Capital Audiofest - Rockville, Maryland - November 11-13, 2022 - Show Report by Carlo Lo Raso and Craig Chase

Welcome to the Capital Audiofest, the East Coast’s Favorite Audio Show! CAF started out in 2010 as a very casual show and has evolved into a well-organized and well-attended event that most everyone in the audio industry knows about.

Carlo Lo Raso, Secrets’ Associate Editor-in-Chief, and Craig Chase are reporting.

Hello Secrets readers! We are at Capital AudioFest 2022 this weekend (Nov 11 -13) in Rockville, Maryland, about 40 minutes outside of Washington DC. The show is held at the Twinbrook Hilton hotel, and it has developed a reputation (along with Florida and Pacific AudioFest) as one of the important regional audio shows on the calendar. There looks to be plenty of great and interesting gear on display, along with a few surprises as well. Secrets reviewer Craig Chase and I will be updating our coverage daily through the show, and after, to get you as much information as possible. All prices listed are in US dollars. So, without further ado, let’s get down to it!

All the best!

Carlo Lo Raso

Co-Editor-In-Chief.

Day 1

Carlo Lo Raso

Fidelity Imports is currently a US distributor for up to 17 different audio brands and they were hosting a number of rooms featuring many of their clients. One room showcased Italian audio manufacturers Audia Flight and Alare Labs and some of their both beautiful looking, and sounding, gear. I spoke with one of the company founders Massimiliano Marzi, and he explained to me that one of the goals of the company was to create quality handmade Italian audio products that would stand the test of time and have a certain level of upgradability. Several of their components are equipped with a pair of expansion bays on the back panel allowing various optional input, phono stage and DAC cards to be added at any point.

The system consisted of the Audia Flight FL CD THREE S ($4,498 with optional digital input board) which was attached to an Audia Flight STRUMENTO No.1 Preamplifier ($19,999) and a STRUMENTO No. 4 Stereo Power amplifier ($25,999) and finally to a pair of new ALARE Remiga 1 floor-standing speakers (Price TBD). The speakers themselves were a 3-way tapered transmission line design, one of the larger ones that I’ve seen. Keeping in mind the imperfect nature of hotel listening rooms the system did extremely well putting out that big, lush yet detailed sound that I associate with Italian audio. Bravo!

Meanwhile, another of the Fidelity Import rooms featured decidedly all-British fare. A pair of Acoustic Energy AE520 3-way slimline floor-standing loudspeakers ($5,000 per pair) were being powered by a fiery red English Acoustics Stereo 21c tube power amplifier ($7,500) putting out 14 watts per channel in ultra-linear mode. This was controlled by a Cyrus Audio preamplifier ($1,600) with a beautiful and unique Mitchell Audio Gyro SE turntable ($4,000) using a CUSIS M moving coil cartridge ($2,700). The resulting sound was smooth and very appealing.

Going to another Fidelity Imports room for “some more Italian,” we found the pretty Opera Quinta SE 3-way Loudspeakers ($6,999 per pair) powered by the Unison Research DUE integrated amp ($3,999). The DUE is a hybrid design with a tube preamp section mated to a 100-watt per-channel solid-state amp section. Unison Research also had their beautiful Sinfonia Pure Class-A integrated tube amp ($6,499). It puts out 25-watts per channel and is adorned with a stunning solid wood enclosure and comes with a matching wood-trimmed remote control. Again, given the acoustics of the room, that signature Italian sound came through loud and clear.

Moving on to something different, the Salk Sound room was featuring the slightly imposing Salk BePure3 3-way floor-standing loudspeakers. Salk loudspeakers are known for their impeccable wood finishing, and these were no exception, showing off a gorgeous and vivid grain pattern. The speakers start at $19,995 for the pair and use a Satori Beryllium tweeter in a wave guide along with a 6.5” midrange driver and 8” woofer made by Purifi Audio. Connected electronics included examples of Salk’s own streaming devices, the StreamPlayer Gen III and Gen II SE ($1,895 and $2,695 respectively), a Holo Audio Spring 3 DAC ($2,198 – $3,698 depending on configuration), and a pair of MA1 monoblock tube amps from Mc Gary Audio (Price TBD). Impressive and impactful sounding room.

Geshelli Labs was also in attendance at Capital AudioFest. This fun little family operation out of Florida has quickly made a name for themselves in the headphone amp and DAC market offering great performing products at reasonable prices while offering a ton of casework personalization options in the bargain. Their J2 DACs start at $249.99 while their amps start at $189.99. All are designed and assembled in Florida.

