Meet Christopher, he makes speakers, turntables, and furniture

[@jasonwhite3900]

Christopher is a great guy. I talked to him a few times about integrated amps, phono stages, and speaker cables. I now have an LTA UL int amp and ended up ordering some speaker cables through him. Just speaking to him, you could tell he was authentic and wanted to help me get the most out of my system. A real gem in the audio community. thanks for sharing the interview!

[@lewiswaddo5045]

Great interview. I completely relate to the MP3 era. It devalued the experience of listening to music for a lot of people. Myself included. So much so, that when I eventually went back to physical media, it was a revelation to me. The fidelity was something I had forgotten about, and now appreciate that much more.

[@riccitone]

Being an audiophile and a college music teacher...this speaks to the uphill battle with convenience and how great recordings are best -really should be required - to be played through a good system. What a great story. Christopher is brilliant, so inspiring. My hope that my students can all come back to that source of passion and attention to detail...regardless of what that may become 🙏🏼

[@Aswaguespack]

Most music classrooms in college are terrible acoustic environments for listening to quality music of the historical music college music students must experience as part of their development as music students and future musicians or teachers of music. The audio systems in many classrooms and the speakers usually aren’t the best “tools” available to make for accurate playback and quality introductions to musical classics although I had one professor who had Altec Voice of the Theatre Speakers with an AR Integrated Amp and Turntable and a Revox Tape Recorder for playback of his original accompaniments for students to play along with in his private studio. I taught a class in the History of Jazz and the audio equipment I had to use was not very good but the early historical recordings in Jazz weren’t high quality either so for the first 1/3 of the semester it was useable and functional. After that not quite as good.

[@Diatonic5th]

@@Aswaguespack Agreed! I attended the New England Conservatory and Berklee in the late 90's and most classrooms had CD boomboxes in them. The classrooms that had decent high end gear were all reserved for MP&E.

[@Aswaguespack]

@@Diatonic5th I remember that the “stereo” in the classroom was really cheap Radio Shack speakers with a built in amplifier/turntable changer module that I think may have been Magnavox. The four walls were painted concrete blocks and hard floors with “acoustic” drop in ceiling tiles and a large Louvered vent in the door. 😂 The rooms were cold and damp. The designer of these music classrooms never considered what they would be used for.

[@roberte.andrews4621]

Amen!

[@Aswaguespack]

@@roberte.andrews4621 a person in college majoring in a any of the many science fields will have lab classes in appropriately furnished laboratories with quality professional instruments at their disposal. For example I can’t imagine a biology student in a lab used a cheap under power microscope to learn about cell structure. Music students however usually have access to substandard quality audio equipment in their “laboratory” or classrooms listening to the great works of the master composers and the performances of virtuoso musicians through barely less than adequate audio systems. While the comparison I make could be skewed a bit, I do think that there is a point to be made. Many home audiophiles would cringe at the quality of audio music students listen to in their professional development classes. Many home audiophiles will create a suitable listening environment through the use of fine equipment and modifications to the room itself for the best possible audio enjoyment but college music students have poor equipment and classrooms that sound like caves minus the stalactites and stalagmites. I did make an effort when I was teaching high school band (long ago) to have a decent quality audio system. Budget didn’t always allow for the purchase of top tier audio equipment but I did eventually have a pair of Klipsch RF-7s, a decent powered Amplifier, a digital audio recorder, quality large diaphragm condenser microphones, and a CD player and my own Turntable (which only I could make use of for obvious reasons) and the students at least got an introduction to the beginnings of audiophile quality sound. The RF-7s for all their pluses and minuses did work very well in my band room. It gave me lots of options to use the equipment as excellent tools for advancing student proficiency in enjoyable ways.

[@Leicaphile27]

Rega makes light-as-air turntables that cannot absorb vibrations. Fern & Roby makes a 100lbs turntable that's so heavy it dampens vibrations. Both completely different. Both work great. Love exploring audio...it's endlessly fascinating!

[@dilbyjones]

One difference is humans ( I feel ) like stuff that’s heavy ! Or at least this listener does.

[@tiresiasreviews8829]

Fascinating interview. So many connections and disconnections. I grew up in a house where I was the only one inspired by and listening to music. I too loved to take things apart but with only a 10% success rate of putting it back together. However, I was privileged to be able to sing and work with others to make music. Tape was all about the mix and later the mix for the car. Down town, late night. And yes, MP3 and oddly enough marriage, children, house moves robbed me of the passion of music. BUT now.....the journey has begun again. It's thanks to people like you that make it possible.

