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

[Steve Williams]

It's hard not to be impressed by a good vinyl rig, and am glad you finally went that way... long overdue, I might add. Would be interested in comparisons with your R2R, and sure, why not, with your digital (but who really cares )

Peter

I would be happy to do that as long as you all understand that is all IMHO and as long as you know that it is purely subjective and no measurements will be taken

I can tell you that so far I have suffered from zero fatigue and have been back enjoying my system for prolonged periods of time and after all, isn't that what it's all about. So far it has engaged me in a different way and best described previously in another thread here by 853guy in ways I cannot measure but I can certainly describe. Even my son who was doing the video and the photos and only listens to digital stopped what he was doing to make the comment about how it sounded better than that to which he is accustomed.

 

[LL21]

Fantastic news, Steve! Congrats!!! Look forward to reading more about the work you did with DDK as well.

 

[Steve Williams]

Fantastic news, Steve! Congrats!!! Look forward to reading more about the work you did with DDK as well.

Stay tuned on that as it might be a work in progress but some minor changes with the room were done with some terrific results. I would like to take a few days however to listen before I comment but TBH I am truly understanding now of David's mantra because with a few changes that took us but a few minutes to do brought my ears closer to what I heard at his house. I am on record as saying that David's system is my new reference. I doubt I will ever get there as he has because there is something to be said about those vintage theater Bionor speakers and there might be 3-4 pair in existence now. As for "natural" David has quickly shown me that in many cases "less may be better than more" . There was so much going on over these past few days that I am wanting to listen both ways once again. Suffice it to say that removing a few things and changing a few others did create a benefit from the midrange all the way down.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Its about time! I held off packing my vinyl as long as I could, but finally last week had to put the lid on the box's and put them away.

Recommend Rickie Lee Jones 45 RPM box set. One of my all time fav's all around and not such an overplayed female vocal to make you puke.

I hope to get in a session before I motate north.

P.S. I noticed some "movement" in the room.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Steve,

Congrats. I am very happy for you and know you will get enormous enjoyment from vinyl in your superb system. I love that you went all-in with super top level vinyl gear and know that the Anna will take you musically anywhere you want to go.

I like to think I had a small part in you finally getting over the hump on this direction. God knows I've pushed you this way for years.

Mike

 

[RBFC]

Wowza, Steve!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Its about time! I held off packing my vinyl as long as I could, but finally last week had to put the lid on the box's and put them away.

Recommend Rickie Lee Jones 45 RPM box set. One of my all time fav's all around and not such an overplayed female vocal to make you puke.

I hope to get in a session before I motate north.

P.S. I noticed some "movement" in the room.

An absolute MUST HAVE!

 

[KeithR]

Hi Ian

I have heard many cartridges and former the one that I loved was the MC Anna. I herd it several months ago at Mike Lavigne's house when the Three Amigos visited the Pacific North West and I was smitten

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...istening-Bliss&p=313031&viewfull=1#post313031

Congrats Doc! Now comes the expensive part- buying vinyl

 

[BruceD]

Indeed Kudos to the transition to the LP Steve--knowing your room and having experienced the superb sonics--did David make any comment re the possibility of Airborne vibrations affecting Playback?

We all understand how the Wilsons can "load" a room and the close proximity of the TT I thought may have aroused his curiosity on that point

Good listening and yes an RCM is now a must (Where to put it in your already equipment filled space-ha!)

Best

BruceD

 

[JackD201]

Finally! Congratulations Stevie!

 

[NorthStar]

Hi Francisco

It was side one of the first record of 'THE HOT SPOT"

View attachment 22009

My type of music.

__________

__________

Extra:

 

[garylkoh]

Congratulations, Steve!! Now, when I next visit I can take along some vinyl to play

Good call on the Critical Mass rack - some of the AF1's I visited in Thailand also moved from the HRS to Critical Mass, and the improvement was palpable.

 

[ddk]

Indeed Kudos to the transition to the LP Steve--knowing your room and having experienced the superb sonics--did David make any comment re the possibility of Airborne vibrations affecting Playback?

We all understand how the Wilsons can "load" a room and the close proximity of the TT I thought may have aroused his curiosity on that point

Good listening and yes an RCM is now a must (Where to put it in your already equipment filled space-ha!)

Best

BruceD

Hi Bruce,

If by Airborne vibrations you mean feedback its a non-issue with this type of tt and high level pickup. To be honest I haven't had to deal with feedback for decades and if they're there its not interfering with the sound. Its the floor born vibrations, room acoustics and tweaks that tend to encumber the system, and that's what we worked on.

david

 

[Steve Williams]

Congratulations, Steve!! Now, when I next visit I can take along some vinyl to play

Good call on the Critical Mass rack - some of the AF1's I visited in Thailand also moved from the HRS to Critical Mass, and the improvement was palpable.

