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Capital Audio Fest 2021 | Andrew Quint

Capital Audio Fest 2021 | Andrew Quint

In his introduction, Alan provided some rough metrics regarding the number of attendees and exhibitors at the show, as well as how much “business” was happening. I recorded one parameter that, for me, quantified the degree to which audio shows, and audiophiles, are back. It’s a standardized unit of measurement, long utilized in high-end circles, known as the TTFBIAS. For those of you who may not be technically oriented, that’s Time To First Brothers In Arms Song. At CAF 2021, the result was an extraordinary 5 hours and 45 minutes—I didn’t hear a Dire Straits cut until close to 4 PM on Friday afternoon. An hour or so is more typical. I guess all of us are a little rusty; I’m sure showgoers and demonstrators alike will be back to form by AXPONA.

I heard a lot of thoughtfully designed, musically fulfilling products, many of them new.

What’s the conventional wisdom regarding the percentage of your audio budget that should be spent on the loudspeakers? 50%? 30%? How about 10%? One of the most engaging systems at CAF 2021 was the joint effort of Infigo Audio and Alta Audio in Room 321. The former provided world-class electronics in its Method 3 monoblock amplifiers ($50,000/pair), Method 4 DAC ($35,000), and Fluvius streamer ($17,500), with connections via Infigo’s Sparkle Series cables throughout. These no-compromise electronics drove a pair of Alta Alec loudspeakers ($10,000), an unassuming two-way with a 5¾” ribbon tweeter active out to 47kHz and an 8¾” mid/woof in a transmission-line configuration that produces bass into the low 30s. Familiar tracks from Cantate Domino and the Fairfield Four were well served by this top-drawer system.

Capital Audio Fest 2021 | Andrew Quint

Philadelphia-area dealer Doug White of The Voice That Is brought a system that was perfectly scaled to the moderate-sized conference room it inhabited. TIDAL Audio Contriva loudspeakers ($72,000) were driven effectively by TIDAL’s new Intra stereo amplifier ($30,000), run in its dual-stereo mode to deliver 330 very high quality watts into 8 ohms, or 670 watts into four. Upstream of the Intra was TIDAL’s Prisma preamp ($40,000) and Ideon Audio’s new assault-on-the-art Absolute Epsilon DAC ($44,000), used with Ideon’s Absolute Time reclocker ($8900) and Absolute Stream streamer ($19,900). I own the Episilon’s predecessor, and the progress the Greek converter has made towards an ideal of analog ease and naturalness isn’t subtle. A new generation of Siltech cables completed White’s masterpiece.

Valerio Cora, capo of Acora Acoustics, proudly had no new products to show off at CAF 2021—he had the same three speakers, fabricated from Black African granite, that he had when I saw him last at the Florida show in early 2020—but let it be known that he’s developing a larger speaker that won’t put consumers off. (“I don’t want it to weight 600 pounds.”) In 2022, Acora will be releasing equipment racks plus speaker and amplifier stands, all made from granite. Acora’s SRC-2 loudspeakers ($37,000) were powered by a pair of Audio Research 750E amplifiers ($75,000.) The analog front end included a Transrotor Massimo $16800) with a Transrotor SME tonearm ($4300) and a Dynavector DRT XV-1t cartridge ($9450), played through an Audio Research Ref PH10 phonostage ($33,000). Digital was courtesy of an Esoteric Grandioso K1X CD player/DAC ($37,000) and an Aurender N30SA server/streamer. Imaging with a string quartet recording was rock-solid (sorry), and the system was unfazed by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, played back from a 45rpm LP.

Capital Audio Fest 2021 | Andrew Quint

Overture Ultimate Home Electronics sought to give consumers a sense of the range of the products it carries, with close to 30 brands in evidence. Most were on silent display, but the two operational listening rooms focused on two manufacturers. The new edition of the classic Bowers & Wilkins 801, the D4 ($35000) was making its presence known. I know from experience that this speaker can be a bear to drive with authority; Overture had just the amplifiers to make them sing, a pair of McIntosh MC901s ($35,000) that have solid-state and tube sections for each channel, allowing for an optimized bi-amp setup without the need for an external crossover. Orchestral music was commanding and jazz acoustic bass had satisfying body and definition. Two affordable components from Rogue Audio were making their first appearances at CAF 2021, the Stereo 100 Dark amplifier ($4695) and the Ares Magnum II phonostage ($2995.)

