Hifi Zine
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Capitol Audiofest 2010

(Note: This is a preview article, published to provide a timely update for those interested in the Capitol Audiofest Show. Look for the full article in the August edition!)

The first annual Capitol Audiofest took place in the Washington D.C. suburb of Rockville, Maryland on June 11—13. The term “first annual” always gives me a chuckle, because I think “how do you know?” There may never be another. But this Capital Audiofest was such a great success that it is sure to be the first of many. It seems to have earned its “First Annual” title.

There is a great deal of Hi-Fi activity in the metro D.C. area, but many of the locals have complained that there are any good shows or meets. Well Rockville resident Gary Gill took notice and got the ball rolling. He may not have realized what he was getting himself into, but he forged ahead, none the less. And he is to be congratulated; CAF 2010 was a rousing success.

The show took place in an unusual venue, the beautiful Glenview Mansion in Rockville. This is not your typical hotel or convention center show, no sir!

This is a great old 19th century house that has been transformed into a civic center and meeting place. I think the choice was brilliant. Not only did this great old house give the demo rooms a much more domestic look and sound, it favorably influenced the whole show. The central foyer served as a meeting and registration focal point.

You had to pass thru it to get up and down the stairs or to other parts of the house. Below you can see half the entrance-foyer.

Demo rooms were spread throughout the house and even into an overflow cottage on the grounds. To find some of the rooms you had to do some twisting and turning down hallways or short stairs, which added to the fun of discovery.

There were approximately fifty manufacturers represented in 14 rooms. Everyone seemed to be busy; there was good traffic all thru the show. Let’s take a look at who was there, in no particular order.

Just to the right of the entrance was United Home Audio who were showing a number of cool systems. They had the MBL Audio Nobel speakers as the main attraction. Playback was mostly from open reel tape on their lovely tape decks. I’ve heard the MBL speakers at several shows, and while they sound great, tons of detail and openness, the omnidirectional sound has never been my thing. But this set-up was very nice, indeed.

Playing mostly opera and symphonic works off open real was stunning. The space was big and open, as you would expect an opera to be, with very clean vocals. All driven by MBL electronics. They did a great job.

United were also showing some Nola speakers – the Viper reference II and a pair of smaller Nola bookshelf speakers (not shown). The Vipers were driven by a new Jolida JB100 power amp from a balanced Jolida 3000 preamp.

Toward the back of the house YG Acoustics and GTT Audio Video had the prettiest room in the place. The door was always closed here, so it felt like entering into a chapel. The closed door did not keep anyone out, though, the room was always busy.

The YG Carmel is not a large speaker, but it did have a large sound. No trouble presenting a big, full image in this room. They didn’t squander the luxury of the large, tall room. Female vocals were very rich. The giant block in the middle is the Swiss made 710 power amp from Soulotions. Quite an impressive amp! The main focus of this room was an A/B comparison of the YG Carmel and the Magico V3 (need more info on these).  All the same electronics, different speakers.

A trip upstairs led to a lot more fun stuff.

In the front room was a pair of very smooth Living Voice speakers driven by Border Patrol triode amps.

These seemed to make a good combination.

It was nice to see and hear so many tube amps at the show, especially the direct heated triodes such as the 300B and 2A3. I got hooked on these old triodes back in the mid 80’s when I lived in Paris. It’s good to see that the cult has crossed the Atlantic and is alive and well – thriving, in fact.

In an upstairs corner I found Dwight Maxwell of Grapevine Audio showing off some impressive chip amps. (see insert) Those are Gary Gill’s speakers. Dwight explained that he had spent a lot of time and a lot work on the power supply. After all, what is an amp but a fancy power supply?

He was also running a prototype DAC that seemed to be working well in no way held the system back. Looking forward to it as a commercial product.

Tucked away in the Widow’s Peak room with the gabled ceiling was Randy “Wildman” Bankert of Sonist. Randy had driven all the way from California just to share his speakers, cookies, M&Ms and single malt scotch. He was generous with all of it.

You’ll see the little Glow amps powering the Concerto 2 and Concerto 3 speakers. I like the Glow amp, having owned one and hot-rodded a few. I didn’t think they would drive the Sonist speakers to much of a level, but I was wrong. Randy was playing polite music while I was in the room, but as soon as I left the party started, you could hear it way down the hall. The boxes are a beautiful stained poplar wood.

Funny story. I was staying at a hotel about 2 miles from the event. I decided it would be nice to walk there, but it was one of those hot and sticky Maryland days. About half way there a nice lady called out to me from her front porch. “It’s too hot to be walking!” “Yes ma’am” I said, “it sure is.” I stopped to rest for a spell and chat. When I told her where I was going she said it was within walking distance – and asked “are you going to the audio show?” Well that surprised me. Had Gary promoted the show so well that everyone in Rockville knew about it? No. Turns out that Randy had stopped there the day before to chat and ask directions after driving nearly non-stop from California. Small world!

Way over on the other corner of the top floor was the brand new Cathedral Speaker Company. Aptly named as the speakers look like something you might see in a cathedral. And resolutely retro. Big, beautiful and grand. Not bookshelf or satellite speakers, these. They are 2 way speakers with a horn on top and a 15″ woofer, a classic combo. The Altec 811B horns were lit by Selenium D220 drivers. Nothing seems to hang a voice in the air like the Altec horns. The audience was impressed.

These were driven by a restored Fisher 400 amp. Vintage all the way!

Also on the top floor I found Rick Craig of Selah Audio whom I know from Audio Circle. Rick is also from North Carolina. In his room he was playing the Vertia bookshelf speakers supported by custom powered subwoofer built to go with the Vertia. Electronics where Marantz and a DEQX for sub crossover and a little room EQ. They sounded good together, a laid back smooth sort of a sound, similar to what the English speakers at the show were doing. Rick has his electronic sitting in front of the fireplace, which may be fine for summer use – but not winter!

Michael Mardis