A Capital Audiofest 2012 thread

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.

Thank you for your impressions, Mapman.

It's good to see people's perspective, even if we don't hear the same thing. You're a lot more sanguine about the sound you described than I am. Again, I felt most rooms sounded poor.

In addition to RMAF, since you are on the East Coast, I would encourage you to visit the NYC show next spring. Maybe it's unfair to compare this to NYC or RMAF, but it didn't rank with VTV 2006 in NJ, either. I found the overall lack of energy at the show disconcerting. The lack of exhibitors and dearth of people disappointed many, none more so than those who had to shell out for the rooms. Given the East Coast locale, I have trouble believing the poor attendance of this show. My buddy who had a room couldn't get over how dead it was. And, like in NYC, this was another grey haired affair, there simply are no young people showing up at these events. A fifty year old guy seems on the lower end of the demographic.

Here are the rooms I liked (if a room isn't on this list, presume I didn't like it):
BEST OF SHOW - Highwater Sound! Along with Mike and Neli of Audio Federation and Bobby Palkovic of Merlin, I doubt there's anyone in high-end audio who does a better job at a show. The TW Acoustic, Tron, Horning sound was as close as one gets to real live music in these shows. Just wish Jeff would relent on the noise the AC would have contributed; man, was it hot in that room

Bogen amplifiers driving church organ pipe loudspeakers. The most creative system I can remember in high-end audio, bar none. This guy is an absolute, think outside the box genius. Not the best sound of the show, but definitely the most crazy and fun. I absolutely loved the concept, bravo!

Paolo Audio. A boutique tube amplifier manufacturer in Virginia I'd not previously heard of, and did a surprisingly good job

Bob Carver Audio/Daedalus. Didn't come anywhere close to challenging for my Best of Show, but decent nonetheless. I was very happy to finally hear the Carver tube amps

Sophia Electric. Personally, I found the loudspeakers a bit bloated, but color me impressed hearing their 300B based SET amplifier drive them. Were I in the market for an SET amplifier, I'd give some consideration to Sophia

Woo Audio. The non-headphone based system in the second room was incredibly musical

Deja Vu. Sorry not to hear the PP 300B or 2A3 Vu produces. I found the room with the much overlooked Synthesis stuff from Italy, which is one of the biggest bargains in this hobby distinctly better than the other

Cathedral Speakers. As Mapman mentioned, the very nice sound coming from these was quite unexpected

Joseph Audio/Bel Canto/VPI. It looks like I forgot to add Jeff Joseph to my list of folks who normally hit the ball out of the park at these shows. Excellent sound. Though the floorstanders weren't playing, my wife was impressed enough with the sound of the monitors and the overall aesthetic that she actually asked if I could buy a pair for the main system. How's that for an endorsement?

DeVore Fidelity/Leben. Truthfully, I've never been all that thrilled with DeVore loudspeakers. That all changed Saturday when I heard the Orangutang. What a wonderful pair of speakers they are

The VPI Traveler is $1295.

Again, most rooms impressed me in a bad way, but I found the Joseph Audio loudspeaker room where it resided sounded terrific.

Mapman, I didn't even give the tonearm a look. But, I would say what you saw, is what you get.

I spoke to Matthew and Harry Weisfeld up in NYC in April. This TT is Matthew's first release in the position he's taken on, and in his words, the level of quality built into it caused the pricing to come in higher than their initial $995 target. Personally, I felt a made in the USA TT at $995 would present the most attractive package possible. But their demand for doing things in the best possible manner took the product here, and I do believe they have a winner on their hands. Beyond all of that, you're dealing with such a wonderful family in the Weisfelds.

Agreed, thank you for clarifying, Riflemanguido.

Mapman, "a DIY recipe that almost anyone could follow for $800 worth of speakers with the ability to claim giant killer status."

I think that's about as true a statement one could make in audio. $800 worth of parts should allow one to put together a fantastic sounding pair of loudspeakers.

One of the main reasons today's high-end loudspeakers cost way more than they ought is their overbuilt cabinets, book matched veneers, laborious finishes, etc. My 1995 vintage imitation black ash Fried A/6 loudspeakers compete with most anything made today up to $5000. Factoring in the inflation of the past few years, perhaps much more than that.

Your point on supporting local high-end audio get togethers such as this meets the mark as well. For me, the drive down from Philadelphia was something I welcomed to attend such an event.

Mapman, "Was it mostly way above average? No doubt."

I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree with your opinion of the show any more starkly. I felt it was mostly way below average.

Again, I'd encourage you to visit the show in NYC next spring. Not that the show up there is perfect, either. But you will encounter significantly more exhibitors, attendees, and based on this (Axpona in June 2011 was way below average) year, far superior sound.