NY Audio Show 2013

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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Zoom Away with Audio Arts
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
YG Kipods and Veloce Amps Make JA Happy
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
SRV and Sony
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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NY Audio Show 2013
Dupuy Acoustique Daisy Reflector
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 17, 2013  |  0 comments
Dupuy Acoustique, a brand relatively new to me, gave an effective demonstration of its Daisy Reflector ($995; patent pending), first seen at SSI in Montreal—a “phase-restoration device,” whose internal cabinetry and foam have been computer-modeled and CNC-machined for optimal performance.
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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Robert Lighton Plays Good Music
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Innovation from VPI
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.
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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Photo Exhibit: The Reception Hall and Trade Booths at NYAS
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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NY Audio Show 2013
Wes Bender Studio
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 17, 2013  |  4 comments
Because I know Wes Bender and E.A.R.’s Dan Meinwald are always open to new sounds, I took the opportunity in the Wes Bender Studio room to play the title cut from Aidan Baker’s latest release, Already Drowning.
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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Step into the Abyss of Audiophiledom
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.
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NY Audio Show 2013
Music Hall’s a15.3 & c-dac15.3
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 17, 2013  |  1 comments
Music Hall’s Roy Hall was excited about his new a15.3 integrated amplifier and matching c-dac15.3 CD player/DAC combo. Just as any good integrated amplifier should, the 50Wpc a15.3 includes a headphone output, front-panel mini-jack input, moving-magnet phono stage, and remote control. The one-box c-dac15.3 combines a three-input (optical, coax, USB-B) Wolfson DAC section with a CD player, itself based around a Burr-Brown 24-bit/192kHz-capable DAC. Build quality seemed excellent. Each unit will sell for $549. Music Hall just keeps churning out interesting, affordable products. I’ll look forward to learning more about these units later this year.
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NY Audio Show 2013
Michael Fremer Plays Pet Sounds
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 17, 2013  |  1 comments
Michael Fremer entertains a packed house with an in-depth discussion on various pressings of the Beach Boys’ classic album, Pet Sounds. The event was co-hosted by Classic Album Sundays’ Colleen Murphy. For more info on Mikey’s seminars, visit AnalogPlanet.com.
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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Making Friends With Symbol
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
What is an Audiophile?
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.

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NY Audio Show 2013
A Beautiful Friendship
Stephen Mejias  |  Apr 17, 2013  |  0 comments
A second, smaller Innovative Audio room held a system made of Wilson Audio’s Sasha W/P loudspeakers ($27,900/pair); Lamm M1.2 Reference hybrid monoblocks ($24, 190/pair); VTL TL-7.5 Series III Reference preamplifier ($20,000) and TP-6.5 Signature phono preamp ($10,500 with moving-coil step-up transformer); Spiral Groove SG2 turntable ($21,000, with Centroid tonearm) and Lyra Kleos MC cartridge ($3000); Transparent cables, power conditioning, and AC cords; and Finite Element Pagode racks and supports.
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NY Audio Show 2013
VPI's new tonearm
Art Dudley  |  Apr 17, 2013  |  0 comments
Tentatively named the JMW-3D (the suffix refers to the modeling technology used to create its high-tech tooling), VPI's new one-piece tonearm wand/headshell/bearing housing is molded from epoxy resin, which promises to resist sound-coloring resonances while remaining comparatively immune to the problem of energy storage. Although pricing has yet to be determined, VPI's Harry Weisfeld suggests that the arm may be expensive at first, although he hopes that prices may moderate as the production process itself becomes less expensive. The new arm is seen here on a prototype of the VPI Classic Direct, a direct-drive turntable based on the Classic chassis (projected price: ca $20,000).
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