“Nothing succeeds like excess,” wrote Oscar Wilde. Partnering with the Marietta, Georgia, dealership The Audio Company, Damon von Schweikert and Leif Swanson brought a no-holds-barred mega-system that featured the world debut of VAC Master 300 stereo/mono power amplifiers (price TBA)—four of them—driving Von Schweikert’s seven-foot tall Ultra 11 loudspeakers ($325,000) complemented with two Shockwave 12 subwoofers. A VAC Statement preamp and phonostage provided control. An Esoteric digital “stack” (total cost $123,000) and an Aurender W20SE ($25,000) handled the digits; the analog front end was a Kronos Pro turntable ($51,000) fitted with an Airtight Opus 1 cartridge ($16,000). Cabling was MasterBuilt throughout. Von Schweikert/VAC systems always impress with their ability to reproduce scale and even though the sound didn’t gel quite as magically as it has on other occasions, this iteration was as monumental as ever.

Spatial Audio introduced two new open-baffle loudspeakers, the X4 Passive ($7000/pr.) and the M4 Sapphire ($4250/pr.). The M4 is a smaller version of Spatial’s popular M3 with a Type M100 Uniwave device (a crossoverless dome midrange/treble driver) positioned above a pair of 12″ dipole woofers. The X4 is a full-range dipole with an AMT tweeter and, again, twin 12″ woofers. In turn, both were effectively powered by a Linear Tube Audio 240+ integrated amplifier ($7650), getting signal from a Holo Audio May KTE DAC; it was all connected up with Anticable interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords.

Capital Audio Fest 2021 | Andrew Quint

Time spent in a Salk Sound room rarely disappoints. Jim and Mary Salk were playing a two-and-a-half way floorstander, priced at $6000, that’s so new that it doesn’t actually have an official model designation. (Salk was leaning towards BePure 2—because the speaker has a beryllium tweeter and utilizes two 6″ woofers sourced from Purifi in Denmark.) Amplification was provided by a McGary Audio SA2 ($7985), a Class AB Ultralinear output-stage stereo tube amplifier that puts out an honest 40Wpc into an 8-ohm load, when KT88 tubes are used. The DAC was an Exogal Comet ($2500). As always, the caliber of the woodworking and finish was second to none. Natalie Merchant’s rendition of “The Peppery Man” with a gospel quartet was completely absorbing.

The Syracuse, NY dealer Tenacious Sound—love that name!—was playing Canton Reference 7K speakers ($6995). The associated electronics were to have been from the German manufacturer AVM Audio but an “emergency substitution” was needed and the Audio Hungary Qualiton X200 integrated ($8000) stepped into the breach. All went well with the unfamiliar (to me) Hungarian component pinch-hitting. A closely mic’d piano recording had plenty of headroom, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances (for once not the ubiquitous Minnesota recording on Reference but, instead, a recent DG release from Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra) manifested excellent dynamics, timbral accuracy, and detail.

I spent a very enjoyable stretch in the room sponsored by Audio Intellect, a largely on-line retailer run by industry veteran Dave Lalin. Right up against the wall, where they belonged, was a pair of Larsen 9 loudspeakers ($14,995). They performed well, but of greater interest to me was the 432 Evo line of music servers. This Belgian manufacturer makes three models, the first two of which are fully upgradable—The High End ($5500), The Aeon ($7500), and The Master ($16,000). I heard the High End and Aeon playing classical selections that were quite convincing in their timbral representation of solo instruments. Also holding forth in Room 307 was Bruce Schuettinger, the designer and builder of MosArt furniture. Schuettinger utilizes a material known as Black Diamond that’s made from resin-infused paper. In addition to its strength and durability, Black Diamond’s mechanical properties are ideal for audio applications. The custom-built amp stands and equipment rack in the room were also quite attractive.

Volti Audio makes high-sensitivity horn speakers and brought two models to CAF, the Razz ($5900 to $6900, depending on finish) and the New Rival ($11,500 to $15,000) that is, indeed, a new product. Designer Greg Roberts now has the boards for the cabinets cut with a CNC machine instead of doing it himself by hand. I got to hear the latter, which sports a 100dB-sensitivity specification; these loudspeakers are clearly aimed at audiophiles partial to low-powered amplifiers. Volti cohabited Room 316 with Border Patrol, presenting both their 20Wpc push/pull P21EXD power amplifier ($13,375 and up, depending on the 300B output tubes selected) and the 8Wpc SE300B SET ($13,150 and up.) Border Patrol’s DAC S/SE-I are also sold in a range of versions ($1075 to $1950.)

