and thus began my life as an experimenter in acoustics, along with electronics all around me. But my point here is that the musical message was somehow available even through that miserable setup. As time went on, and decades later, I bumped into a holographic image with the system that I had at that time, and never let go of the that ideal for my listening. My present listening room is not ideal however, and I must judiciously adopt placement, treatment while all the time being aware of the WAF.

By your logic, a person sitting in the first row of a concert and ostensibly getting a more “holographic” picture of the sound, is having a better musical experience than someone sitting in the fifth row or tenth row or balcony.

I don’t think that’s the case.

Actual concertgoers disagree. They all pay more to sit closer. I've done both. Its no contest. Sitting in the balcony, much as I try to convince myself its just fine, the fact is I can look and see with my own eyes the bow moving on the soloists violin long after the last note has trailed off below hearing way up in the cheap seats. This actually happened. In the acoustic marvel of Benaroya Hall no less. How in the world is it a musical experience at all if you can't even hear it???

Why is it you guys don't (yet) have systems that allow you to sit wherever you want in the hall?

Boxer, if you're any kind of an audiophile, you have  adjusted you're speakers to the point where you have a good soundstage. This is the basis of "holography"; a good soundstage, once you get it, leave it alone.

Holography is based on "The propagation of sound". Since this is too complex for us to understand, forget about it, unless you can hire a professional to treat you're room. The sound waves in you're room is all we're dealing with, nothing more, nothing less.

Now, I have incredible holography; the kind that glues you to your listening chair until this is all you want to do. Each record presents something new and different, that also goes for each CD.


"Serendipity" the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. "a fortunate stroke of serendipity".

I explained this (Serendipity) on another post, it is the reason for my incredible holography; a lot of luck can go a long way. As I stated, I did not touch my speakers, or change one single solitary component; but you must realize, I have been pursuing this for thirty years; that's when I first heard it, 30 years ago. That means I acquired the components that I knew could deliver holography.

What I didn't know, is that once that has been done, it's all about the room.