[@smojphace87]

Really appreciate these human-interest pieces, Steve. There's no audio without people to listen!

[@Aswaguespack]

If an audio system is played in a forest and no one is around to listen, how good is the sound?

[@smojphace87]

@@Aswaguespack Exactly. And would forest animals find the sweet spot?

[@keywestjimmy]

Steve, you are a wordsmith. Inspiring others sure is making something. Audio is that elusive beast one can only tame. You're the King!

[@EssenceofPureFlavor]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay Do you think that passage describes Steve?

[@HareDeLune]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay sPhEeRe!¡

[@EssenceofPureFlavor]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay My hifi setup is pretty low end. I have an old Hitachi receiver connected to Transaudio speakers and use a Yamaha WXC-50 streaming DAC as a source. Got it (except the DAC) as a hand me down. Eventually I want to upgrade of course, but at this point in time can't really afford it.

[@EssenceofPureFlavor]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay It's an HTA-4001. I think it dates back to the early 80s...

[@drsb26]

@@HareDeLune glad I'm not the only one that sees General curtis as the biggest douchebag

[@talamayer404]

Fascinating. Craft and technology combined into an efficient component part to a complete system, what’s not to like? It’s all about achieving the sound that pleases you. But it doesn’t hurt if it looks good as well. Combining function and aesthetics is art.

[@crimsonghost6454]

Great video. Steve,your videos are the only ones that I watch immediately after I get the notification. I love all of your content and I always look forward to see what you do next. Thank you

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Thanks so much!

[@HareDeLune]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay Erehps

[@tonyharrison2542]

Steve, an excellent segment. Christopher Hildebrand is an extremely bright and impressive young man. I first met him about 4 years ago at the Capital Audio Feast in Maryland. Eventually, I had him build me an amazing custom rack for my audio rig that is simply stunning and shocked me in terms of sound, performance and appearance that's of heirloom quality. I drove down to his factory in Virginia and was provided a tour of his massive factory and showroom. Talk about impressive, I was completely blown away. I would encourage anyone interested in audio gear and furniture to arrange a tour of the factory and showroom and meet Christopher and his highly skilled and professional artisan staff.

[@simeonbanner6204]

Comes across as a very talented, modest nice bloke. And his battle trying to get stuff at a reasonable price, outside China.

[@amirjubran1845]

It's interesting to see this rise of brands that are focused on aesthetics and vintage charm. Nothing that appeals to me personally, but it's great to see it as it signals growth in the industry.

[@jeronunkoffunk9437]

Thoroughly enjoy and appreciate this video to, and others you've done where you dive into the people themselves and who they are

[@tonykazz2779]

LTA is part of a very nice group of Audiophile Manufactures that actually answer the phone

[@johngear5876]

Fern and Roby is high-end functional art!

[@superdougie10]

Really great interview, super mellow dude indeed. I watched this as I was starting to wake up today and the guest and me were at the same pace, yawning and needing coffee.....lol Fascinating....

[@adamk4716]

Your best interview to date. I may be a little biased as own LTA Microzotl preamp and Zotl40 amps.

[@michaelshuck5097]

Steve's interviews have always been great... he's now just letting his guests talk a lot more and that makes these interviews even more spontaneous and alive.

[@Michael-xz1nk]

Loved the part about making mixed tapes / the soundtracks of his life....exactly why I gave up on vinyl and CD's and went to 100% streaming. It's all about cherry picking the music to me and then having a good system to enjoy it within a reasonable budget.

[@roblawrence4792]

Thx Steve, really enjoyed this interview… great to get some insights from the creators. Please keep them up… unlikely we’ll meet many (any?) of them face to face. Well, other than Andrew Jones, who seems to be everywhere…or was. Cheers, R

[@jabroni1498]

I want to see more fern and roby stuff reviewed! Love his design ethos

[@truman4956]

Great interview and video/production improvements

[@HareDeLune]

God: "What are you doing now?" Arthur: "I'm averting my eyes, oh Lord." God: "Well, don't. It's like those miserable Psalms - They're so depressing. Now, knock it off!" Arthur: "Yes, Lord!"

[@joemaison3597]

I took apart my father's turntable when I was ten. When he found out, he took me apart

[@orwhat24]

I tried that with a TV around 1965. My reasoning was that if you can tape record from a radio then... Not so happy dad.