Wells Audio, of Campbell California, has offered its electronics only by direct-to-consumer sales since the beginning of 2021. The company builds products at a number of different “levels,” with the base model always upgradable. New at CAF were the Cipher tube DACs, priced at $5000 for the base model and $13,000 for the Level II version. In a system employing an Innuos ZENith Mk3 server ($4699 to $7949, depending on the amount of SSD storage) plus Wells’s Innamorata II Level II dual mono amplifier ($15000) and a Commander Level III tube linestage ($18,000), a pair of Andrew Jones-vintage TAD Evolution One loudspeakers delivered realistic and involving sound with an old RCA Heifetz recording.

Nola had two new products to introduce, the CHAMP 3 ($9500), a five-driver, three-and-a-half-way open-baffle design, and the Metro Grand Gold Series 3 ($60,000) that CEO Carl Marchisotto referred to as “the best we can do at this size”—that is, a 95 lb. floorstander that’s 45 inches tall and appropriates only about a square foot of floor space. The latter was demonstrated with a VAC Sigma 170i integrated amplifier, a long-in-the-tooth Audio Research Reference CD 8, and Nordost cabling and, in a room that was probably too large to show off Marchisotto’s design to its best advantage, the speaker held its own with music characterized by challenging dynamics and bass content.

Capital Audio Fest 2021 | Andrew Quint

Philharmonic Audio is a DC-area company but definitely not one of the “tinkerers” that Alan referred to above. The brand doesn’t have a dealer network but has a worldwide constituency for its speakers. The new BMR Tower ($3700) is a transmission-line design employing a Revelator woofer to produce a reported in-room response down to 25Hz. In a system including a Topping DAC and preamp and a Hypex SMPS1200A400   power amplifier, the speakers fared extremely well on both large-scale orchestral and chamber music. On the basis of sonics alone, the speakers are a bargain; add in the exquisite carpentry and finish and they become an incredible bargain.

Aaron and Jessica Sherrick brought enough gear from Now Listen Here, their dealership in Harrisburg, PA, to keep three rooms hopping. I heard two.  Fyne Audio’s F1-10 loudspeakers ($31,995) fronted a system that also featured Chord electronics—the Ultima 5 amplifier ($13,195), Chord Ultima Pre 2 preamplifier ($17,995), DAVE DAC ($12,595), and the Symphonic phonostage ($4495)—a VPI Prime Signature 21 turntable ($8250), and Transparent Ultra Gen V cables. John Campbell’s “Down in the Hole” was devastating. In a good way.

Capital Audio Fest 2021 | Andrew Quint

In the next room over, the main attraction was the latest version of Joseph Audio’s standmount, the Pulsar 2 graphene ($8999), a speaker that produces room-filling sound that belies its modest dimensions. The supporting cast included a Bel Canto e1X integrated, a VPI Prime 21 turntable ($5000), Transparent Super cables, and a Transparent PowerWave power conditioner ($1995).

Daedalus Audio had loudspeakers playing in a couple of rooms, but I was especially taken with the Muse Studio floorstanders ($11,850), described by the manufacturer as a “near/midfield” speaker. They shone in a system that included Linear Tube Audio electronics—the LTA Micro ZOTL Level 2 preamp ($5750), LTA Ultralinear plus power amplifier ($6800), Lampizator digital components—the Super Komputer music server ($8000) and Baltic 3 DAC ($6450—and WyWires for cabling. Two show attendees walked in, announced “Too loud!” and immediately left. They were wrong. Rather, the sound was tactile and satisfyingly full, demanding to be listened to with one’s full attention.

 

 

Andrew Quint’s Best Of Show

Best Sound of CAF 2021
The Voice that Is: Ideon/TIDAL/Siltech

Best New Product
Salk Audio BePure 2 loudspeaker

Best Value
“Actually Fairly Inexpensive” division: Philharmonic Audio BMR Tower loudspeaker ($3700/pair). “It’s All Relative” division: Alta Audio Alec loudspeaker ($10,000/pair)

Best Seminar
“Presenting the Theremin, with Arthur Harrison of Harrison Instruments, Inc.”
The guy builds and sells theremins—think of the films Spellbound and The Day the Earth Stood Still. The technical explanations he provided and the stories he told were   extremely informative, and Sullivan played the theremin he assembled while speaking quite capably. He needed to be kept on point by the audience (a total of five people) but it was well worth it.

 

Best Demo
Acora Acoustics
The Canadian singer Anne Bisson sang live and unamplified accompanied by the audio system described above. The demonstration showed how far high-fidelity audio reproduction has come—and how far there is to go.

 

Tags: CAPITAL AUDIO FEST SHOW REPORT

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