Holostages - critical review

[PDXDrew]

It's a continuous living room/dining room set up, so empty audio boxes aside for the moment, it's clear back to the dining table, with some 4' high shelving on both sides.

I have 6 of them. I have two on the front wall in the corners about 5' high. My amp has external output transformers and I placed one on top of each transformer. I also have a Puritan PSM156 and a LL power distributor. I placed one each on those two units and this seems to be the sweet spot for me.After moving those two to the power supplies, everything came to focus. I agree, these need to be moved around to find where they work best. Having them in other locations the soundstage was improved- larger and deeper, but some recordings sounded disconnected, a little smeared. In their current locations, the soundstage is expansive, detailed, focused and delicious. The music has taken on texture, body and soul that it never had with my system. I plan on getting more, but I do not see these 6 ever moving. Take your time and enjoy the experience. BTW- I tried the magnet trick mentioned above, and for me the soundstage collapsed and the music became bright. I removed the magnets and it all came back to life. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[highstream]

Thanks. My question, given my layout, is about positioning four, which is all I’ll be trying for now.

 

[Willgolf]

You can start with two on the bass traps and two directly opposite the speakers behind you. Then try putting on your amps, DAC, and Music Server. The SR dots nevere worked for me, and I had 24 of them.

 

[PDXDrew]

You can start with two on the bass traps and two directly opposite the speakers behind you. Then try putting on your amps, DAC, and Music Server. The SR dots nevere worked for me, and I had 24 of them.

Thanks. My question, given my layout, is about positioning four, which is all I’ll be trying for now.

Yeah- sorry about that highstream. If you didn't already place them, I would echo Wills suggestions for starting and alternative locations. It is amazing how these devices seemingly take the room out of the equation and let my system breathe. They are system transforming devices.
I'm feeling a bit under the weather today and wasn't sure I wanted to listen tonight. But, I was starting to rebound, so I fired up Qobuz and began streaming a mix of music. Right off the bat things didn't sound quite right. The music wasn't as engaging as it was a couple of days ago, when it was sounding so good. The soundstage wasn't as expansive and detail was missing. Whoa- this is no good. I tried clearing my ears to see if that helped, but to little avail. Then I remembered I was doing a little busy work on my computer yesterday morning and had some music playing at a lower than normal volume. I forgot I wanted to please my ears so I moved my chair forward to match the sweet spot at that vevel. After realizing this, I immediately moved my chair back to where it should have been and it was instant aural nirvana. My system was back and sounding as good as ever. I hope you are all enjoying your evening.

 

[Chop]

Here's my experience with Holosound.
Lets start by saying I'm a bit sceptical of these magic fairy dust tweaks which have no real science behind them or any plausible explanation of why something is happening - IF anything is happening.
However, I also have a curious nature (or I wouldn't be into hifi ) and Heartsound's Krissy agreed to do sale or return to the UK! This suggests confidence, right? So I thought what the hell, I'll give them a try.

It's taken me weeks to post my final thoughts on these because I'm still uncomfortable with what I think.
Bottom line is they do make a difference but its subtle. Well, it isn't subtle for what it does to the perception of music. I actually think the difference they make is considerable. - In any case this is definitely weird. What they do creeps up on you.

I put them in the room, two in the front corners, two in the middle side walls, two at the back corners. I moved them to an appropriate height. First impressions after an hour, I thought I am clearly a gullible fool, nothing is happening and nothing has changed. I actually felt embarrassed at being stupid enough to believe little black boxes on the walls, not connected to anything, not big enough to be an acoustic room treatment, could actually be doing anything. Feeling embarrassed I thought I'll leave them there for a couple of days just to be fair about the possibility of bedding in being "a thing" then I'll send them back.

I then just played music and had SO many "whoa, that sounds really good??" "wow! that sounds clear today - but its not brighter??" moments but I couldn't figure out why. I just heard more realistic music. Just singers sounding more upset or more elated. As someone else said, its like I'd had a £ multi thousands pre amp upgrade.

I'll try to explain.
The soundstage has been described as becoming huge and three dimensional. For me that isn't really the thing. Its not just sound staging: Soundstage is definitely bigger and extends outside the plane of the speakers far more readily than it did. The sound stage is deeper, but not ludicrously so. Maybe I haven't got them in the right place in the room yet. All I've done is spent time getting them round the room, not put anything on components and I haven't used them all.

What do I hear
When I listen uncritically the dynamics are definitely better and the frequency extremes are clearer. How much better? Think of it like your system is having a particularly good day or you are playing it at midnight and there's less hash on the electricity mains. I found myself thinking "this is overall better but I'm not sure WHY". When I listen closer it is actually easier to follow the detail of a specific instrument on recordings I know really really well. Instruments or people are more... palpable.
Here's 3 examples of recordings I have known for years. I had never noticed before:

- The drum solo on Brubeck's take 5 sounds more like a skin on a drum being hit. The difference in volume with how hard he hits drums each time is more apparent. The reverberation across the room is more real and decays longer into quiet.

