Author Topic: Capitol Audiofest  (Read 25668 times)

evan1

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #15 on: July 08, 2011, 02:30:35 PM »
Make sure you report back on these guys sharing the Salk room

http://philharmonicaudio.com/index.html

Offline topround

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #16 on: July 08, 2011, 02:37:03 PM »
Do they come in Bubinga? :duh
System consists of an amp a preamp, 2 speakers a turntable and a phono preamp, Also some cables and power cords and a really cheap cd player.

evan1

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #17 on: July 08, 2011, 02:41:38 PM »
Do they come in Bubinga? :duh

Maybe you should skip  that room :rofl:

Offline topround

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #18 on: July 08, 2011, 02:56:00 PM »
actually looking forward to hearing the new soundscapes, and the Tidals and the Gotos and the aspara's..so many cool things to see and hear and touch
System consists of an amp a preamp, 2 speakers a turntable and a phono preamp, Also some cables and power cords and a really cheap cd player.

lonewolfny42

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #19 on: July 08, 2011, 03:56:26 PM »
Do they come in Bubinga? :duh

Hey....don't touch those speakers... :rofl:

Offline etcarroll

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2011, 03:10:20 PM »
WHY THE HELL WERE SO MANY ROOMS SO GAWDAWFULLY LOUD!!!!!   :evil:

Seriously, a few rooms I walked into, got hit with the distortion from things too loud, turned on my heel and walked out. I thought I was being a cranky old man, (and I can be), but Pumpkinman was traveling with me, and he said the same thing.

I'd post some thoughts, but too annoyed right now, having the first of what may be 3 quick Scotch and Cokes to unwind.

I will say, definately was smitten by the OB speakers in the diy room on 3rd floor, and the Teres tt they were spinning. And I was finally able to buy a Nipper statute.

Now - drink #2.
"...if you want to enjoy your gear, don't listen to anything that might be better."

Offline etcarroll

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #21 on: July 09, 2011, 04:06:59 PM »
Nipper digging my new Super ScoutMaster. Well, new to me anyway.
"...if you want to enjoy your gear, don't listen to anything that might be better."

lonewolfny42

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #22 on: July 09, 2011, 06:01:35 PM »
Quote
WHY THE HELL WERE SO MANY ROOMS SO GAWDAWFULLY LOUD!!!!!



WHAT? SPEAK UP.... :rofl:

Offline Bunky

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #23 on: July 09, 2011, 06:20:02 PM »
I just got back from Rockville.I liked the Border Patrol parallel SET 300B power amps with separate tube powered and rectified power supply's. i liked the Living voice loudspeakers with the outboard crossovers.you dont hear alot about Joseph Audio loudspeakers which seems somewhat strange to me because they sound phenominal  :drool: i liked the Sonist loudspeakers in the Mapleshade Room.Dan D'Augustino formerly of Krell fame gave a seminar and i am not kidding this guy is like a professor of solid state Amplification   :rofl: he had beautiful power amps with copper heat sinks powering Wilson Sasha's. i stayed at the Cafe in the lobby after the show and dined on prime rib while listening to a Jazz Band fronted by the guy who originated the Capitol Audiofest. they played a few numbers and the Bass player was replaced by none other than John Atkinson of Stereophile magazine. i dont mind jazz but i am not a huge fan but i must admit that it sounded excellent live in person
Remember, information is not knowledge; knowledge is not wisdom; wisdom is not truth; truth is not beauty; beauty is not love; love is not music; music is the best.
-- Frank Zappa

Offline Bunky

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #24 on: July 09, 2011, 06:30:34 PM »
Make sure you report back on these guys sharing the Salk room

http://philharmonicaudio.com/index.html
I spent more time in this room than any other,Dennis Murphy was running the room and i thought he was a very nice gentleman. he designed the crossovers on every speaker in the room  8)  i thought the AVA power and preamplifiers sounded very nice with the SalK and Philharmonic Audio loudspeakers
Remember, information is not knowledge; knowledge is not wisdom; wisdom is not truth; truth is not beauty; beauty is not love; love is not music; music is the best.
-- Frank Zappa

Offline topround

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #25 on: July 09, 2011, 09:33:22 PM »
Just got back from Capitolfest, four of us. almost 4 hours each way!
Attendance was light, perhaps a reminder of our economy, but for us it was great, plenty of seats in rooms.

