CAF 2025

 

 

This year’s Capital Audiofest turned into an absolute showstopper! What started as a modest, personal, nerdy hifi get-together back in 2010 has morphed into a show that rivals any other in the USA. I have to admit, I was caught off guard by the incredible growth that was apparent as soon as I walked through the Hilton’s double doors in Rockville, MD. The sheer scale of this venue and the event took me aback. As usual, the big rooms were held in the grand ballroom-sized suites located on the ground floor. Starting on the 8th floor and snaking my way through the building, I was intimidated by how many manufacturers were actually in attendance.

 

The list of attendees literally froze me in my tracks, knowing I only had one day to get through this event. In addition, I was running into so many old faces from years past, it made it all the more impossible to get to where I wanted to go. Truth is, it’s really the people who make the show, as I’ve lost my compulsion to try something new a very long time ago. Personally, I find it very rewarding to say, “I’ve found what I was looking for.” It takes so much stress off attending events like these. Yes, quite a few systems hit the proverbial LIKE button for me, but not after seeing the sticker price! I never said OUCH so much in my life as much as I did at this audiofest.

 

I gotta admit, the hallways were busy, the elevators packed, and the rooms were well attended. But most important was the smiles and friendly atmosphere that was immediate on this relatively warm Saturday afternoon.

 

Thanks, in large part, to the Capital Audiofest staff and its leader, Gary Gill, for hosting such a fantastic show. While I was reminded of the pre-COVID days of RMAF, nothing was more of a blast from the past than running into its former curator, Marjorie Baumert (along with her late husband, Al Stiefel).

 

After a decent breakfast with my good friend and neighbor, Oliver Solomon of Delve Audio, we went our respective ways to capture what we could.

I hope to offer much more commentary in the coming days, but first, I wanted to serve it up as a teaser. Stay tuned for more…

 

This is from Greg Takesh…I have partnered with these dealers and manufacturers before, but I gotta tell ya that the Transformatic Tara 30 tube preamp put the system over the top, but at $80k, it damn well better! As for my Giulietta Bellissima speakers. They are named after my late wife, whom I lost to cancer only a year ago. I had dropped off the high-end audio scene for a few years to take care of her. One of the last things she told me was not to sit around and mourn her; she wanted me to get back to work. At shows starting in 2012 at the NY audio show at the Waldorf and CAF, she was my right hand, keeping me focused; she was always one step ahead of what I needed. So here I am back with my best design to date.

GT Audio Works Specs. 3-way planar magnetic bass panel, planar magnetic midrange, and a pure ribbon tweeter using an impedance matching transformer. 81 inches tall x 22″ wide x 3″ deep. All drivers are my own proprietary design, built in my NJ shop using high-energy Neodymium magnets. What sets my design apart from others is that there are no electrical filters on the bass panel.

Its frequency response is tuned and damped mechanically, so there is nothing electrical between the amp and the planar magnetic panel. This driver is more than a bass driver, it covers a wide range, think of it as a large coherent single driver.

Its slope is relatively shallow and gradually blends well with the mid driver and ribbon drivers, each of which uses a single high-quality capacitor (VH Audio V-Cap ODAM). I use this method because it creates a very firm handshake between the driving amp and the planar panel without any phase, capacitance, or parasitic electrical losses. This gives my speaker jump factor and resolution that is lost on a lot of other designs using electrical filters on the main driver. 93 dB and a benign 6 Ohm load make it an easy speaker to drive. The Westminster 100 wpc class A monoblocks we used were more than enough. I use Manley Snappers 100 wpc EL34 monoblocks in my home system.

Unique Home Audio LLC of Dunedin, FL put on a hell of a demo that featured the Popori Acoustics WR2 Arrabona electrostats ($35k), Atmasphere Class D amps ($6200), VIABLUE cables(?), BACCH SP ($30k), AGY AC powerline filter ($4500), and a glowing plasma red, pyramid-shaped, custom-built music server made by none other than the Audiophile Junkie! (I love that guy for turning me to the BACCH). 

The first thing I asked was “where’s the subwoofers?” “There are none,” was the response. I then gathered myself, listened more intently, and discovered that the Popori Acoustics WR2 Arrabonas are expensive, yes, but cheap compared to other electrostats, especially in terms of looks and performance. I’m pretty familiar with the BACCH SP and consider it a Godsend for anyone trying to enhance their system’s performance (especially a digitally based one). Of all the folks at the show, Unique Home Audio was the only one boasting a BACCH setup, and it was immediately apparent from the low-end energy produced in this way-too-small-for-this-system hotel room. Marvelous!