Here at the show, they were displaying each model of their headphone amp and DAC lineup in various creative enclosure options from aluminum with clear or colored windows to handmade wood enclosures. Of note is that their J2 DAC can be ordered with either ESS or AKM chipsets again.

But beyond that, Geshelli Labs has been quietly working on their own concept and design for a new integrated amplifier called the Zoofa and, this year, they’ve brought a prototype to the show. Please check out the video below for the full scoop on a truly unique piece of gear.

Craig Chase

Perlisten, who is also distributed by Fidelity Imports, had their flagship model S7T speakers ($9,995 each in high gloss Ebony finish) on display this weekend. Carlo reviewed these last year for Secrets and they received both a “Best Of Award “and are listed in our Recommended Gear section.

They were being driven by a new player in electronics from Japan, SoulNote. They had an impressive selection of beautiful-looking high-end gear in the room. They were featuring their P3 preamp ($24,999), a pair of M3 monoblock amps ($24,999 each), the S3 SACD player ($19,999), a D2 DAC ($8,999) and their E2 Phono Equalizer ($8,999). Note that the E2 Phono Stage is set up to work with DS Audio Optical phono cartridges as well as standard MM and MC carts.

Carlo mentioned that he thought the S7T sounded a little constrained here as opposed to when he reviewed them in his larger room at home, which is to be expected. Dealing with the acoustics in hotel rooms is a challenge for any audio manufacturer.

Even with this in mind, they sounded fantastic with deep bass and excellent overall performance. This was my first exposure to Perlisten speakers and it’s easy to see why the company has gone from zero to 35 dealers in the USA and multiple countries around the globe.

In another Fidelity Imports room, French company Diptyque was showing their least expensive speakers available in the USA, the DP107 @ $7,999 per pair. They were being driven by an all Cyrus Audio front end with the Pre-XR preamp ($5,499), two 300 watt class AB Mono Signature power amps ($3,999) and an Innuos Zen streamer.

The entire system is about $20,000 and was surprisingly powerful for a ribbon design. Considering the room, the soundstage was both deep and wide, with bass extending to the 50 Hz range. This French speaker looks quite competitive in that under $10k range.

And Cyrus Audio is one of the few companies out there that makes really top-shelf equipment in a smaller form factor. All Cyrus equipment is well appointed and as Nick Clarke, Cyrus’s Managing Director showed us, they are built extremely solidly. These things are not made from plastic, check out the cast aluminum casing of one of their components. Incredibly robust and well made, all in the UK.

JansZen Electrostatic out of Columbus, Ohio is a loudspeaker company with a heritage going back over 6 decades. Their new assault on the state of the art is a hybrid speaker standing over 6 feet tall and with a quite reasonable $19,500 price for such an ambitious loudspeaker.

Each speaker has six 8-inch woofers and electrostatic midrange and tweeter panels that afford a constant vertical image for listeners from 24 inches to about 70 inches.

They were being demonstrated with AGD Productions who are known for their GaN-FET amps in tube housings. The combination showed off a full range sound with excellent dynamics and imaging in a less than stellar environment.

Treehaus Audiolab wins the award for the most unique look at the show. The huge planks of real trees are used for the baffle in their National Treasure open-baffle Field Coil loudspeakers (starting at $16,000 per pair).

The speakers are a ten-inch full range design being operated without a crossover. A super tweeter with a high pass filter combines with a bi-amped 15-inch woofer which is low passed at 90 Hz to make for a remarkably good-sounding full-range system.

Treehaus Audiolab builds everything to custom order and was driving their speakers with their bespoke tube preamp ($16,000) and power amp ($17,500). Based on listening today, these are far more than just artistic statements. They deserve a review!

Day 2

Carlo Lo Raso

Amped America specializes in making high-performance audio gear in simple understated black boxes, designed and assembled in the USA. Case in point, the new Amped America AAP-1 Preamp/DAC/phono stage ($3,000) mated to their AMP 2400 power amp ($5,000). The AMP 2400 a Class-D stereo amplifier rated at 400 watts into 8 Ohms and 800 watts into 4 Ohms. This setup was paired with a set of loudspeakers from the Czech Republic called the Acoustique Quality Passion Fever (great name and $9,000 for the pair) along with a Music Hall MH Stealth Direct Drive turntable ($1,649). Really nice, appealing sound quality with plenty of headroom for the price.

