Steve Guttenberg's System | Stereophile

A tour of Steve Guttenberg's system. Filmed in Brooklyn, NY in April 2017.

**********

[markward]

Thanks Steve, been watching your videos for a while now and just going back on some of your older material. Keep up the great work.

[MD-cnnt]

I love that "Magnepans" when translated to text using YouTube's CC software becomes "magnet pants." All kinds of logo (and animated character) possibilities with that one.

[richardwhite]

Thanks for posting Steve. I think it is wonderful that your so passionate about audio. I have always loved audio myself since I was a small boy, so I get it.

[pault]

This reminds me of the old cartoon, the mag might have been Stereo Review at the time. The salesman is shown speaking to three different customers at the store, pointing to three hugely different systems, saying, "I can recommend these speakers for you, I have a set in my own home." In the final panel, he is shown in his easy chair at home, surrounded by dozens of pairs of different speakers still in box (basically the speaker warehouse for the store).

[reidwelch]

I like Magnepans, they are indeed open and airy and not-boxy sounding. I had a pair years ago. But I grew frustrated because they did not image particularly well. And although I am a piano tech (and concert pianos don't "image" in stereo, either), the instrument placement accuracy---the sonic photograph---of, say, a symphony orchestra, can be much better made with a more nearly point-source speaker. I ended up at the end of my audiophile quest with horn speakers. The imaging tricks they could achieve were lots of fun for myself. But note: imaging is not important unless it is something that matters to you. The luckiest people, I think, have tin ears and no interest in beauty and therefore don't waste time and money on art and culture. And many of them have absolutely full and wonderful lives led without neuroses about the finest-this-or-that. Good for them! Everybody should do exactly what makes them happiest and share, if they like, to help like minded others. Like Steve above!

[koenigjeffrey]

Do a closet review. Best shirts in the game.

[warunagomis]

Hi Steve
I was wondering why would anyone give a 'thumbs down' for a basic description of what you own and use? as of today there are 129 of these punks.

[mugrug]

This guy was amazing in police academy 3

[peteanddrake]

So, this is not titled correctly. This is "Stuff Steve Has"--not Steve's system.

[souloftheage]

He's got a couple set of headphones there.

[joso]

Wow. 🤩😎
This is definitely not your average hi-fi audio system. You can tell Steve has been picking up the very best of the countless high end audio elements that he daily reviews for a living.
The funny part is that he doesn’t use top of the line speakers, but I take it as a sign of how incredibly well made these are. Magnepan is very famous worldwide. TAD is the high end / pro division of Pioneer audio ; they are rare outside Japan but very respected for both their speakers and audio electronics.

[donaldfollette]

I have been a long time reader of Stereophile and it is great to be able to put a person behind a name that I have read reviews by for years. Some really interesting and wonderful equipment there (and that doesn't even get into that rack of headphones in the background). Of the two things that bug me most about audiophile setups, one is clearly evident here and I am always shocked when I see it done by people who are seen as experts in audio and that is lack of consideration for cooling and heat dissipation. Both instance involve the Pass Labs equipment. The first might be considered a niggle, but why put the preamp's analog section on top of the power supply and its heat rather than have the power supply on top for it to radiate better and not add unnecessary heat to the analog section. The second is in my view a serious mistake and one I see often. That is that the Pass Labs 100.5, a Class A amp (read radiator) is under a stack of other amps. Maybe they aren't hooked up and run in this setup but I am assuming they probably are. And if so they are being subjected to unnecessary heat which can cause distortion and premature failure. Plus it defeats part of the Pass amps cooling design. I would recommend that anyone watching the video keep in mind that stacking other components on power amps is almost always a bad idea (I personally don't even do it with my one Class D amp) and certainly never on a Class A design.

[mykalfury]

Most excellent!
That TAD bookshelf speaker, while outta' my budget,
would be the "best" apartment dweller audiophile
music speaker available.
Andrew Jones, even back to the KEF days, is a
Hi-Fi warlock!
Thanks for sharing your personal "stereo" system.
I say stereo, sa I saw you don't do multi-channel
or surround sound systems in your home.
Seems you're a purist in that manner.
KUDOS!

~ peace

[kencohagen]

That's just how crazy things get. An amp, powered by a separate power supply, with a separate preamps for every piece of equipment that goes into the amp. Then there is a CD player consisting of a transport with separate D to A converter, a turntable with its own pre-amp, and speakers with active crossovers, along with subwoofers with their own dedicated amps. Past the amps are a set of a minimum of two speakers to a maximum of 6 with one or two subwoofers. These playback the music the rest of the system is amplifying in as flat a manner as possible from as close to 20Hz to 20 kHz as possible given the limitations of the materials they are made of and the laws of physics as it pertains to sound waves. The next link in the chain goes to the listener with his own set of hifi ears, sound detection devices made of living tissues, and powered by their own power supply with analog sound detection and a frequency detection of 20Hz to 20kHz when in new condition. Over time this detection device degrades loosing some of its initial Band width. These sound detection units can detect a certain amount of distortion once it measures 1% or more. Below that it is difficult for these devices to pick up the minute differences between the source material and that which is played back to them.
Ok, I'm having entirely too much fun here. Thanks Steve, for the break down of your system. How about you set up something where we can share our systems with you, and you can share them to your viewers as you see fit?any information provided might help younger viewers figure out what they want to buy for their own systems. For instance I chose to go with a pair of two way speakers using the best drivers available at the time. The woofers are 7" units made of Kevlar for its light weight and fast response which limits distortion. The tweeters are acid etched titanium domes inverted with phase caps. They are extremely accurate and articulate as are the woofers, which have an F3 of 45 Hz. From there on down to 23Hz is a match g sub, built with a Q of .81. There is a slight bump at around 50 Hz, but with its separate amp it's easy to dial up the volume for nearly flat response. Tu he woofer is mounted in a sealed cabinet which allows for a shallower roll of than a ported cabinet. Its F3 of 23 Hz is only slightly higher than its response at 20Hz, and the response at 10 Hz is still audible as it flutters. Too much fun!

[tompog]

I’ve heard those TAD speakers at the Bristol show a couple of years ago and they are amazing!

[seank]

Hi Steve, Thanks for showing us your system. I hope Stereophile does more videos like this.

[minesinches]

Lovely equipment Steve. Keep up the great work.

[davedavis]

this cat gots like 50 pairs of head phones . I can't hang on to one pair .

[MrLovell]

Now thats a beautiful setup man I would never leave my home after hearing this Steve Guttenberg thanks for sharing 👌

[tee-jaythestereo-bargainph]

Heck yeah Steve Badass Audio ! ohh i'm no cussing Lol About to give you a huge shout out on my Audio channel this coming weekend ! Thanks for all your hardwork and dedication into Audio HIFI, I have learned alot from you, Thanks again