Doctor's Orders-Part Two-The New Listening Room Of Steve Williams

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
Congratulations, Steve, on purchasing the Horizon and on hosting this fun and exciting debut!
 

kswanson27

Well-Known Member
Nov 21, 2018
368
179
128
79
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.
 
Doc.jpg

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.

Where The Light Is.jpg
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.
 

Bobvin

VIP/Donor
Jun 7, 2014
1,658
2,928
615
Portland
www.purewatersystems.com
What is this last song you mention, “W.I.P. Version demo XXIV”? I should like to have a listen.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
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

 

Holli82

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2010
318
329
1,620
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

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.
 
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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
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
 

Morgen

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2020
5
10
58
66
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.
 

Holli82

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2010
318
329
1,620
I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy music in Steve’s room. He and Cathy are wonderful hosts and his system is spectacular.
 
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Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
10,516
1,774
1,850
Metro DC
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.
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:

Morgen

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2020
5
10
58
66
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. :(
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
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 side
 

Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
10,516
1,774
1,850
Metro DC
It was on the floor at your secon?d visit as we had both the Lampi Pacific and Horizon side by side
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.
 
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LampiNA

Well-Known Member
Jun 30, 2015
347
858
335
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.
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.
 

kswanson27

Well-Known Member
Nov 21, 2018
368
179
128
79
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.
 

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