Capital Audiofest 2018

[davide256]

Wondering if anyone else is planning on attending ?(event date Nov 2-4 2018, Rockville MD) Will be there Sat/Sun. I plan to take pictures and share anything that stands out.

While its not digital, I always find the afternoon VPI session fun. Doesn't look like this year includes Head-Fi/CANJAM participation

[Rt66indierock]

I was asked to cover it by another publication but since I couldn't be bothered to walk four blocks to it when it was in Silver Spring Maryland wouldn't I be a hypocrite to get on a plane to cover it? I look forward to your reports. 

[Sonicularity]

I'm on the other side of the Potomac and traffic is gnarly heading that direction.  I'd love to be there, but I'm probably going to adhere to  REM's plea about Rockville.

[dtb300]

Traffic is gnarly no matter where you are in the area.....  

[Ralf11]

you mean ground traffic??

 

 

why aren't you guys back East using autonomous Zeppelins like the rest of us?

[frederick184]

I’m in Frederick, and will try to go on Sunday.

 

colin

[davide256]

So, finally getting around to posting, overall this year was a better sounding year than last year. Laptops used as source  shrank, far more rooms were using servers and

streamers this year.  Prana and TAD systems really caught my ear. Look for individual room posts to follow as I sort out pictures taken and match them up to add component

names with any impressions. Overall I tried to take pictures only where I liked something about the system so you can assume I liked something in any room  called out.

[davide256]

This was my favorite room for the show, the Frederick room for Prana distribution. Listening to music here was like walking through a  beautifully done garden;

it flowed, had vibrant color and nothing felt out of place. It made you want to curl up with a book and just bathe in the sound for a few hours. Bass was a

"why is this hard?" experience. But 8' tall speakers in a system costing several hundred thousand makes it an island few can go to.

 

System components

Soul Sonic Hologramm X speakers
Audionec SDV5-S Server/DAC
Grandinote Demone MonoBlocks
Grandinote Genesi Preamp
Verastarr Grand Illusion Statement Cables
Pure Power Conditioning

 

 

[davide256]

Bricasti caught my ear  when I walked by, one of the few rooms unabashedly playing classical. Lots of power, subtlety... but the speaker choice or room setup kind of

limited the overall effect.  parttimeaudiophile.com did a fairly extensive  review, worth looking at. I know I'd be willing to consider Bricasti components now

after hearing their sound under less than ideal circumstances

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2018/10/29/rmaf-2018-bricasti-tidal-the-present-truth/

 

 

 

[davide256]

This was my second favorite room at the show (Lincoln room - system 2) by Tenacious Audio, not a cheap system at about $250K but it did

everything right. Initially I was a little underwhelmed because they were playing vinyl and the highs just seemed MIA but they switched after request

to media  server for classical music and everything snapped into place. Another listener asked if they could play a 2L choral recording they had, it was absolutely glorious

for spot on harmonics, voicing and sound stage. Tenacious also made it easy to keep track of system used, handing out a card listing the system components in their

different rooms. Components heard

 

TAD E1TX loudspeakers

TAD C600 pre

Coda System 250 amp (don't believe these were in use)

TAD M600 mono amps ( definitely in use when I was listening)

BAT REX DAC

TAD D600/SACD/CD/DAC

Wolf Audio 3 media server

Isotek EVO3 Mosaic Genesis (power regenerator)

Fieckert Firebird Turntable with Koetsu cartridge

Audience "Front Row" cables

 

 

[davide256]

I ran into Paradigm/Anthem setup in rm 309. The difference Anthem Room Correction makes for flattening out bass response issues is impressive, especially given

the contrast of how so many other rooms sounded boomy or boxy. The setup here was minimalist, Quobuz from a laptop feeding the built in DAC of an Anthem

STR integrated amplifier, in turn powering Paradigm Persona 5F's. Despite the simple setup playback was compelling, it just made you itch to add in a better source that could

bring out more than a simple laptop could. I'll be keeping a future eye on Anthem to see how their ARC enabled amplification evolves.

 

 

[davide256]

Salk in rm 512 was well worth visiting. Excellent speakers and setup, good digital source. It was one of the few rooms that did cymbals right, no splat, just shimmer

and sheen. Overall a great system where my only quibble was that the tube amplifier sometimes got a bit too sweet/syrupy. The Salk Streamplayer Gen III SE is a pretty

good Roon source   and a price of $2495 for a 2TB i7 server isn't exorbitant

 

Salk Streamplayer media server

Exogal DAC

Mc Gary SA 1 tube amplifier

Salk Song3 BeAT speakers

[davide256]

I really liked room 319 system 2 for Tenacious Audio,  a powerhouse system sound with clean harmonics, good dynamics, transients, tone color,  no problems with

room acoustics. Ordinarily I don't go for the "put most of your money in the speakers" approach but this system seemed well mated and demonstrated

that it is possible to get great sound in a small space with the right gear.

 

TAD ME speakers

Primare Pre 35 pre ( I'm guessing that this also included their DAC option since it showed PC/MAC during play)

Coda S20 amplifier

Wolf media server

 

 

 

[Hugo9000]

Thanks for posting pictures and impressions!