Congratulations, Steve, on purchasing the Horizon and on hosting this fun and exciting debut!
Doctor's Orders-Part Two-The New Listening Room Of Steve Williams
- Thread starter steve williams
- Start date
I had the pleasure yesterday of visiting Steve and listening to his system for a couple of hours. It's truly excellent in all respects, one of the very best I've heard. And Steve was a great host. We're only about an hour apart so Steve plans to visit here soon and listen to my modest (by comparison) system and we plan to make these visits regular in the future.
Philip O Hanlon
Industry Expert
A trip to the doctor.
I made a visit to the doctor this afternoon; Steve had invited me over to hear a fundamental change in the setup of his loudspeakers - Wilson X2, series 2.
Damien and Leif from Von Schweikert kindly repositioned his classic Wilson speakers and drastically changed the sound quality.
Instead of being set up for one listener, with his head in a virtual vice; the speakers now throw a wonderful SoundStage, even if off-axis.
In my opinion, Steve’s speakers now sound wonderfully coherent. There was also a much nicer emotional connection with the listener. I should also mention that the speakers are now set up for Nearfield listening, this is a remarkable testament to the speaker set-up skills of Damien and Leif that they managed to make such a large, multi-driver system sound remarkably coherent, even when you are sitting so close & personal.
We must have listened to almost 30 songs, but the only song that we played from start to finish, was the remarkable live version of John Mayer playing one of his hit singles, in this case, Gravity. the system was revealing enough, to show the thin-sounding microphone used on his voice, before any reverb was applied. At almost 10 minutes long, the live in Los Angeles version of Gravity is completely scorching. John Mayer is one hell of a guitarist, listen to this and you will become a believer.
We listened to a W.I.P. version of Demo XXIV; which we streamed from Tidal and played back on Steve’s retubed Lampizator DAC; Steve’s system never sounded so punchy, with a wide swath of timbral colour, John Mayer’s guitar had loads of bite. Such a tonal feast. Still smiling after such a fun musical afternoon. Thanks Steve.
What is this last song you mention, “W.I.P. Version demo XXIV”? I should like to have a listen.
Work in progress. It’s all the songs for demo disk 24
he is going to have to prune it down
he is going to have to prune it down
For those who haven’t followed my little odyssey into making my Wilson speaker set up contrary to all Wilson set up paradigms you can follow it here
whatsbestforum.com
A Huge Shout Out To Some Audiophile Friends
I have found throughout my life that some of my best and longest friendships have come from meeting fellow audiophiles. Yesterday was just one of those days. I have been friends with Damon Von Schweikert and Leif Swanson for many years. I have travelled to their factory many times and listened...
whatsbestforum.com
I said it before....Leif and Damon are absolutely great guys but more importantly, they are wizards when it come to getting the most out of a speaker.For those who haven’t followed my little odyssey into making my Wilson speaker set up contrary to all Wilson set up paradigms you can follow it here
A Huge Shout Out To Some Audiophile Friends
I have found throughout my life that some of my best and longest friendships have come from meeting fellow audiophiles. Yesterday was just one of those days. I have been friends with Damon Von Schweikert and Leif Swanson for many years. I have travelled to their factory many times and listened...
Yesterday I had the good fortune to visit Steve’s beautiful home and listening room. We discussed his system and listened to music for three quick hours. Our combined time was most enjoyable and informative. It’s really inspiring to see someone so passionate about audio and music. Thanks Steve for a great visit!
Jerry
It was a pleasure to meet you and looking forward to a reciprocal visit to Palm Desert (when it's not 118) . Im happy I was able to help you make some decisions re tubes for your upcoming Horizon delivery
I think Jerry's ears perked up when I told him our listening session was powered 100% by solar
It was a pleasure to meet you and looking forward to a reciprocal visit to Palm Desert (when it's not 118) . Im happy I was able to help you make some decisions re tubes for your upcoming Horizon delivery
I think Jerry's ears perked up when I told him our listening session was powered 100% by solar
I had the pleasure recently of seeing and hearing Steve’s system and wrote this to Steve afterward:
Thanks so much for everything: the forum for me to learn and meet people, your invitation today, hospitality and the ride back and meeting your wife. I feel so honored. It has been an experience I will never forget.
I think I understand the extreme effort you put in to creating that spectacular room and all the professional assistance you allowed to get it right. The detail was outstanding, the bass was tight and controlled, the recordings I recognized were more realistic than I’ve ever heard. You were so right about getting Leonard Cohen’s voice exact. I loved your choices of demo music. The depth and width of the soundstage was incredible, we spoke about the height of where I “saw” the singer coming from and the reasons. I know your tube selection, racks, cables, art, rug, etc. took a lot of thought and I liked your choices. I like his room size also because it is relatable to me and not too large. Now, a few days later I can’t stop reliving the experience in my head. It is my favorite system of all time.
Thanks so much for everything: the forum for me to learn and meet people, your invitation today, hospitality and the ride back and meeting your wife. I feel so honored. It has been an experience I will never forget.
I think I understand the extreme effort you put in to creating that spectacular room and all the professional assistance you allowed to get it right. The detail was outstanding, the bass was tight and controlled, the recordings I recognized were more realistic than I’ve ever heard. You were so right about getting Leonard Cohen’s voice exact. I loved your choices of demo music. The depth and width of the soundstage was incredible, we spoke about the height of where I “saw” the singer coming from and the reasons. I know your tube selection, racks, cables, art, rug, etc. took a lot of thought and I liked your choices. I like his room size also because it is relatable to me and not too large. Now, a few days later I can’t stop reliving the experience in my head. It is my favorite system of all time.
I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy music in Steve’s room. He and Cathy are wonderful hosts and his system is spectacular.
I had the pleasure of attending Steeves' old room which resebled a concert hall. Around some 10 years later I had the pleasure of visiting his current room . While considerably smaller size was not an issue.Indeed it was able to accomodate at least 12 audiphiles.
I only had one regrett.His beautiful R2R had been relegated to a spot on the floor. There was no room on the rack.
Last edited:
I had the pleasure of attending Steeves' old room which resebled a concert hall. Around some 10 years later I had the pleasure of visiting his current room . While considerably smaller size was not an issue.Indeeed it was able to accomodate at least 12 audiphiles.
I only had regrett..His beautiful R2R had belegated to spot on the floor. There was no room on the rack.
It was on the floor at your second visit as we had both the Lampi Pacific and Horizon side by sideI had the pleasure of attending Steeves' old room which resebled a concert hall. Around some 10 years later I had the pleasure of visiting his current room . While considerably smaller size was not an issue.Indeeed it was able to accomodate at least 12 audiphiles.
I only had regrett..His beautiful R2R had belegated to spot on the floor. There was no room on the rack.
I was making a weak attempt at humor. I fully understood why it was on the floor.
I also noted how lonely the techdas looked with all the attention the Pacific and Horizon received .
I am sorry for any confusion.
Having had the pleasure of spending a couple of days at Steve's house last winter, I too can attest to his system sounding remarkable. Everything about that space is extraordinary from the story of how the room was engineered from essentially a open cathedral ceiling, to the overkill construction of the floors and level of detail with the acousticians Steve worked with and, of course, the synergy he achieved with his equipment... bravo!
I understand Steve has made some significant improvements since I was out there and I look forward to seeing what he's achieved.
Had a very enjoyable second visit to Steve's today. The sound has changed--for the better. Steve has the Taiko switch with the network card and has changed some tubes in his Horizon. One of the results is a better defined bass, and not by a little. He now has what I consider to be one of the best sounding rooms I've heard short of a concert venue.
