Our first task was to deliver a pair of the new Triton Fives to Steve Guttenberg, who is reviewing them for Sound & Vision magazine. Steve is quite an interesting character, to say the least. He writes for CNET, has his own blog called The Audiophiliac, does some work with David Chesky, among other projects, and is one of the more intense audiophiles and music lovers roaming the planet. Steve is also a talented artist who creates amazing images by computer processing and manipulating photographs. He lives in Brooklyn Heights, a very gentrified neighborhood for those seeking to escape the bustle of Manhattan, but still be within striking distance. We had to get there relatively early, as Steve had to attend a talk by Dr. Edgar Choueiri, the Princeton University rocket scientist, who has been working with Chesky to perfect a device that allows you to properly hear binaural recordings on loudspeakers by basically canceling out the interaural crosstalk (something we also do on our 3D Array soundbars, although not quite as precisely as Dr. Choueiri's much more complex device). We set up the Fives in Steve's loft-like space, amongst myriad pieces of equipment and thousands of LPs and CDs, and let'er rip.

 

We listened to some of my favorite demo pieces to make sure all was OK, and then Steve listened to some material that he was more familiar with, including an amazing new Dave Liebman CD that is soon to be released by Chesky. I remember hearing Dave Liebman live some years ago, when he was younger and much more frenetic. Now he has mellowed out, become more contemplative, but no less intense, however in a different way, sort of like Charles Lloyd. I thought all sounded amazing, and Steve? Well, we will know for sure when his review appears in the May Sound & Vision.

Next we were off to Bay Ridge to pick up the Stereophile Triton One review samples. As most of you know, the Triton Ones just received a stellar review by Robert Deutsch in the February issue of Stereophile. John Atkinson, the editor, had done the technical measurements, and now it was time for us to pick up the Ones and move them to the next stop on their journey (more on this later). NY had recently been inundated with snow, so backing our vehicle up the steep driveway and getting the boxed Ones safely in without slipping was no easy feat. But both Johns persevered and soon we were on our way to lunch.

Where was lunch? Why Nathan's original location in close by Coney Island, of course. For those of you that don't know, Nathan's, whose slogan is,"From a Hot Dog to a National Habit", serves the best tasting hot dogs in the universe (IMHO). It was started by Nathan Handwerker in 1916, at the urging of two Brooklyn stalwarts, Eddie Cantor and Jimmy Durante. When I was growing up, we often used to go to Coney Island on Sundays to indulge in Nathan's hot dogs and french fries (they also made the best french fries in those days, and they are still good, although not quite the same), and go on the rides, like the Cyclone and WonderWheel. My father was actually on the Nathan's board of directors. Interestingly, although you can buy Nathan's hot dogs at your local supermarket, the ones in Coney Island were clearly smokier tasting and better.Yum!

Next, we were off to what I described to John as our mystery stop. We drove up Ocean Parkway and turned left on Church Avenue. As we cruised through the neighborhood, John looked around and asked if we were stopping at a deli. I just laughed and said, "You'll soon see." We came to our destination and I told John to quickly pull over and park. He looked up and saw where we were and broke into a broad grin. We were in front of the Buzz-A-Rama Slot Car Raceway. When I was in high school, I was a professional national champion slot car racer (Google: Sandy Gross Slot Cars). My friend Howie Ursaner and I were known as "The Gold Dust Twins" and we worked for manufacturers like Russkit and Cobra designing products and flying around the country representing them at races. I often joke that it prepared me for my career in audio. Buzz-A-Rama is the last remaining raceway in NY, and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Buzzy and Dolores, the couple who owns and has run it from the beginning were there, hosting childrens' birthday parties and generally having a good time. This was one of the raceways that I frequented and also one that hosted some of the most important pro races in the day. I walked up to Buzzy and said simply,"Buzzy" and he replied, "So Sandy, did you think I wouldn't recognize you?". AMAZING!!!

Then we were off for the wild lands across the Hudson known as New Jersey. We were bringing the Triton Ones to their next review, with Piero Gabucci, of Secrets of Home Theater and HiFi. Piero is a talented architect, who in his spare time writes insightful reviews about audio gear. His neighborhood, like John Atkinson's, had been inundated with snow, so we had to carefully maneuver the vehicle and then the speakers to get them down into the basement and set up. We did, though, and worked a little on set up, as the space was relatively small with a seven foot ceiling. Often speakers as powerful as the Ones have issues getting ideal sound in smaller rooms. However, since the Ones have a level control on the built-in powered bass/subwoofer section, we were able to get them perfectly dialed in and singing sweetly. I think Piero was amazed at how expansive and seamless an image we were able to generate in his room, but we will know more when his review appears. After a little more tweaking and listening, John headed back to Philadelphia, and Piero and I headed into the city for dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant, Novita.