Alma Music & Audio, a dealer with locations on both the east and west coasts, sponsored a few rooms at the show. This one featured the exquisite-looking Qln Signature monitor speakers in a piano burl walnut finish ($24,000 + $2,000 for stands). These were mated to a full suite of Nagra gear ($83,650 for the lot), an MSB Premiere DAC ($29,500), and Innuos Statement Music Server ($21,700), and a Gigawatt PC-4 power conditioner ($14,500). The cables were by Kubala-Sosna. I confess to being a little underwhelmed, for whatever reason, when I heard the Qln speaker generational prototypes at AXPONA earlier this year. But listening here, this was 180 degrees of difference. Whether it was the speakers, the room, or a combination of the two, these speakers sounded worlds better here in DC. Sweet and engaging with a palpable level of bass impact. Very nice!

Alma Music & Audio was also hosting a room full of Technics gear. Of particular interest was the SB-G90M2 loudspeakers ($5,398 per pair) which I hadn’t heard yet, run by the Technics SU-R1000 integrated amp ($9,499) which I have heard and am finishing up a review on. The source during my visit was the venerable SL-1210G Direct Drive turntable ($3,999) with Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 cartridge ($999). This room was a really enjoyable listen and I sat here for a good while. The speakers sounded nicely balanced through their range and didn’t appear to have any noticeable response issues. They imaged very well thanks to their coaxial drivers, and the integrated amp had plenty of kick to deliver to the speakers when they asked for it.

TriangleArt had a room that was brimming with roughly $250,000 worth of their fine, almost jewel-like, equipment. It was an over-the-top end-to-end solution that is the stuff of dreams (mine) and it was just crazy fun to both look at and listen to.

Songer Audio had two stunning-looking speaker examples playing at the show that they alternated over the course of the weekend. The S1 ($37,000 per pair) is a single-driver ported tower while the S2 is a two-driver dipole design. Both feature a newly designed and handmade full-range field-coil driver and cabinets made from solid hardwoods with furniture grade finishes. The S2 ($37,000 per pair) is augmented below 130 Hz with a 15-inch bass driver from Acoustic Elegance. I’m no expert in the technology but, as I understand it, the behavior of the field coil driver can be modified by adjusting the amount of current coming to each driver from its PS1 variable field coil power supply ($3,000 per pair). The speakers were being driven by a Whammerdyne DGA1 Ultra tube amplifier ($5,995) and a Topping D90SE DAC ($899). Did I have a favorite of the two? I think I liked the imaging of the S2 dipole just a little bit more but both speakers sounded great, given the size of the room. A bigger room would have probably allowed them to shine even more.

Fern & Roby Audio were featuring their The Raven III loudspeakers ($8,500 per pair) which used full-range drivers from SEAS. The company was also using its Custom Reference turntable with Schroder CB Tonearm ($16,500). The DAC used was the Weiss DAC501 ($9,645). Power and control electronics were provided by ModWright Instruments and cabling was from Black Cat Cables. Another fun-sounding single-driver speaker room.

Another Fidelity Imports sponsored room featured the Q-Acoustics Concept 50 loudspeakers ($2,995 per pair), connected to electronics by M2Tech. The electronics consisted of the Nash Preamp ($899), the Van Der Graff Mk2 Power Supply ($699), and a pair of Crosby stereo power amps ($699 each) bridged to mono. In a nutshell, a stylish, compact, and great sounding system for a very approachable price.

Black Ice Audio has a reputation for making great sounding and approachably priced tube gear with a good deal of circuit design wizardry courtesy of Jim Fosgate. For the demo I experienced, a prototype PC-based music server was connected to a Fusion F360 Preamp ($2,500), an F35 Integrated amp ($3,000), a pair of F100 monoblocks ($8,450 for a pair) and two pairs of Klipsch Forte IV loudspeakers ($4,998 per pair), a pair in front and a pair in the rear. The rear pair was used to demonstrate some of the 360 Space Matrix sound expansion circuitry of the F360 preamp, along with the soundstage shaping abilities for the front channels. It was fun experimenting with the different effects; they definitely sound different. Be even with all that stuff turned off, the Black Ice Audio gear has a smooth, appealing and melodic presentation that should find favor with many. BTW, the long-gestating Aries tube headphone amp/DAC/preamp you see in the pictures should be ready for release later next year.

