Earlier this year, Audiophilia's Michael Levy referred to the Wes Bender Studio NYC room at CES 2012 as "audible ecstasy" while listening to the Redpoint Model D turntable. At the New York Audio & AV Show, Arel Bitran writing for Stereophile titled his review "Immediate Ecstasy in the Wes Bender Room".
Arel was "immediately impressed" by the "open and relaxed" sound as demo track of Strauss's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". But he decided to "really put this system to the test" and played "NR17" (from Syclops's "I've Got My Eye on You") with all its bombastic and frenetic fun. We're glad he did. Arel found that the "Hansen Audio Prince E loudspeakers were fast, spinning the tune into overdrive, with each of those on-the-beat kicks propelling the music forward in a snappy fashion. Bongos bounced from wall to wall. Synthesizers and electronic noises fluttered and zoomed around the room like birds and airplanes." The effect on the room was palpable. As he notes, "Everyone in the room got wild-eyed, pupils dilated. What exactly is going on here?"
In an amusing outburst that continues the association of the sound in Wes Bender Studio NYC rooms being described as "ecstasy", according to Arel, "Wes Bender’s sales partner, Dan Meinwald, screamed, 'If it gets any louder, we’re gonna need some ecstasy!'" Arel's response was, "Well Dan, as far as I could tell, everyone in that room was already rolling."