Welcome to Capital Audiofest!
Ken Micallef sits down with Capital Audiofest head honcho Gary Gill to preview this weekend's show.
Ken Micallef
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ReVinylization #80: Acoustic Sounds, Verve, and Impulse! Open the Vault
Labels like Craft Recordings, SAM, Candid, Speakers Corner, Blue Note (Tone Poet and Classic Vinyl), and Rhino are doing superb work reissuing classic jazz titles, with dead-silent backgrounds, resolution that often surpasses my beloved originals, and bass with real weight. And unlike those originals, they're available and affordable.
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Consonance Compact Monitor loudspeaker
I first heard the Consonance Compact Monitor ($1680/pair) at AXPONA 2025. I called the room—Mike Stephens's Western HiFi of Farmersville, Texas—"one of the ... top five systems at AXPONA."
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Luxman L-100 Centennial integrated amplifier
Before diving into Luxman's new L-100 Centennial integrated amplifier ($11,995)—which marks the Japanese firm's 100th year in business—I did what any audio reviewer with a paper trail does: I read my past Luxman reportage: the L-509X and the L-509Z integrated amplifiers.
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ReVinylization #78: Music from Big Pink, an Americana Vinyl Reissue
Forget the slick 1970s country-folk rock of the Eagles, America, or Pure Prairie League. The Band was the real deal. Their sound—a blend of Appalachian folk, Cajun, blues, rock'n'roll, country, and R&B—was earned in the trenches, gigging through the rural South and learning the ropes from the masters of that music.
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Elekit TU-8888 monoblock power amplifier
Spend as much time prowling audio websites as I do, and a pattern becomes clear. They're full of glamour shots of shiny products, promises of performance never before experienced, and cherry-picked pullquotes from reviews. The website of Japanese audio concern Elekit is a different kind of experience.
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Paradigm Premieres a Trio of Premier Series Speakers at Audio Advice Live 2026
At Audio Advice Live 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Blake Alty of Paradigm about the company's new Premier series of speakers in this room at the show, including the 820F v2 floorstanders and 220B v2 standmounts.
Bowers & Wilkins Stands Tall at Audio Advice Live 2026
At Audio Advice Live 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Kevin Zarow about the gear in this room at the show, including Bowers & Wilkins' 801 D5 floorstanding loudspeakers.
Steinway Lyngdorf Mounts Up at Audio Advice Live 2026
At Audio Advice Live 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Lee Rambler of Steinway Lyngdorf about the company's new LCR-2 wall-mount loudspeaker.
Playback Distribution Presents a Grand North American Vienna Acoustics Loudspeaker Debut at Audio Advice Live 2026
At Audio Advice Live 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Rob Standley of Playback Distribution about the gear in this room at the show, including the North American debut of Vienna Acoustics' Schubert Grand Sonata loudspeakers.