Capital AudioFest 2021

Capital Audio Fest 2021 was well-attended, yes but more importantly the enthusiasm level and excitement was off the charts. CAF usually attracts mainly the newbie and wannabe exhibitors but this year the show was positively mainstream with the show taking up the 3rd floor meeting rooms and 5th floor Twinbrook Hilton hotel rooms as well as the lower level atrium floor where record vendors proliferated and VAC/Von Schweikert occupied the biggest room off to the atrium side.

There were more than a few product debuts and some very useful seminars including two in the analog domain: Channel D's Rob Robinson delivered a really interesting talk about current mode vs voltage amplification phono preamps as well as having an acid battery flashback going over all of the various types of off the grid battery power alternatives. His discussion of "old school" EMI/RFI type interference versus newer cellphone microwave interference was an eye and ear openers. Robinson contended that microwave's super short wave lengths required a different level of filtering and that "old school" through the board mounted components created inductive paths (due to the distance between mounting holes) that SMT (surface mount technology) avoids. He said that when people note superior late night sound it's more due to fewer people talking on their cell phones than that fewer people are "on the grid". He also said that often people have different reactions to the same piece of equipment because their listening environments can be so different with respect to microwave interference. It was an enlightening presentation!

WAM Engineering's J.R. Boisclair presented a seminar called "When Stylus Meets Groove——Advanced Turntable Setup" that dealt with setup theory as opposed to the kind I've done through the years where I actually set up a turntable. Boisclair's was conceptual and through the use of slides and 1000:1 ratio models, very useful in demonstrating what can go wrong (and right) in the groove.

One of the best things about this show was that the music played was mostly free of the S.O.S. you hear at shows. Vinyl, streaming and server based audio ruled. I saw only a few CD players and even fewer CDs.

The show got off to a foul start for me: I found at one of the vinyl sellers a mint copy of Clifford Brown and Max Roach on EmArcy Records and a 2nd pressing (on Solid State Records) of Undercurrents featuring Jim Hall and Bill Evans originally released on United Artists Jazz. The master tape is long gone or not usable because both the Mobile Fidelity and Pure Pleasure reissues are like the cover art: "underwater". I have a nice original mono and an okay stereo but was really looking forward to the Solid State copy. I told the seller to please hold them for me while I go upstairs to do a few things and get some money from the cash machine. I returned a while later and the asshole had sold them out from under me, probably to some guy who saw the transaction and offered the quick cash. Got the show off to a less than stellar start, but it was all up from there. I met so many AnalogPlanet fans who were so kind and complementary.

I make it a habit of not posting sonic reviews of gear shown in hotel rooms because i don't see much value in it. Instead, I visit as many rooms as possible and show what's there. Some large manufacturers were either not attending or had a very small presence. But many of the 'big' companies were there as well. So enjoy the video and there'll be a second one early next week.