TomDac
former MLO owner/operator
</NYT_BYLINE title=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/fashion/13POSS.html><NYT_TEXT title=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/fashion/13POSS.html>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/fashion/13POSS.html<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
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Turn Down the Burner, Fire Up the Sound
By DAVID COLMAN
Published: January 13, 2008
WHAT is it about men and stereo equipment? This fabled connection may be a cliché on par with men’s reluctance to ask for directions. But clichés do not exist in a vacuum — and sound cannot travel through one anyway.
Audiophiles, of course, would know that. Or not. Eric Ripert, the chef of Le Bernardin in New York, admits that he does not know enough about the minutiae of such equipment to qualify for audiophile status.
But a broader (and more accurate) application of the term would include men who do not need to max out their brains on information as long as they can max out their credit cards. Herein Mr. Ripert fills the bill: he is fanatical about the very expensive audio equipment he has bought for his house in Sag Harbor on Long Island. Foremost in his $25,000 system are a pair of mammoth electrostatic speakers strategically aimed at the living room sofa.
“I studied music when I was little,” he said. “I was so-so. But I have an ear for music. When I was young, I was always in trouble for listening to music when I was supposed to be studying.”
And so, as with so many men, with success came speakers. Big ones.
“When I heard the sound from these speakers the first time, I just needed to have them,” Mr. Ripert said. “These are designed for the perfectionist.”
Mr. Ripert is so actively a perfectionist that his restaurant is one of the few to have received, among other laurels, a four-star review in The New York Times. Out in Sag Harbor, he gets to relax — sort of. “I am more laid-back when I go there,” he said, noting the large collection of Buddhas that populate the house. But as for the speakers, he said, “I am fastidious.”
“I am very particular about placing them and about sitting at the perfect distance away. Nobody can hear the difference, but I insist and make them sit in the right spot.”
His six-foot-tall speakers, made by the MartinLogan company of Lawrence, Kan., preside over the living room like a pair of stereoliths — mono having gone out with “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Their striking perforated-steel look is not cosmetic. They are built on an electrostatic model, as opposed to the cones and domes of most speakers. A five-micron-thick Mylar-like diaphragm sandwiched between two electrically charged curved-steel membranes responds more quickly to the music signals than traditional audio transducers and deliver a truer, more lifelike sound.
“They’re very powerful and precise,” Mr. Ripert said. “They’re great with every kind of music, especially with jazz or Latin music. I’ve heard sound from more expensive speakers, but I still prefer the sound from mine. It’s very similar to the sound coming from the instrument itself."
And yes, in case you are wondering, they totally crank.
“At one point I was a house and techno freak,” he said. “I actually cracked the walls of the house. I used to D.J. at the house and have these wild nights. Everyone wasn’t deaf at the end of the night, but ... affected. I used to dance so heavily that the floor is broken, too.”
This predilection did not bother his wife, Sandra. “She thought I was a good D.J.,” he said.
The speakers themselves are another story. “She was horrified when we got the delivery,” he recalled. “She calls them the monsters. To her eyes, they are not aesthetic at all.”
At least this love affair involves the highest degree of fidelity. How many wives can say that?
fficeffice" /><o></o>Turn Down the Burner, Fire Up the Sound
By DAVID COLMAN
Published: January 13, 2008
WHAT is it about men and stereo equipment? This fabled connection may be a cliché on par with men’s reluctance to ask for directions. But clichés do not exist in a vacuum — and sound cannot travel through one anyway.
Audiophiles, of course, would know that. Or not. Eric Ripert, the chef of Le Bernardin in New York, admits that he does not know enough about the minutiae of such equipment to qualify for audiophile status.
But a broader (and more accurate) application of the term would include men who do not need to max out their brains on information as long as they can max out their credit cards. Herein Mr. Ripert fills the bill: he is fanatical about the very expensive audio equipment he has bought for his house in Sag Harbor on Long Island. Foremost in his $25,000 system are a pair of mammoth electrostatic speakers strategically aimed at the living room sofa.
“I studied music when I was little,” he said. “I was so-so. But I have an ear for music. When I was young, I was always in trouble for listening to music when I was supposed to be studying.”
And so, as with so many men, with success came speakers. Big ones.
“When I heard the sound from these speakers the first time, I just needed to have them,” Mr. Ripert said. “These are designed for the perfectionist.”
Mr. Ripert is so actively a perfectionist that his restaurant is one of the few to have received, among other laurels, a four-star review in The New York Times. Out in Sag Harbor, he gets to relax — sort of. “I am more laid-back when I go there,” he said, noting the large collection of Buddhas that populate the house. But as for the speakers, he said, “I am fastidious.”
“I am very particular about placing them and about sitting at the perfect distance away. Nobody can hear the difference, but I insist and make them sit in the right spot.”
His six-foot-tall speakers, made by the MartinLogan company of Lawrence, Kan., preside over the living room like a pair of stereoliths — mono having gone out with “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Their striking perforated-steel look is not cosmetic. They are built on an electrostatic model, as opposed to the cones and domes of most speakers. A five-micron-thick Mylar-like diaphragm sandwiched between two electrically charged curved-steel membranes responds more quickly to the music signals than traditional audio transducers and deliver a truer, more lifelike sound.
“They’re very powerful and precise,” Mr. Ripert said. “They’re great with every kind of music, especially with jazz or Latin music. I’ve heard sound from more expensive speakers, but I still prefer the sound from mine. It’s very similar to the sound coming from the instrument itself."
And yes, in case you are wondering, they totally crank.
“At one point I was a house and techno freak,” he said. “I actually cracked the walls of the house. I used to D.J. at the house and have these wild nights. Everyone wasn’t deaf at the end of the night, but ... affected. I used to dance so heavily that the floor is broken, too.”
This predilection did not bother his wife, Sandra. “She thought I was a good D.J.,” he said.
The speakers themselves are another story. “She was horrified when we got the delivery,” he recalled. “She calls them the monsters. To her eyes, they are not aesthetic at all.”
At least this love affair involves the highest degree of fidelity. How many wives can say that?
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