- There is an Al Green song called God Blessed Our Love. I must have played this hundreds of times. I've always been aware the guitar picks on deadened strings. Now I can hear its deadened with the fleshy part of the hand because the amount of deadening is changing from time to time while he plays it.

- Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden - there are all manner of low level studio sounds rumbling right at the back of the soundstage which I simply have never heard before, and I've been playing this for 30 years.

BUT the weird thing is its not just detail. The above are all just part of the music unfolding in front of you. Its not thrown at you as "Have some more detail, here it is, listen listen! ". If that were so it would suggest the sound is colder and more analytic. Its the opposite. Its way more musical than without them, its more like real people playing. Pick any voice. They sound more.. engaged somehow. Little mouth noises and micro changes in volume can be heard but they are part of how voices are in real life rather than emphasized.
Overall, I THINK the noise floor has dropped considerably, though I didn't think it was a problem before. I THINK the deleterious effect of the room has considerably reduced. I KNOW this sounds more like real music and less like hifi.
For context, I'm a compulsive fiddler with the tonearm set up or speaker positioning, always thinking maybe I'm missing something. Since I put the Holostages in it hasn't crossed my mind to touch anything.

I'm keeping them. I still think maybe I'm gullible and mad.

 

[Zuman]

Lets start by saying I'm a bit sceptical of these magic fairy dust tweaks which have no real science behind them or any plausible explanation of why something is happening - IF anything is happening.

...It's taken me weeks to post my final thoughts on these because I'm still uncomfortable with what I think.
Bottom line is they do make a difference but its subtle. Well, it isn't subtle for what it does to the perception of music. I actually think the difference they make is considerable. - In any case this is definitely weird. What they do creeps up on you.

...When I listen uncritically the dynamics are definitely better and the frequency extremes are clearer. How much better? Think of it like your system is having a particularly good day or you are playing it at midnight and there's less hash on the electricity mains. I found myself thinking "this is overall better but I'm not sure WHY". When I listen closer it is actually easier to follow the detail of a specific instrument on recordings I know really really well. Instruments or people are more... palpable.

...I'm keeping them. I still think maybe I'm gullible and mad.

Your comments really - uh - resonated with me.
I hate feeling that someone is probably making a fool of me, and I've lived my life working to really understand the choices I face. I'm sure that's caused me to miss some opportunities, but I'm also sure that it's helped me avoid many more stumbles.
It's a little discomfiting for me to read so many positive comments about Holostages from people who are clearly experienced, intelligent, discriminating listeners, so I decided that the only rational thing to do would be to order a set and check them out. Then I've committed to myself that if I'm not convinced that they make an improvement (after a reasonable time), I WILL return them.
This may sound silly, but I'm torn between whether I want them to work, or whether I want my primary worldview to be confirmed.
I have been frequently confounded by the perceived differences in my system's sound when no apparent change has occurred. Yes, I've considered power and atmospheric issues, changes in my health and attitude, etc. I'll be particularly interested to discover if Holostages address this at all.
Thanks, everyone, for nudging me out of my comfort zone - I think...

 

[Willgolf]

Here's my experience with Holosound.
Lets start by saying I'm a bit sceptical of these magic fairy dust tweaks which have no real science behind them or any plausible explanation of why something is happening - IF anything is happening.
However, I also have a curious nature (or I wouldn't be into hifi ) and Heartsound's Krissy agreed to do sale or return to the UK! This suggests confidence, right? So I thought what the hell, I'll give them a try.

It's taken me weeks to post my final thoughts on these because I'm still uncomfortable with what I think.
Bottom line is they do make a difference but its subtle. Well, it isn't subtle for what it does to the perception of music. I actually think the difference they make is considerable. - In any case this is definitely weird. What they do creeps up on you.

I put them in the room, two in the front corners, two in the middle side walls, two at the back corners. I moved them to an appropriate height. First impressions after an hour, I thought I am clearly a gullible fool, nothing is happening and nothing has changed. I actually felt embarrassed at being stupid enough to believe little black boxes on the walls, not connected to anything, not big enough to be an acoustic room treatment, could actually be doing anything. Feeling embarrassed I thought I'll leave them there for a couple of days just to be fair about the possibility of bedding in being "a thing" then I'll send them back.

I then just played music and had SO many "whoa, that sounds really good??" "wow! that sounds clear today - but its not brighter??" moments but I couldn't figure out why. I just heard more realistic music. Just singers sounding more upset or more elated. As someone else said, its like I'd had a £ multi thousands pre amp upgrade.