Craig Chase

The United Home Audio / High end by Oz room qualifies as extreme high-end audio. It featured the Lansche 7.2 Loudspeakers ($90,000 per pair) with a Thrax Audio 300b tube preamp ($67,500), a pair of Thrax Audio Spartacus 300b 50-watt trident tube mono amps ($195,000), a Thrax Audio Maximinus Silver DAC ($38,500), a Kalista Dreamplay X transport ($68,800), a UHA Superdeck reel to reel player at $89,900) and a total system price with cables approaching $900,000.

In a roughly 28 x 36-foot room, the sound was detailed and coherent on a big scale with jazz and big band being played at realistic volume levels. Bass was deep and taut, and there wasn’t a hint of strain, even in a large room. This is rarefied air, and it was a good place to start the second day at The Capital Audio Fest.

Odyssey Audio, known for their outstanding value preamps and power amps, was demonstrating their $5900 tower speaker called the Liquid with almost $100,000 worth of Symphonic Line Preamps and mono amps.

The speakers were one of the surprises of the show, sounding much larger and playing with a presence one does not find for such a modest price. The cut of Johnny Cash singing “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was done with incredible dynamics and captured his baritone voice with authority.

A review is in order with more realistic electronics, an idea that did not deter Klaus in the least. These speakers warranted a second visit, and a review request will be going out soon.

The Audio Note suite featured the Audio Note AN-E / LX Loudspeakers ($9435) driven by the Tomei Integrated Amp ($59,600) and CDS.1X CD Player.

With the usual reminder that these hotel suites are not the best places for music reproduction, the sound was lush yet detailed. These are definitely music lover speakers, especially jazz and classical.

The simplicity of this set up was also refreshing, and it was great to relax to the jazz music being played.

The Arion Audio room was another Uber high-end room. The anchor was the Apollo 12 open baffle, line array speakers ($49,900 per pair) augmented with two of the Dual Pack Woofer/Amp bass modules ($17,800 per pair).

Preamp was the Phasemation CM-1000 ($51,500) with the matching Phasemation MA-1000 power amps ($51,500 each). Analog was provided by $54,000 worth of VPI Avenger Direct turntable / Analog Relax EX-1000 phono cartridge feeding an $18,000 Phasemation EA-1000 Phono Preamp.

The sound was huge in an equally large, 1700 square foot room. There was some tremendous, big band swing-style music playing, and it was so realistic that I thought I saw a cigar bar in the corner. It was a most impressive setup, and maybe a value in the $300,000 range for a system.

Daedalus Audio delivered with their Apollo 11 V.3 tower speakers ($27,500 per pair) augmented with a Parasound 2250 v.2 Amp driving a Bow 12-inch passive subwoofer ($3450 for subwoofer plus Amp per channel).

The Apollos were driven by an LTA microZOTL pre-amp and LTA Ultralinear power amplifier ($11,250 for both pre-amp and power amp) with a Lampizator Horizon / Super Komputer digital front end ($52,500).

The Daedalus group was offering up some dynamic jazz with lots of brass and percussion. The overall sound was warm yet with plenty of detail. The kick drum had a nice weight and the speakers did a pretty good job in a tough, large room. I would welcome hearing a pair of these nicely finished speakers in my system.

The best sound of the show was this lovely young lady ($ priceless) playing the harp. She was so good that her music stopped me in my tracks. Her poise and musical talent combined for a wonderful experience. Thank you to this young lady for making the weekend better. (I believe her name is Isabeau Corriveau, and I can confirm her harp playing was divine: Ed)

Philharmonic Audio was wowing attendees with its demonstration of the BMR Monitors ($1700 – $1900 per pair). These stand-mounted speakers are capable of delivering a solid 34 Hz fundamental frequency, something that designer Jim Murphy was delighted to demonstrate at room-shaking levels.

Mr. Murphy then took things to the next level with his BMR Towers, which retail for $3900 per pair and have an 8-inch Woofer in a transmission line cabinet and the capability of delivering an honest, room-shaking 20 Hz fundamental.

Both speakers sounded detailed and musical being driven by a modest set of $1200 monoblock DIY amps. At a show where most speakers were being driven by amps that cost two to ten times the cost of the speakers, this was a welcome change. Look for a review of some Philharmonic speakers in the future.

