Ariel Bitran

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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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
A Return to the Past with Audio Note
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
My First MartinLogan Experience
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Merrill Audio: "Not For Tube Lovers"
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Big, Round, and Palpable in the Ciamara Room
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 15, 2013  |  2 comments
My first stop on Day One was just around the corner from the pressroom: Ciamara’s big-time system with the massive TAD Reference One loudspeakers ($80,000/pair). Ciamara’s young and passionate Chairman and CEO Sanjay Patel welcomed me with a smile. Patel established his New York City shop five years ago by hiring a team of engineers to focus their efforts on the craft of high-end audio home installations.
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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Rutherford Audio Gains Traction
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 15, 2013  |  0 comments
Rear shot of the Burmester 909 stereo amplifier ($73,495).

Last year, Burmester relegated their loudspeakers and amplifiers to the grand ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria, which made their gear easy to see but less accessible to listen to in a concentrated setting. At the New York Palace, Rutherford Audio, the North American distributor for Burmester, hosted their own listening room on the fourth floor with a diverse range of music ranging from Verdi to Infected Mushroom.

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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Liquidity From the Innovative Audio Analog Room
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 15, 2013  |  1 comments
Innovative Audio Video Showrooms, a New York City hi-fi gallery hosted two rooms this year: one room with an ultimate-truth to recording digital playback system and the ultra-smooth analog room.

Scott Haggart, a passionate Innovative employee and expert hi-fi demo deliverer was in the midst of a presentation upon my arrival. Haggart treats his work with serious care, and as anyone who has experienced one of his demos can attest to, he guides the listeners patiently through the exact gear that they are listening to and details about the music, a skill not many exhibitors at this hi-fi show demonstrated.

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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Simple Systems from Simplifi Audio
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 15, 2013  |  0 comments
Simplifi Audio room would be a priority on my first day since I missed them entirely last year where they apparently kicked much booty. Hosted by the amicable duo of Daniel Weiss of Weiss Audio and Tim Ryan of Simplifi Audio, a San Diego-based distributor, their large room was devoted to three different systems that were demoed throughout the weekend. The one I heard and pictured above is the Klangwerk Ella 2-way active speaker system ($7,495) fed by the Weiss DAC202 ($6966) and Weiss MAN301 Network Player ($9083; $12,262 with internal DAC), and Integrita Audiophile Music Server (approximately $6000).
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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Do You Consider Yourself an Audiophile?
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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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
NY Audio Show 2013: Getting There From Brooklyn
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 13, 2013  |  0 comments
It had already been a long week at Stereophile. I trucked through three thirteen-hour workdays plugging in code for the Recommended Components iPad app and had my first dentist appointment in five years. Holes had been burned through my eyes and scraped through my teeth. Luckily, my ears were still there dangling. But the rain, the rain, THE RAIN! I could have done without the rain this morning.
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Ariel BitranNY Audio Show 2013
Meet the Press
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 13, 2013  |  0 comments
The audiophile press seemed a surprisingly patient bunch. After following the incredibly well indicated signs placed by the Chester Group to the Fourth Floor of the New York Palace, reporters and photographers waited subserviently in a four-person line to receive our press badges. At the counter, Art Dudley, columnist and Editor-at-Large for Stereophile, and Jeff Dorgay, publisher at Tone Audio, chummed it up.
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Ariel Bitran
Passion of the Hi-Fi: Part IV - Why Boombox?
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 09, 2013  |  3 comments
I scuttled furiously from bedroom to living room. DVDs without cases, puzzles with missing pieces, and random pairs long Ragnell scissors (why do we even have these???) strewed across a cascade of coffee tinted MDF shelves. This hand-me-down Brobdingnagian entertainment center would be the new home for my hi-fi, chipped away but yearning for gear. Like any man on a mission, I needed my soundtrack, my “Eye of the Tiger”, my “Don’t Stop Believing”, my “Bootylicious”, but what would be my source?
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Ariel Bitran
Passion of the Hi-Fi: Part III - Balance and Control
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 04, 2013  |  1 comments
The promise of happiness is elusive. Is it found in the 10-hour workday? Maybe it’s spotted sunbathing on the Portuguese shoreline. Or is it found in a wider soundstage? Sartre teaches, "In life, a man commits himself and draws his own portrait, outside of which there is nothing." So if your actions define who you are, and if you love what you do, then will you find content?
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Ariel Bitran
Remember the Listening Party?
Ariel Bitran  |  Apr 03, 2013  |  2 comments
The day-of-release listening party, a lost tradition? The clever folks at Noisey, Vice’s music subdivision seem to think so. In response, they’re bringing it back on a global spectrum. Today, Wednesday, April 03, 2013 at 3pm EST, Noisey will be streaming the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s new record Mosquito in its entirety while party-goers interact with each other and watch video explanations about the songs from members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This is just the first in a series of Noisey’s new Listening Party initiative. For an invite to the party, follow the tweets from @NoiseyMusic.
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