[@orwhat24]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay hey bombs away, at least a narcissist maybe much worse!

[@HareDeLune]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay Sssspheeeeerrrree!!

[@offason]

Who put you back together?

[@daikuone]

Did the take apart thing many times....

[@AllboroLCD]

I really identify with this guy! I dont necessarily build amps... yet. Id like to assemble a Pass kit at some point, though most of my gear has been dissassembled and re-assembled many many times over!

[@StephaneVorstellung]

That shirt in the intro! It's like montage (or palimpsest) of all things hip!

[@spunkthecombo]

Great interview! Thanks.

[@JohnDoe-np3zk]

I think I got more out of this interview than most. Very interesting "material". It's folks like this that can come up with competitive solutions to construction via eliminating human labor to avoid buying slave labor products. Do we really want to continue to buy slave made products at the expense of our manufacturing in this country? Unfortunately labor needs reduced as in an expensive CNC machine, but that is called real progress.

[@dilbyjones]

Word!

[@nicoras8803]

I don't only relate to Christopher, but I share the same passion and I am going to try and contact him at Tektonics . This is my goal, there is synergy and like mindedness.

[@dougg1075]

Love that big ole gear back there against the wall behind the jams.

[@shanec6664]

Sweet tee Steve

[@charlesferguson6678]

Great guest! Hey Steve, compare your old grado R1s to contemporary R1s. That would be a huge service to us all!

[@peerloo6931]

Whats that cool NYC t-shirt in the announcement, Supreme?

[@colanitower]

16:18 These are beautiful. Maybe 3D print them to lower the waste factor?

[@TheAirConditionerGuy]

Steve I know you run a very popular channel here, so the odds of you noticing my comment are probably rather slim, but you would be my go to guy for this question, do you think a Marantz 2325 or a 2285 would match up good with a set of JBL L100 Classics? I’m looking to treat myself when I finally get the house to myself. 99% of what I listen to is Classic Rock and i play it LOUD most of the time. Im looking to have a high end sounding system that can play low when I want it to, but more importantly, Loud and crystal clear with a good image. The 2600 is equally as beautiful as the 2325 and 2285 but I feel like 300 WPC is excessive if you are only running 2 speakers. I wouldnt be able to use 2 sets of L100 Classics because they are 4 ohms a piece so running A & B would put a 2 ohm load on the receiver theoretically and I would be afraid of damaging or overheating a fully restored piece of equipment. That and the 2600 is just insanely expensive.

[@primitivo4604]

They're compilation tapes not mix tapes, mix tapes are mixed on a mixer by beat mixing or scratch mixing 2 sources.

[@Grampa-el3kz]

Have you reviewed their speakers named The Ravens? If not, I think that would be nice even if they are going to discontinue them, they look cool.

[@SoCalFreelance]

To Steve's point, I don't think you've really gotten deep into homebuild unless you've had a cap accidentally dump into your hand or had a major short circuit or ground when plugging something in.

[@keithkrieger7075]

Hey Steve how about a review of one of the Fyne Audio speakers.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

I hope to get a pair soon.

[@HareDeLune]

@GeneralCurtis3LeMay ¿¿eReHpS

[@geirzzzzzzz]

Why is your your voice a little bit up-pitched in the start, Steve?

[@offason]

Does anyone use Lowther speakers anymore?

[@timo5601]

Audiophilia, "If there's a cure for this I don't want it, I don't want it If there's a remedy I'll run from it, from it"

[@dilbyjones]

Dream company. I’ll sweep floors ad-infinitum!........look into Japanese craftsmanship it has years of wood building in joinery. So do other cultures but..

[@ZERO-CAPACITANCE]

No music? Mood? By neural tones? Come on this is a competitive forum.

[@mpix8302]

OK, I like this guy. Yes MDF is lousy! I have a difficult time taking expensive commercial loudspeakers with MDF-constructed cabinets seriously. As he said structurally crap, many double up on thickness end up heavy, and rings like a bell requiring sound-absorbing deadening material making the cabinet sound dead too, are a few of the possible outcomes! Did I mention it's cheap? Multi-layer void-free hardwood plywood, Baltic Birch and USA-made Applrply is the way to go for sure.

[@mpix8302]

Note: USA-made Appleply is ridiculously expensive, included for those fixated with made in the USA, and don't get me wrong, I'm all for supporting Made In America. Would be nice if I could afford to use ApplePly, and then factor in essentially no recouping spent money in selling DIY gear ... it's just fun for those like me who are terrible at and want as little as possible to do with the audiophile'itis buy-sell buy-sell game!

