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

orpheus, I agree that speaker placement is a big deal in regard to sound stage reproduction. Spent many hours experimenting with them in the past. They are staying where they are at for now. System sounds great & I'm leaving the cloth over the art (the cloth itself is art so I'm not losing anything there) until I'm done evaluating it. 

Orpheus10,
Your sliding door experience got me thinking about the glass I have over a large piece of art in my listening room. It is also hung on a side wall (much like your sliding door). First I tried a heavy handmade blanket over it. My impression was "who turned up the bass". I belive what was actually happening is it was sucking the highs & some of the midrange out of the room. Didn't like it much. So now I have it covered with light cloth. This is an improvement. Increased bass without the objectionable suck of midrange/highs. This also increased focus of the soundstage. Thank You!    

" this is the end of the line for me, my quest is over."

It is cool though that you were able to narrow it down to that, but what is your plan for next summer?

IME... Holographic imaging is one of the benefits we obtain when diving deeper into high end equipment. The degree of such is very dependent on the recording though, as previously stated. On folk recordings, it can be absolute bliss.