Ariel Bitran
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The Highly Successful r/Audiophile Meetup
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 18, 2013 • 0 comments
Photo by Alberto Bitran

On the wild and wacky social news and entertainment website reddit, there exists a subforum of curious, experienced, less-than experienced, and mostly kindly audiophiles who share pictures, experiences, and knowledge about their hi-fi adventures. Reddit meetups are a part of reddit culture, and prior to the show, we had big plans for this Saturday get together to take place at the Palace hotel lobby: a meet and greet, an epic photograph, and fried chicken! Apparently, not showing up for reddit meetups is also part of reddit culture.

What is an Audiophile?
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 6 comments

Many attendees at the New York Audio Show 2013 were afraid to admit they were audiophiles, opting for complicated explanations about their passion for music. Yet, what is just so scary about being an audiophile? I walked around asking folks the next day, "What is an audiophile?" in hopes to discover just what it meant.

Thank you to all of those who participated.

Making Friends With Symbol
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 7 comments
I saw her first in the Clue room. She exited at the same time as random bald man #72. Were they together? I’m not sure, but the dangerously punchy sound was not helping my listening fatigue. I left. She walked into the Audio Doctor’s KEF Blade display. Should I follow her? That would be weird.

A gentleman from Music First Audio started talking to me and pointing at my camera: “We have a colorful preamp for you to take pictures of.”

“No thanks.”

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Step into the Abyss of Audiophiledom
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 1 comments
JPS Labs leaps into the world of headphones with the Abyss: a highly customizable head-gripping $5495 listening device. More info on these intense cans be found on their website.
Photo Exhibit: The Reception Hall and Trade Booths at NYAS
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 1 comments
Peter Ledermann of Soundsmith is a nice guy, I promise.

The Reception Hall was teaming with audiophiles and exhibitors expressing hellos and chatting about gear and music. Here’s a look:

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Innovation from VPI
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 0 comments
Mat Weisfield was ultra-stoked to tell me about VPI's new 3D-printed tonearm. I'll let Art do the explaining, but when I heard the VPI room, images were rock solid and full-bodied through the 3D printed tonearm and nascent VPI Classic Direct. A turntable created out of happenstance, when the chassis for the planned direct-drive Vanquish was not ready for the show, they stuck the Vanquish parts into a Classic chassis and the VPI Classic Direct (approximately $20-25k) was born. Resourceful, those VPI fellas.
Robert Lighton Plays Good Music
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 0 comments
Canned jazz: that inoffensive blend of 80s synths, smooth sax, and punchy bass guitar. There was a lot of this at the New York Audio Show.
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Sennheiser Shows off their Cans
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 2 comments
Sennheiser had the largest presence at the constantly buzzing Headzone section at this year's New York Audio Show.
SRV and Sony
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 1 comments
This year, the surprising lack of SRV (and overabundance of easy listening) made me glad to hear his perennial cover of “Little Wing” through Sony’s new and more “affordable” SS-NA2ES floorstanding loudspeakers ($10,000/pair) through Pass Labs amplification. Last year’s system impressed me thoroughly, striking a balance between romance and detail. This year’s system favored speed and attack accenting flourishes I had never heard before in SRV’s Hendrix cover but sounding a bit cool on “Breaking Silence” by Janice Ian.
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YG Kipods and Veloce Amps Make JA Happy
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 0 comments
The YG Kipod loudspeakers powered by Veloce amplification were clean, dynamic, and suggested the right level of stickiness to brass.

But you didn’t hear it from me. I asked JA on Sunday: "What's the best sound you've heard so far today?" Here's what he said:

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Zoom Away with Audio Arts
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 17, 2013 • 0 comments
The intriguing sonics and gorgeous décor of Gideon Schwartz’s Audio Arts room were easily noticed by anyone who entered. Just in front of me, a little boy took pictures with his iPhone of the imposing yet luxurious Zellaton Studio Reference One loudspeakers ($52,750/pair). Schwartz’s room, the Chairman’s Office as indicated by New York Palace signs, used to be the office for hotel inheritor and tyrant manager Leona Helmsley. Dusty multi-colored hard-bound books lined the dark mahogany shelves next to daintily painted ceramic pots centered by the wonderfully symmetrical American-crafted Audio Strata racks.
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Merrill Audio: "Not For Tube Lovers"
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 16, 2013 • 0 comments
rrill Wettasingh of Merrill Audio says his class-D Veritas Monoblock amplifiers are "not for tube lovers." The crimson or black chassis is made of a solid 60lb billet of aluminum. Allowing only spade connection for the "best and biggest" sound, these 400 watt (8 ohms) power-houses seek "audio purity" rather than coloration, according to Wettasingh.
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My First MartinLogan Experience
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 16, 2013 • 0 comments
Few hi-fi brands seem to have the omnipresence in the consumer electric goods market as MartinLogan, likely because of their affordable prices and non-invasive aesthetics. Yet, I’ve never gotten a chance to hear them, only see them inside a Best Buy. I found a Grateful Dead Dick’s Picks from 5/22/77 in Pembroke Pines, Florida in their stack of CDs.
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A Return to the Past with Audio Note
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 16, 2013 • 0 comments
At last year's NYAS, the Audio Note room had been a musical joy and learning experience. After a brief hello to music lover, photographer, and Audio Note exhibitor David Cope, we got straight to business with music listening. First on the Audio Note TT Two Deluxe turntable ($3500) was Las Guitarras De Sergio y Eduardo Abreu, where the brothers perform the music of Bach, Scarlatti, Albeniz, and more. Having played this record at least fifteen times in the past four weeks, I noticed immediately that the soundstage was imbalanced. Both guitars were too far to the left, but I refrained from comment.
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Do You Consider Yourself an Audiophile?
Ariel Bitran, NY Audio Show 2013
Ariel Bitran • Apr 15, 2013 • 5 comments

Some are afraid to admit it. Others are proud. Do you consider yourself an audiophile? Attendees, exhibitors, and members of the press are asked this very question.

Thank you to all who participated.

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