Now Listen Here (a local audio store) brought a pair of Legacy Audio Aeris floor-standing speakers and Wavelet II processor/DAC/pre-amp ($27,792 for speakers and Wavelet II), a Bel Canto Black EX Power amp ($10,500) and an Innuos ZENmini server ($2498).

At under $40,000 for the entire system, the Legacy Aeris impressed with a full range sound in a large room. As was common in many of the systems, a sampling of tracks featuring acoustic guitar, violin, live percussion, and brass were featured, and the big Legacies never flinched. Legacy has built a reputation for delivering speakers that look and sound more expensive than they are, and the Aeris are no exception.

We also had a chance to catch up with Bill Dudleston, founder and Chief Designer at Legacy Audio and find out what’s new at the company.

Day 3

Carlo Lo Raso

Every audio show has at least a couple of “Ah-hah” moments that happen. At Capital AudioFest, one of them for me was entering the VPI room and having Harry Weisfeld spin some Dino on the Avenger Direct, played through Audio Research electronics and those gorgeous Tannoy Canterbury speakers. Oh my…

Gershman Acoustics from Canada had a very nice-sounding room. It featured their Grand Avant Garde 3.5-way loudspeakers ($17,000/pair) mated with an Eon Art integrated amplifier and a VPI Voyager phono stage. The source was a VPI HW-40 Direct Drive turntable. Big, spacious sound from not overly large speakers.

VANA Ltd, distributor of Marten Speakers, EAT turntables and electronics, Atlas and Jorma Design Cables, and Ferrum Audio electronics, had a suite chock full of goodies to listen to. The Marten Parker Trio speakers (starting at $38,995/pair) were of particular interest as I’d never heard any of the company’s speakers before. They were being driven by a Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated amplifier. The source was an EAT Fortissimo S turntable with an F-Note tonearm ($12,499) and a Jo No. 8 MC Cartridge ($2,399). The phono stage was an EAT E-Glo ($8,999). The finishing on the Marten speakers is almost jewel-like and the sound was warm and inviting. Definitely enjoyed sitting and listening for a spell here.

VANA also had a headphone area kitted out with several examples of the Ferrum Audio Oor Headphone amp and Hypsos power supply with various models of headphones. Music was served up via ROON on iPads at each listening station. The Ferrum stack with the Focal Utopias caught my eyes (and ears). A very nice synergy was happening between these components with the Utopias sounding as good as I’ve ever heard them.

Alta Audio was premiering their new floor-standing loudspeakers, the Titanium Hestia ($37,500/pair) at Capital AudioFest, and they sure as heck made an impression. Combined with control and power electronics from Infigo Audio, the Titanium Hestias were singing a rich and spacious song. The open-baffle tweeter and midrange design helped with that impression but the tight and impactful bass response was also very impressive. This is a speaker that I would love to get in for review. For me, it was one of a handful of standout speakers at the show.

While we’re on the subject of open-baffle speakers, I was excited to see the Linkwitz LX-521 speakers at the show. The last time I’d heard these speakers was at an RMAF show where they were being demonstrated by their designer, the late Siegfried Linkwitz himself. These latest versions have an updated midrange driver and have gone to an Analog Signal Processing box per speaker that incorporates 5 channels of NCore Class-D amplification per side. While the speakers have always been available as a kit or DIY with plans, they are also available as a turnkey finished system that is built and shipped from Germany (approximately $20,600/pair) which is what I heard at the show. I’m happy to confirm that the sound from the latest LX-521 was as natural and appealing as any speaker I’ve ever heard. Another standout speaker at the show.

One of the things I’ve come to expect at shows is that Synergistic Research always has a good-sounding room, and CAF was no exception. I expect that they have to have it sound as good as possible for attendees to be able to hear differences in their demos. The red Estelon XB Diamond Mk II speakers sounded exceptional throughout the various demonstrations. Synergistic has sent me various examples of their new Foundation SX line of cables which were launched at the show so I can see for myself if they make a difference in my home system. A review will be forthcoming.

Distributor AV Luxury Group sponsored a few rooms at CAF. This one featured tube electronics from Margules and speakers from Raidho Acoustics. It was an exceptional-sounding combination, making me want to review some of those beautiful amps!

The Linear Tube Audio room was running one of their Ultralinear+ integrated amps ($7,650) along with what looked like an advanced stage “breadboard” for a prototype DAC they’ve been working on. The speakers were DeVore Fidelity Gibbon Super Nine ($9,900). I’d never heard any DeVore Fidelity speakers before so I was intrigued. Let me just say that the LTA and DeVore combo was a winner. The sound quality really put a smile on my face and I could have easily spent much more time in that room.