I'll try to explain.
The soundstage has been described as becoming huge and three dimensional. For me that isn't really the thing. Its not just sound staging: Soundstage is definitely bigger and extends outside the plane of the speakers far more readily than it did. The sound stage is deeper, but not ludicrously so. Maybe I haven't got them in the right place in the room yet. All I've done is spent time getting them round the room, not put anything on components and I haven't used them all.

What do I hear
When I listen uncritically the dynamics are definitely better and the frequency extremes are clearer. How much better? Think of it like your system is having a particularly good day or you are playing it at midnight and there's less hash on the electricity mains. I found myself thinking "this is overall better but I'm not sure WHY". When I listen closer it is actually easier to follow the detail of a specific instrument on recordings I know really really well. Instruments or people are more... palpable.
Here's 3 examples of recordings I have known for years. I had never noticed before:

- The drum solo on Brubeck's take 5 sounds more like a skin on a drum being hit. The difference in volume with how hard he hits drums each time is more apparent. The reverberation across the room is more real and decays longer into quiet.

- There is an Al Green song called God Blessed Our Love. I must have played this hundreds of times. I've always been aware the guitar picks on deadened strings. Now I can hear its deadened with the fleshy part of the hand because the amount of deadening is changing from time to time while he plays it.

- Talk Talk, Spirit of Eden - there are all manner of low level studio sounds rumbling right at the back of the soundstage which I simply have never heard before, and I've been playing this for 30 years.

BUT the weird thing is its not just detail. The above are all just part of the music unfolding in front of you. Its not thrown at you as "Have some more detail, here it is, listen listen! ". If that were so it would suggest the sound is colder and more analytic. Its the opposite. Its way more musical than without them, its more like real people playing. Pick any voice. They sound more.. engaged somehow. Little mouth noises and micro changes in volume can be heard but they are part of how voices are in real life rather than emphasized.
Overall, I THINK the noise floor has dropped considerably, though I didn't think it was a problem before. I THINK the deleterious effect of the room has considerably reduced. I KNOW this sounds more like real music and less like hifi.
For context, I'm a compulsive fiddler with the tonearm set up or speaker positioning, always thinking maybe I'm missing something. Since I put the Holostages in it hasn't crossed my mind to touch anything.

I'm keeping them. I still think maybe I'm gullible and mad.

Great and honest feedback, and no, you are not gullible, and science does not always equate to reality. The interesting aspect is you can move them around to continue to dial them into your desired SQ. Have fun and enjoy the journey.

 

[Halydean]

BTW- I tried the magnet trick mentioned above, and for me the soundstage collapsed and the music became bright. I removed the magnets and it all came back to life. Good luck and keep us posted.

When I added a few magnets it was a positive improvement. Everything the Holostages were doing was the same but intensified. Then I tripled the number of my magnets,... and the whole soundstage collapsed and everything sounded bright. I left it to simmer for a few days to see if it would settle-in, but no change. My soundstage has turned completely FLAT and I feel like I'm listening to speakers again. My wife (who did not know about my magnet purchase) came in and listened and said, "it sounds more quiet and detailed than I've ever heard it, but it is also very gritanche." (screamingly harsh)

So you most certainly can add too many magnets! Drew, I would wonder if you used smaller magnets and give them some time to settle down for a few days, maybe what would that sound like in your system?

I'm also going to experiment and remove magnets now starting with the ones around the room, and leave the magnets on my devices that are sitting on and under electronics.

 

[PDXDrew]

When I added a few magnets it was a positive improvement. Everything the Holostages were doing was the same but intensified. Then I tripled the number of my magnets,... and the whole soundstage collapsed and everything sounded bright. I left it to simmer for a few days to see if it would settle-in, but no change. My soundstage has turned completely FLAT and I feel like I'm listening to speakers again. My wife (who did not know about my magnet purchase) came in and listened and said, "it sounds more quiet and detailed than I've ever heard it, but it is also very gritanche." (screamingly harsh)

So you most certainly can add too many magnets! Drew, I would wonder if you used smaller magnets and give them some time to settle down for a few days, maybe what would that sound like in your system?

I'm also going to experiment and remove magnets now starting with the ones around the room, and leave the magnets on my devices that are sitting on and under electronics.

Hey Taylor,
When I tried the magnets and posted my results, I hadn't seen your diagram yet. It is quite possible I went overboard on their placement. I placed two magnets on each of the H/S I have and removed them one at a time. It wasn't until I removed all the magnets that the soundstage returned to what was I was enjoying prior. I don't have any Holostaged behind my listening position yet, as you do. Through experiment, I've found these definitely have an accumulative affect. I will be purchasing more in the future, when I have enough to expand behind me I will revisit this. I will also try getting smaller magnets as well. Best- Drew