[@TheMirolab]

Doubled up MDF rings like a bell?? That's not my experience at all. Surely you exaggerate?

[@mpix8302]

@@TheMirolab My bad sentence structure. "many double up thickness WRT MDF bad structurally. Rings like a bell, a general attribute not an absolute.

[@mpix8302]

I personally won't waste my time and efforts building with MDF when I have access to Baltic Birch which IMO is a superior alternative.

[@yuckysamson]

What a fascinating guy. Even though his name is Christopher he sounds so yiddish.

[@stimpy1226]

I’m wondering what possessed you to post a comment like this. Christopher seems to be a very unique Individual, a resident of the earth not a person of a specific religion that you’re holding up as an icon. My mother would always suggest that many famous people were Jewish which was very close minded. I think you should seriously consider withdrawing your post.

[@carlitomelon4610]

Jeff" is meaningless in Hebrew. It comes from "Geoffrey," which is Teutonic. Eynati: Geoffrey is not Teutonic but French. The Germanic form is Gottfried, which probably means God's Peace." Parental name choice is a weird science. I have Phoenician-Greek, German-Polish and according to my relatives jewish roots with a Spanish name and a London-British accent. I live in Montana usa where people think I'm Mexican until they meet me. The confusion no their faces is hilarious 😆

[@yuckysamson]

@@stimpy1226 I'm assuming you're speaking in jest. But on the off-hand chance you're not, I wasn't assuming Christopher's religious affiliations (which is free to practice in whatever way he chooses), but rather a certain cultural 'sound', also influenced by his use of the word "shlep". If you find this intolerable, I suggest you vent by either beating a pillow with a tennis racket, or standing in the bathroom and flushing the toilet and watching the water go down the drain. Both methods of rage control were recommended to friends of mine when we were 8 or 9 years old.

[@yuckysamson]

@@carlitomelon4610 My Hebrew name is "Yehuda", which is a directly Biblical. "Jeff" is the English name. Typically North American Jews of my era (and I'm assuming Christopher is about the same age), didn't receive English names which were outright Christian. "Michael" was common, as was "Mark", but both of these are somewhat "Judao-Christrian". The name "Chris", while not totally unheard of, was less common. Hence my comment.

[@stimpy1226]

@@yuckysamson I am not speaking in jest and I am not enraged. I don’t think you’re a bad person I just think it’s inappropriate post something like this. It seems like your boasting about people of our religion. I love my heritage but I rarely run across people who speak or write comments like this. Seemed like you had a need to bring this word into your comment. I’ll drop my objection because you have a right to say what you want.

[@roberte.andrews4621]

I am concerned about Communist China's role as Manufacturer to the World, particularly since they are turning their profits into the most massive, modern military in history. I believe we need to rethink our practice of moving production of consumer products to China and return to finding ways of being competitive by improving productivity, as Christopher has done. This used to be called "Yankee Ingenuity." There is a price to be paid for transporting so much of commerce thousands of miles across oceans and airspaces. Fossil fuels cannot be made obsolete, as long as giant container ships ply the shipping lanes of the planet. Global warming is gradually destroying Earth's ability to restore its balance and we must commit to a different course for industry. Or perish.

[@curtbradley549]

So this industry HAS OVER -COMPLICATED /OVERPRICED ITSELF ..ITS perfected the out smart itself to the point where VERY VERY few BUY or are interested anymore (SAD)!! Period drop the mic !! Im serious ...people... its music... NONE OF which you make ..YOUR replicating it and OUT DOING yourselves (the sound stage /damage is done BEFORE you get )!!!Remember basic MATH you HAD to do it (High School )and had a FULL CLASS after that an option was ALGEBRA and the class dropped by 2/3 rds lol !! THATS whats happened here !!Youll figure it out because your sooo ...??? my point is BUY MUSIC ENJOY IT and thats IT !!!SMOKE N MIRRORS !!

[@jonbuilds]

Lotta yelling, man. Maybe check why this upsets you so much, cuz this comment is not really leaving us with a lotta positives. We're all just hanging out together online, waiting for the plague to end and trying to enjoy each others' company while fiddling with our hobbies. Hope you're well otherwise, truly, no kidding.

[@martinkatz7639]

Interesting life but boring speaker. Not the guy to Interview.

[@rx4unyc]

cds suck say it