Acora Acoustics, Transrotor, Audio Research, and Cardas [UPDATED]
In the third floor Eisenhower room, Valerio Cora brought his Acora Acoustics SRC-2 Loudspeakers ($37,000/pair) joined to the Transrotor Massimo turntable ($16,800) equipped with the Transrotor SME tonearm ($4300), the Dynavector DRT XV-1t cartridge ($9450). The Massimo was also equipped with a secondary arm, the Charisma Musiko ($2500) armed (as it were) with the Charisma Signature One cartridge ($3800).
Audio Note / Déjà Vu Audio
Nothing soothes the frayed nerves of this CAF reporter like an Audio Note UK system, which consistently provide some of the most human, sweet, natural sounding hi-fi equipment at shows year in and year out.
Capital Audiofest 2021 Kicks Off
Capital Audiofest 2021 kicked off this morning with a heady air of excitement coursing through the sold-out host venue, the Twinbrook Hilton in Rockville, Maryland.
Capital Audiofest 2021: It's a Wrap
Capital Audiofest 2021 was a fantastic show. Everyone I spoke to—vendors, visitors, the helpful Hilton staff—was jazzed to be there. Everyone was in good spirits. While I didn’t see as many attendees in total as at the 2019 CAF show pre-Covid, every room I visited was full, and in many midday cases, standing-room-only.
Command Performance, and Well Pleased AV: J.Sikora, Koetsu, Doshi, Innuos, Gryphon, QLN
When a show room plays great music, the job of listening is easy. That’s true for civilians and press alike.
Daedalus Audio / Linear Tube Audio / WyWires
My first night here at the Hilton, loud music pumped from the room next to mine. At 11:45pm and it was still blasting, interrupting my much-needed beauty sleep. Several calls later, the volume from the adjacent Daedalus Audio room went down, and I was down for the count.
Fern & Roby Audio / Modwright Instruments
I walked into the unassuming Fern & Roby Audio/Modwright Instruments room and spied, sitting in a chair with camera in hand, Twittering Machines’ editor/CEO, Michael Lavorgna. Michael and I go back to the days of Quartz glass, Coke in bottles, and 6Moons.com, from whence we both came. Michael smiled and directed me toward the Fern & Roby beer coasters, beige cork jobs each with an illustrated tube (and noted tube type).
Göbel + WADAX + CH Precision + A/V RoomService
I couldn’t decide what was more impressive, the larger-than-life personality of Bending Wave USA distributor Eliot Goldman or the massive products shown in his WADAX/Goebel room. Either way, I was grateful for the room’s bright light, which gave everything a fresh-scrubbed sheen and made it much easier than most rooms to photograph.
GT Audioworks, Pass Laboratories, Lampizator, Small Green Computer, and Magnan
GT Audioworks presented their Reference 3 Planar Ribbon Speakers ($49,000/pair), which debuted in January 2021.
Infigo Audio (plus Alta Audio and Resonessence)
In the room of British Columbia’s Infigo Audio at the Capital Audiofest, CEO/founder Hans Looman was playing Michael Oldfield’s Tubular Bells II. Not quite new age, not “folk-tronica,” the music’s flowing, acoustic melodies and circular rhythms suited Looman, whose ponytail and pleasant banter recalled a taller, younger Obi-Wan Kenobi espousing wisdom and good vibrations. I quickly fell under the spell of Looman, Oldfield, and these attractive Infigo devices.