Capital Audiofest Coming Up!

Didn’t get to hear this year but from prior experience LTA amps never fail to sound top notch.   One of the few tube amps out there I would seriously love to own. 

Worth noting I only had time to cover about half the rooms that I would have liked to so I did not have a chance to hear it all.

The Maco open baffle quartz cabinet speakers impressed me as well and  were another nice find.

Yes, I liked the Accuphase integrated amps I heard very much. Definitely made the cut for my short list for an upcoming integrated amp upgrade I have in mind.

Also kudos to Odyssey for showing probably the best overall sound value I heard at the show. 

Another standout for me was Songer Audio. In addition to one of my favorite sounds I heard, they did it with a beefy yet supposed 4 watt SET amp driving their modest-in-size custom full range field coil driver in a somewhat pricey yet performant design. Hats off! How did he do that?

Had a full day there today.

There was a lot to like!

I need to go through my notes first to point out a few highlights.

The mbl room is one I can cite as candidate for best sound. They seemed to get it right in every way in their room this year even if not yet even close to what I know mbl can do with soundstage and imaging based on prior showroom demos. A class of their own!

There were many others that caught my ear as well yet in different ways.

@grislybutter I will say it is more concerning than ever now that the Supreme Court has granted PResidents immunity for "official acts" thanks to you know who.

Sounds like you have experience in this area most US citizens do not have. Let’s hope we can keep it that way

Now back to hifi.  

@larryi ,

Good one! I read good things about Synthesis and I recall them as well during a visit to Deja Vu Audio in Virginia a couple years back. THey usually put on a good show at CAF as I recall. A tube integrated is not out of teh question for me. SOmething different! Just not interested in too big or too expensive at this stage. Trying to keep things smaller and simpler.  Accordingly high efficiency/easy load  speakers is another avenue I have explored but do not own.

Oh by the way, any suggestions on integrated amps I should check out at Capital Audiofest?  Thanks.

The (lack of) basic knowledge people have that drive their decisions to vote is astounding.

I think that with the internet these days, there is more information (and dis-information/outright propaganda) out there to sort through. So many use this as a weapon including opponents who seek to "overthrow" us, have no doubt. A lot of people are confused and perhaps are more challenged than ever to find their moral compass. It’s a real problem! The solution is always promoting education as a means to help sort through it all more effectively.  Never accept known lies no matter how appealing they may be!   Those who lie with purpose merely seek to create more confusion as a way of gaining control.  The truth always tends to come out eventually over time, but it is often a struggle to get there.

There are really only a few weapons people have to defend themselves financially regardless of political ideology.

Voting is one.

How ever, the way way more effective ones are to become educated to develop valuable skills and then also investing (once that is actually with reach) in order to get at least your small slice of the economic pie that will always be the main course served up by the "oligarchs".

Unless you are simply born rich and entitled. I won’t mention names. It is not a crime!

@grislybutter one thing I will give Donald Trump credit for: he has always been very successful in selling whatever it is he wants people to buy. HE is very good at marketing himself.

Warning: marketing works but is often merely  a bunch of BS.      Take that for what it is worth.

@grislybutter rest assured you I and many are on the same page with what you cite.

"Living a lie" is the big problem in my mind. YOu can’t fix real problems when you rely on lies to keep you going.

Doesn’t change the fact that this does not register apparently with more voters than not.

Living a lie is easy. Dealing with real problems is much harder no matter what!

Best to not succumb to dark side. Keep fighting for what is right! Otherwise the oligarchs win and many will continue to struggle just to survive, regardless of politics. Hopefully it is not in-evitable but history says it may be. The dark side is a powerful force of nature.

Sorry to draw on Star Wars analogies but it applies perfectly.

@tkrtrb125 thanks. You too.   I know deer hunting season is coming up soon.  I've noticed the deer normally around my house eating all my plants have that nervous look in their eyes.

@tkrtrb125 for sure!.

I go mainly to soak in all the sounds for reference. It has helped me achieve better sound incrementally over the years.

Occasionally I may even end up buying based on what I hear, but for me changing gear is not the first thing I resort to for better sound. No sense doing that if whatever it is you are doing currently can be made better more cost effectively first. Some call that "tweaking".

I also tend to look for any new technical innovations of consequence that might tempt me to change from older gear. This year I am looking to see if a change from my current splendid but older BEl Canto c5i is in order. I can’t fault the BCs performance really but it is older and I know the technology integrated into it maybe a dozen or so years back has advanced. If I find something worth the change, teh BC will either get honorably demoted for use as a spare or I mightuse it to set up yet another system at home that I can just play around with just because in my techno-nerdy mind things like that are fun.

So having said all that...I am maybe getting my mojo back to look forward to the upcoming hifi show and lots of elite yet very cool good sounding  new stuff, most of it out of reach financially for most. Irony!

Yup. The only things that matter is what happens next.  Fact is most people all want pretty much the same things regardless of political ideology.  Unfortunately the extremists are the ones often working hardest to get their way.

@grislybutter that’s not really the answer. A lot of people are hurting financially and don’t like the way things have been going. The pandemic triggered most of it. It hurt Donald Trump initially but now the aftermath is helping him. There are many things not to like. A lot of people are mad and want change which is understandable to anyone who goes to a grocery store these days or has looked at their insurance bills. Ideals, ethics principles and morality are nice but to really understnad what is going on, always follow the money! That’s just how things work.

Have we made a deal with the devil to solve our problems for us? We will see. The evidence is all out there. LEt me go ask AI and I’ll let you know what it has to say.

BTW, the data analysis of teh election results seem to indicate that statistically education level was the primary factor that determined who voted for who.

LEarning and the skills that result are always the key to success for all IMHO.

May the force be with you! Not to mention good sound and music to help make it through.

Will probably spend most of the day on Saturday, maybe Friday.