A Capital Audiofest 2012 thread

I went two years ago Sunday only. Things were in full swing through 2-3 in the afternoon then things were winding down as I left. Got there too late for the morning "swap" event, which sounds neat. May try to make that this year.

There were a number of very good sounding systems there. The GOTO and Cathedral horn setups in particular come to mind and may be there this year as well. YG/Magico a/b demos by YG was interesting and both sounded pretty good. Manley amps were quite nice though under served perhaps in their setup. Jolida fx10 was the best buy I could spot. mbl setups were sub-par compared to same at the dealer and not indicative of what mbl can deliver set up properly.

Planning to head down tomorrow morn.

Any impressions from attendees so far?

I was there yesterday, and found it most disappointing on a variety of fronts. Few rooms, poor attendance, and the sound in most rooms was below par.

Hopefully, the show attendance will be better when you make it today. When you return, let's compare notes regarding the individual exhibitors.

Just got back. Spent 4 hours or so there earlier today.

My skinny, FWIW, in that I have never attended any other show to compare other than the initial CAF two years ago, is it was worthwhile and I would like to have had more time to soak it all in. Overall, the sound quality of the rigs on display in the various rooms was more consistent than two years ago. Probably due to more typical hotel venue rather than a 19th century mansion.

I heard a lot of good sound that I could possibly live with but not enough time to assess each well. Overall, most of the vendors did a good job tuning their systems into the rooms, most of which were not particularly large, so I found that to be a good thing.

I'm not quite sure I heard anything revolutionary or that stuck way out in the crowd, but lots of very solid finds nonetheless that would warrant further investigation.

So I heard some new good stuff that sounded like it had potential.

Attendance today did not seem large. There were people there but few crowds snd fairly low key overall. Not a bad thing for one trying to fit a lot of listening into a few hours.

More details soon when I have a chance.

I heard a few things on my to-hear list for the first time:

Daedelus: i was impressed and these lived up to my expectations in a
short limited audition with nice acoustic jazz recording.

Classic Audio Reproductions (with the field coil drivers + Atmasphere
amps: i was expecting benchmark level sound and tnis setup did not
disappoint. Would have liked to hear some good rock recordings but
acoustic jazz ruled here also as it seemed to in general at the show. The
sound was spot on and darn near perfect.

Zu - Missed the boat somewhat. Flea power amps used were nice but
seemingly could not get these hopping for more demanding rock cuts.

GT Audio Works - now here was a new discovery of note with meat on the
bones that sounded great and offered great value at 3k a pair including 2
subs. "There Will Be Changes Made" by Atkins+ Knopfler
packed the room and got my feet a tapping. Modest Bryston digital
source and amp showed they belonged in a high end audio show as well.

DIY Room: A pair of 10" full range drivers mounted in a large square open
back baffle sitting at floor level slightly angled up about 2/3 into a hotel
room run off a diy class a amp of low wattage was the shocker of the day.
How did what looked like a bean bag toss arcade game sound so full and
lifelike for $800 diy? Kinda made me feel sorry for all the megabuck
systems there competing. And they did everything extremely well from
Green Day to classical. Eye opener of the day!

Tidal: Both larger and smaller rigs sounded very good but size did matter
and did not come cheap. The DCS Dac in the one rig certainly helped
make that one shine as the DCS gear always seems to do. The smaller
Tidals sounded good but dynamics with those small drivers was noticably
compressed.

Legacy Whispers in a larger salon room showed some chops but I need to
hear more.