Day 2: Geez Why Is Housekeeping Knocking on My Door at 7 AM?

[MylesBAstor]

Knock, knock.

Why in tarnation is housekeeping knocking on my door at 7 am in the morning? I rolled over to check the time and OMG it's ten o'clock! (Turned out I set the alarm on my phone but didn't save it!) Day two of the show is in full swing and I'm still in bed. A quick shower, jump in my clothers, grab a quick bite to eat for breakfast and day two of CAF 2019 is on the road.

[MylesBAstor]

Spoiler alert. The GT Audiowork's room could be my choice for best big system sound at this year's Capital Audiofest.

GT Audio's planar dynamic speakers have been on my radar screen ever since my first introduction to them at a CAF several years ago. The sound of their room has improved with each successive show in part due to changes to the speaker and in part due to changes in the ancillary equipment. And this year was certainly no exception. Speaker design Greg Takesh continues to refine the speakers beginning with the drivers (this year's model uses a different diaphragm material), the crossover, the parts, etc. That was coupled with Greg and his LI dealer Steve Rabitz of Sound Insight going all out on the supporting ancillary gear too.

The system consisted of GTA's latest $23k 3.1R planar/ribbon speakers plus open baffle subs (starting at $7K) driven by PASS XS 150 amplifiers. Rounding out the electronics were PASS' XS line and phonostage. The analog source was Basis Audio's Transcendence turntable (first time I've seen one at an audio show) plus 9-inch Super Arm holding a MySonic Ultra Eminent cartridge. Cabling was provided by Triode Labs.

Garbage in, garbage out still rules and it was clear that these full range GTA speakers are revealing of everything in front of them. I was very impressed with the sound of the Basis table and the sizeable improvement in sound of the GT Audio room. Yes the speakers did what the best of well designed diploar planars do. Speed, resolution and snap. But this year's system was far better integrated and considerably more transparent than in past years. There was just less between you and the performers. With a far less mechanical quality.
The speakers also did--MBL 101s come to mind here--what few other speakers do. The admittedly large GT Audio 3.1Rs simply disappeared into the background and threw a realistically sized soundstage; yet the images weren't overblown. Images were solid and the smallest nuances were brought to the fore. These are definitely speakers that belong on every audiophiles must listen bucket list.

[MylesBAstor]

The Audio Company's room featuring the likes of Valve Amplification Company, Kronos, Von Schweikert and Masterbuilt cables was d

irectly across the atrium from the GT Audioworks room

. This monster system was anchored by the imposing von Schweikert Ultra 11 speakers and powered subs along with VAC's recently released and brand new Statement 452iQ amplifiers, VAC's Statement Line and Phonostages, Kronos table/Ultracap power supply/Black Beauty arm/Opus 1 cartridge and what seemed like several miles of Masterbuilt cabling. The total cost of the system? Somewhere north of a cool million dollars.

The new, fully balanced, 450 wpc VAC Statement 452iQ amplifiers (225 wpc/dual mono) obviously draw from the styling of VAC's recently introduced integrated amplifier. The new 452iQs run $150,000/pair and feature Kevin Hayes' patented continuous automatic tube biasing circuitry and an octet of horizontally mounted KT88s per side.

The sound here was big and bold, perhaps even a bit more dynamic than in past years.

[DanyelfromGermany]

But a lot of money... Miles what did you think about the Kronos turntable? Did you ever had the change to listen to SRA Seismograph turntable,
not necessary to use most expensive tonarms and cartridges, ok the SRA Seismograph turntable is not really cheap, but worth the money and it shows how important is the turntable, second the arm and if you use it with cheap Audio Technica it sounds great. Regards Danyel

[MylesBAstor]

Jay Truitt and 20/20 Evolution Systems other room featured the highly regarded Gryphon electronics and speakers from Denmark. On display was the $61,000 Gryphon Mephisto amplifier driving a pair of $62,000 Gryphon Pantheon Reference speakers. (I don't know the linestage model as this was swapped out because of issues on Friday.) Sources included a Sonorus reel-to-reel machine and Gryphon's $39,000 Ethos CD player. Truitt Physics provided some prototype wiring to round out the system.

Philip O'Hanlon (proprietor of On A Higher Note) and person responsible for the re-introduction of Gryphon into the North American market after an 18 year absence journeyed out from San Juan Capistrano to support Jay Truitt. Philip and I had fun staying up late Friday night trying to figure out what was wrong with the system before finally replacing the linestage.

The highlight of the room occurred when Philip pulled out a 15 ips copy off the master tape of Linda Ronstadt's What's New and spooled it up on the Sonorus machine. I don't think I've heard a better Ronstadt recording with every song on reel A a hit. The tape really showed off the Gryphon system's considerable strengths including its scale of size, smoothness, effortlessness, resolution and soundstaging. My only quibble was a slight darkness permeating the sound. Definitely another contender.

[MylesBAstor]

Dave Slagle and EMIA brought along a pair of Kent McCollum/Electrostatic Solution's stacked, direct drive Quad 57 speakers. Equipment aside, Dave's room is an analog heaven stocked with the latest releases from The Electric Recording Company. Pricey, super limited (300 albums) pressing but the last several releases I've heard have sounded quite nice. A smattering of the ERC releases can be seen in front of the Quads.

Something was off with the table as there were some obvious tracking issues on the Nina Simone LP I had Dave play.

[MylesBAstor]

Krell and Alta Audio partnered up once again at Capital Audiofest. Michael Levy, designer of the Alta Audio speakers, brought his $10K Alec speakers while Walter Schofield from Krell provided a Krell 300XC amplifier and $7700 Illusion preamplifier. New and making its debut at Capital Audiofest was Krell's newest phonostage (Price TBD). A $15K VPI 40th Anniversary turntable was on hand to spin 12-inch black discs. The sound was, unfortunately, really hampered by the room, its layout and open areas.

