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Sunday afternoon at Stevenvalve's


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#1 JCR33

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 01:54 PM

Stevenvalve invited me over to his place yesterday. A fine day after a rainy week.

Many of us would know about his Killer Dac which has generated a lot of interests and discussion here and elsewhere. I believe a lot of SNA'ers are users of his DAC now.

Steven is a passionate and knowledgeable guy and would not take anything unless it is perfect to him.

So it is obvious for him to build his own DAC and amps, hand pick tubes for them, modifies speaker drivers and transport, he even rips CDs and remasters his own.

He does not use a pre amp or volume control as his CDs are all pre set with volumes right for his setup.

We went through a lot of his CDs, I must say that his setup is very impressive, sounds very open and dynamic, live-like size, good texture of instruments and voice. You have the feeling that you are right in the concert hall or close to the performers.

I also noticed that his room is indeed part of his playback system. With a sloping ceiling and his speakers are at the lower side, the pitched ceiling has helped to enhance the sound like a horn.

It is his passion and extreme attention to details that enable his system to sound so good. It was indeed a great experience to spend a Sunday afternoon.:)



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JCR33
User and importer of Kondo, 47 Labs and Ocellia

#2 hens

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 03:48 PM

Glad to see you enjoyed yourself Jack and I am sure that his system sounded great, I know he has spent a lot of time getting his system to sound exactly the way he wants it to. There may be people who don't agree with his "house sound" but you should still be able to appreciate what he has managed to achieve and his attention to the finest of details.

I think his special cds play a critical component of what makes his system sound quite special.

I still need to go visit Steve in person myself.

#3 wolster

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 03:58 PM

Good to finally see some pics of Steve's system. He is obviously a perfectionist with his hi-fi and, no wonder it sounds good.
"Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings." - Ed Gardner

#4 kajak12

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 05:55 PM

I still need to go visit Steve in person myself.

I will be going in october hens your welcome to come along i can see some valves that will be leaving with me :nana

“Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”
-David Rockefeller, “Memoirs of David Rockefeller” 


#5 Jehuty

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 06:05 PM

Best pics of Steven's system to date, hats off to your photography skill JCR33 (thumps up)!

Mario, I'll take one of Steve's amp, hands off!
Not all that matters can be measured, not all that can be measured matters.

#6 Voltaire

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 06:11 PM

I thought that Malcolm Turnbull had banned incandescent globes!!!
Merci,
François-Marie Arouet

SNA: Seriously Narcissistic Audiophyles.;) (Duntech DSM-15's, Pass Labs X250.5 +Pass Labs X2.5, Moon Eclipse Limited Edition CDP , and lots of gold and silver wire that matters).[FONT="]The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

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#7 flemo

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 06:41 PM

I can't believe the Sydney GTG trip didn't include an audition at Steve's place?

#8 jaspert

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 10:29 PM

Thanks for sharing the pics and your impression of the visit. Rather unique system. Like others I would love to grab some of those vintage tubes too.:nana

#9 Jehuty

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Posted 02 May 2011 - 10:44 PM

I would love to hear how the Yamamoto 45 fares against Steven's.
Not all that matters can be measured, not all that can be measured matters.

#10 heman_

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 10:41 PM

JCR33do you think you could send me a full size image of this photo so I can use it as my wallpaper on my screen?

http://i57.photobuck...3c/L1013444.jpg

much appreciated if possible! (tried to pm you but your inbox is full in case you didnt realise)



also- great photos. DIY tube stuff is so intriguing

#11 JCR33

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Posted 05 May 2011 - 12:25 PM

Hi heman,

Sorry, just emptied some PMs in my inbox, have not checked for a while! It is better to send me emails.

Glad you like the photos. Full size is about 38mb, or you want something smaller so that I can email it?
JCR33
User and importer of Kondo, 47 Labs and Ocellia