Thanks Gary

As for determinants on the table it was one of your threads here when the Air Force One was released that I remember well. I'm always here when you're in town Gary. I would love some pointers from yet IMO another of the "masters" of analog

 

[BruceD]

Hi Bruce,

If by Airborne vibrations you mean feedback its a non-issue with this type of tt and high level pickup. To be honest I haven't had to deal with feedback for decades and if they're there its not interfering with the sound. Its the floor born vibrations, room acoustics and tweaks that tend to encumber the system, and that's what we worked on.

david

Hi David, Thank you for the reply--not necessarily feedback alone-- I'm trying to garner from the "Vibration/etc" Thread that there is more to Airborne nasties than feedback alone?--smearing/dulling maybe? but if it is Airborne Feedback alone is the only one to be concerned about in seemingly confined listening rooms then

so be it--I also have had no such issues ---and my room is smaller than Steve's.

Appreciated the frank and honest pointers--grateful for your knowledge

BruceD

 

[ddk]

Hi David, Thank you for the reply--not necessarily feedback alone-- I'm trying to garner from the "Vibration/etc" Thread that there is more to Airborne nasties than feedback alone?--smearing/dulling maybe? but if it is Airborne Feedback alone is the only one to be concerned about in seemingly confined listening rooms then

so be it--I also have had no such issues ---and my room is smaller than Steve's.

Appreciated the frank and honest pointers--grateful for your knowledge

BruceD

Hey Bruce,

In the same vibration thread I wrote that I rarely come across air born vibration, or if its there its not causing a problem that I can identify or measure. One of the abilities of a system like Steve's is to play music at or near live levels, instead of smearing or blurring the sound would actually pop at higher levels and truly come to life. Everything falls into place, voice has the right bloom and liveliness, instruments are solid, real & three dimensional. There isn't a hint of smearing at any volume. So much of this is in the setup, there's quite a lot more to it than wiring boxes together.

david

 

[BruceD]

Points noted and digested --thank you David

BruceD

 

[jadis]

Congratulations Steve. I can only imagine the fantastic sound you're having and I'm sure you're greatly enjoying it. Air Force 1, way too cool for a first turntable. And I guess your DOA first LP was due to Murphy's Law.

 

[the sound of Tao]

How very cool, congratulations Steve on the huge plunge. Hope it makes all your music sound the way it should be. Love the commitment, it's the way our hobby should be... Just a bit crazy but joyful.

Graham

 

[Steve Williams]

Well it's been 5 days now since the turntable was set up and I have to say that I am mesmerized as to how good things sound. I have been totally drawn in to the point where I have had 6-8 hour listening days since David has left. Most of us who know David know that his forte is not only vintage gear but so also the ability to understand room set up and to find where inadequacies are and/or where things can be made better. Having said that the two of us spent Tuesday and Wednesday making some minor changes to the system and my room most of which had surprisingly wonderful results so let me first list some changes we made based on David's evaluation of the room

1. After listening to a lot of music David felt that the room was too dead at the front end. There seemed to be a lack of cohesiveness between the upper midrange to the bottom end and some passages suggested some muddiness in the bottom end as well as some lack of modulation of string instruments we heard. One of the concerns by my acoustician was the room size with respect to my speakers and she always said that "we have to fool your speakers into thinking the room is twice the size. Hence the floor to ceiling drapes lined with Lumitex. As well with my sitting position close to the rear walls I was always worried about reflections off the back wall to my ears. My acoustician suggested that the drapes along both the front and rear of the room could be opened but TBH I never did this because of my concerns. At least not until several days ago. We opened the rear drapes such that they were open about 6" beyond the edges of the door frame on each side and listened. I was amazed at the return of natural timbre in the violin and guitar strings as well as the feeling now that these strings were vibrating and we could feel every bit of it. The soundstage seemed to fill in. Similar results also were gleaned by slightly opening the front drapes to the inner window frame on each side with similar results. Needless to say there was no negatives or downside to having the drapes open behind the sitting position.

2. I have Stillpoints Ultra 6's under both sides of my my amps and power supplies ( 3 under each for a total of 12). We removed those under the left and right amplifier but left those under each power supply. By leaving them under the power supply but removing them under the amp created once again a better sound for the mid bass and bass. When under the amplifier the sound seemed less well defined than when they were removed.

3. For years I have had three Aurios M1b under my Playback Designs. Having now 6 Ultra 6's not in use I removed the Aurios and put 3 Ultra 6's under the Playback Designs and interestingly IMO the bass was made worse so I removed them and after a few hours I came to the conclusion that the sound was actually better with nothing under the Playback Designs.

4. We changed a few other things ( that I will discuss later) in the room that also made some significant changes. David feels very strongly that tweaks serve little if any purpose other than to add coloration to a system thus preventing one from attaining his "it must sound natural" mantra. For David, less is always more.

This is a work in progress as I am so taken by listening to vinyl for the past 5 days that I am like a kid in toy land at Christmas so for now I am just trying to wrap my head around what I am hearing and the changes I hear. Stay tuned