[MylesBAstor]

Tom Fine gave two presentations about his and Ryan Smith's remastering of the first two recordings from the Mercury Living Presence vaults for Analogue Productions to standing room audiences. Not to mention one of my show highlights. Tom always gives interesting seminars and is always more than willing to answer audience questions! Not to mention playing tracks from the test pressings. Thanks also go to Robin Wyatt of Robyatt Audio sponsoring Tom's talk. Robin is really one of the cool guys in audio and an encyclopedia of knowledge about vintage gear (not to mention owning a lot of it). It's great to finally see these recordings finally get the treatment they disturb. The first Dorati/LSO/Starker LP received one of my PF 2019 POY awards and the release of Bach Solo Cello Suites with Starker box set is imminent.

[MylesBAstor]

Michel Plante from Canada and the Montreal Audio Show was seen around Capital Audiofest.

[MylesBAstor]

Daedalus speakers, Linear Tube Audio, Lampizator, VPI and WyWires teamed up and assembled one of the better sounding systems at

this year's Capital Audiofest.

The system consisted of:

Daedalus Apollo 11 speakers (starting at $22,800)
BOW 12-inch passive subwoofer ($2290 each)
Linear Tube Audio LTA microZOTL preamplifier
LTA Ultralinear Power amplifier ($6800)
LTA ZOTL 40 Reference EL-34 based amplifier powering the subs ($6800)
LampizatOr Vinyl Phono 1 phonostage ($6600)
WyWires Diamond series IC, Platinum series power cords, WyWires/Daedaulus speaker cables
VPI Prime Signature Turntable/Soundsmith Hyperion II-ES cartridge

Daedalus speakers have always had a well deserved reputation for being very listenable and smooth; this year the system's dynamics started to catch up with it's other qualities. Of course these big speakers just filled the big room with huge sound. Note to self. Definitely need to give the Lampi phonostage (that uses different tubes to select gain) another listen.

[MylesBAstor]

Another really good--no make that excellent sounding room--was the Convergent Audio Technology/Finest Fidelity room. Ken Stevens, designer of the CAT tube gear brought down three amplifiers including his entry level KT120 based JL5 stereo amplifier (in the equipment rack), the KT88 based Monoblock JL7 amplifiers (outside the equipment rack) and finally the brand new, pure Class A, 280 wpc KT150 based monoblock Statement amplifiers (next to the speakers) along with his Legend preamplifier. VPI's 40th Anniversary table outfitted a vdh Crimson Strad cartridge spun records and the speakers were KEF Blade 2s. vdh cabling rounded out the audio system.

Now I've had several opportunities to hear the KEF Blades and getting a read on their sound has been elusive. The Blades have sounded bad at some shows and they put their best foot forward (granted Blade 1s) at VPI's driven by the Merrill Audio Element 118 amplifiers. So go figure.

The Blade 2s really shown at the CAF 2019 driven by Ken's new Statement amplifiers. (I'll hopefully get a chance to hear these $210K monsters at a home in the near future!) Not only did the speakers completely disappear but they allowed the system to transcend that boundary between reproduced and live music. There was a pronounced lack of artificiality and perhaps the best upper octaves I've heard from CAT electronics eg. none of the prototypical softening there. Like the GT Audioworks room, there was also just a reduction in that artificial wall between the listener and performer. Definitely another amplifier that is going to be talked about a lot down the road.

PS. In case you're wondering, the equipment rack is the long discontinued Arcici Suspense rack made by the late Ray Shab. Ray was truly one of the good guys in the industry and his loss is always felt.

[curbfeeler]

Always interesting to speak with Ken Stevens at the shows.

[DanyelfromGermany]

Is CAT still in the business, in Germany we did not hear much about them... Regards Danyel

[MylesBAstor]

Now Listen Here put together some of the more modest rooms at this years Capital Audiofest 2019 featuring $4750 Egglestonworks Nico EVO speakers, $2995 Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III, VPI Prime Signature and Audience cabling.

[MylesBAstor]

I first heard the $28K Acora (Audio Creations Outperforming and Redefining Acoustics) Acoustic's SRC-1 speakers at Axpona 2018 where they left a favorable impression on me. Acora then came to Axpona 2019 with an all digital based playback system that didn't leave as favorable an impression. Then Acora went all out here at CAF 2019 with a tube based Audio Research system that included a Ref. 750SE amplifier and Ref. 10 Linestage that definitely didn't disappoint. Records were spun on a TW-Acustics Raven GT turntable with the signal fed to an Esoteric E-02 Phono preamplifier. Cardas Clear Beyond interconnect, phono, speaker and power cabling were used throughout the system.

What's interesting about the Acora speakers is that they don't make a lasting first impression. No, they're not physically imposing (though they weigh 246 pounds per side), don't have a million drivers, don't use some fancy space age materials, etc. No. But one listen tells you that designer Valerio Cora is onto something here. These two speakers use ultra-dense Granite cabinets plus a 7-inch sandwich paper cone and 1-inch soft dome ring radiator tweeter.

Nor does the sound hit you at first. But like better products, the longer you listen, the more you realize they sound like real music. Very easy to listen to yet not lacking resolution defines the speaker's sonic signature.

[MylesBAstor]

A few shots of the VPI/Merrill Audio/Genesis room right before the Saturday night party.

[MylesBAstor]

Harpist Isabeau Corriveau performing at VPI's Saturday night party. (Third and fourth pictures from top of post): Mat and Jane Weisfeld with their daughter Shyla aka next generation of audiophile Weisfelds.

[MylesBAstor]

Some extra pictures.