Esoteric (the audio brand) isn’t too hard to figure out. They’ve created some exquisite-sounding equipment that is built to such a standard that it’s meant to survive the next apocalypse. Canton on the other hand I had no frame of reference for. Paired with a stack of magnificent Esoteric electronics were a set of Canton Reference 5K loudspeakers ($20,000/pair). This room had a relaxing, non-fatiguing sound with tremendous bass impact. Both speakers and electronics seemed an excellent sounding and very stylish match.

Distributor Matterhorn Audio had 2 main systems at CAF this year. The first had the FinkTeam Kim and Borg loudspeakers ($12,990/pair and $36,490/pair respectively) connected to Creek Audio electronics while the second system was anchored by the Kroma Atelier Elektra and Stella Xtreme ($120,000/pair and $34,200/pair) loudspeakers. Here we had electronics by Viola Audio Labs, Linn, and the gorgeous Technics SL1000R turntable. I heard both of these setups at AXPONA, earlier this year and they immediately impressed with their sheer dynamics, clarity, and power. They did not disappoint at CAF either. Another in a handful of memorable rooms. I am itching to get some FinkTeam speakers in for review!

Audio perfectionists Vinnie Rossi and Tidal Audio (not the streaming company) were sharing a most fine-sounding room at the show. I use the term “audio-perfectionists” because a close inspection of the equipment in the room, from both these brands, shows almost insane attention to detail in their construction and finish. It’s truly heirloom-level stuff. Swiss watchmaking has nothing on these folks. Playing was the Vinnie Rossi Brama preamplifier, sending its signal output to a pair of Brama stereo power amplifiers. The speakers were the Tidal Audio Piano G3 and the digital source was the Tidal Audio Contros DAC/Streamer. The sound quality was especially immersive and delightful.

In a very busy headphone listening area, I listened to a pair of the STAX SR-X9000 flagship electrostatic headphones (or earspeakers as they call them). At $6,200 for the pair these are for the truly committed headphone listener, and of course, you still need a suitable amplifier to drive them. But if you are that kind of listener, these headphones will reward you with an effortlessness in sound that is almost indescribable. I own a pair of the STAX L-700 (you know, the classic ones that look like you’re listening to cheese graters strapped to your head) and I absolutely love them!

Mytek was showing off their new Empire streamer ($24,995), a gorgeous looking absolute beast of a streamer, and their equally new Empire monoblock power amplifiers ($9,995 each) using GanFet technology. And they were making beautiful music playing out of a JMLab subwoofer/satellite speaker system from the 1990s of all things!

Kudos to the Valve Amplification Company and Von Schweikert for clearing out the cobwebs and spinning some Van Halen for that kid in the back row!

Thanks to 20/20 Evolution Systems for bringing Conrad-Johnson gear to the show. It was great to see such a classic audio name out front and center again. Great sound too, being paired with the Kharma Elegance loudspeakers and that LampizatOr Big 7 tube DAC.

Pure Audio Project had their Trio 15 with Horn 1 open baffle speakers ($7,999/pair) mated to a PASS Labs INT-25 integrated amp, an XP-17 phono preamp, a VPI Scout turntable, and a Denafrips DAC. Very effortless and expansive sound in this room even given the limitations.

Heretic Sound systems were in the room sponsored by Dr. Vinyl. They had both their larger Model A loudspeakers and the smaller AD612 speakers that our Craig Chase had just reviewed. Both models are high-efficiency coaxial driver speakers that would happily run as loud as you dared with either the smaller Lab12 or Ampsandsound tube amplifiers on hand. There seemed to be an issue with the Model A speakers when we visited the room the first time. When we came back the next day the AD612 were in play and I could hear why Craig praises them so highly in his review. Great sound from such a minimalistic and efficient design. The retro looks are pretty cool to boot!

Now Listen Here had another room featuring the Fyne Audio 1-8 speakers ($10,500), Meitner and Jeff Rowland electronics, and a Pure Fidelity Horizon turntable with yet another DS Audio Optical cartridge. Tight and precise imaging with a surprising amount of bass was the name of the game here. A very nice setup and those DS Audio optical cartridges always impress with their transparency and the lack of background noise in their playback. That might explain why several rooms were using them throughout the show.