Sound was generally pretty good.
Two rooms stood out above the rest.

Tidal
These are some of the finest speakers made, you can check out their website to see what they are made of....all I can say is they are very fast, natural and refined, they sort of make you understand the problems with the others speakers that are not Tidal.

Classic Audio Reproductions. This guy makes his own field coils. He was using 2 15 inch field coils, a field coil horn with berrylium diaphram, and fostex alnico tweeter, powered by an Atmasphere preamp and Allnic 300B integrtaed.
Perhaps the best sound I have ever heard in my life...not even the mighty Tidals could do what these speakers did, a whole nother level as they say.

Best of show by a long shot!! We were laughing it was so good.

Pretty good show and we got to me Richidoo!

Mike
System consists of an amp a preamp, 2 speakers a turntable and a phono preamp, Also some cables and power cords and a really cheap cd player.

Offline topround

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #26 on: July 09, 2011, 09:45:55 PM »
I thought the Soundscapes sounded pretty good myself.
Unfortunately(and I know I will get abused for this) I think the only thing holding them back was the AVA electronics. They truly deserve better gear at their price point.
I know Jim and Frank are friends, but I know myself and my friends were all thinking the same thing.

Just food for thought, not trying to start trouble.

I really was looking foward to the Goto horns and man did they disappoint. $150K and they sounded pretty bad. I saw one guy with a hat drooling with pleasure over their sound.
The battery in his hearing aid must have died :duh
I wish people could just be honest and not fake it so much.


I liked the Living Voice speakers also, they were playing them way too loud and chased us out of the room, but I heard their potential.

MBL room was just good, not the usual great.

Bought some records and a antistatic brush from Pierre of Mapleshade who promised me it would make a world of difference :o

time to sleep...............................
System consists of an amp a preamp, 2 speakers a turntable and a phono preamp, Also some cables and power cords and a really cheap cd player.

lonewolfny42

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #27 on: July 09, 2011, 10:23:01 PM »
Some photos.... :thumb:



Quote
Tidal
These are some of the finest speakers made, you can check out their website to see what they are made of....all I can say is they are very fast, natural and refined, they sort of make you understand the problems with the others speakers that are not Tidal.




Quote
Classic Audio Reproductions. This guy makes his own field coils. He was using 2 15 inch field coils, a field coil horn with berrylium diaphram, and fostex alnico tweeter, powered by an Atmasphere preamp and Allnic 300B integrtaed.
Perhaps the best sound I have ever heard in my life...not even the mighty Tidals could do what these speakers did, a whole nother level as they say.

Best of show by a long shot!! We were laughing it was so good.

Offline richidoo

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #28 on: July 09, 2011, 11:10:19 PM »
It's late but I just got back to the room, well about 30 minutes ago, it took that long to get the hotel internet connection.

After dinner we prowled a little and found the Texas distributor for Polk in the room playing music. We sauntered in and sat down and enjoyed 2 hours of him spinning his fav rock folk and blues CDs. The Polks were something I wanted to hear since all the ads and hype. They just came out and only heard hear and Lone star audio fest so far.  I heard them at 12:30PM when I first arrived, they were tight and constricted, poor dynamics, muffled. 8 hours later they were open and dynamic and alive. So weird!!  That was fun. You know how we occasionally discuss high value speakers like GoldenEar or whatever, well the new polks are an incredible value for $4000. They had $25000 of AR electronics, but still, they stepped up to the challenge. Very musical and refined. I'd consider these.  The tiny little crossovers were a bit scary though, but thats what you get for $4k. Compared to my Jantzen DIY parts it makes me wonder if I'll ever buy a commercial speaker again.

After that we sat in the lobby with the designer of Klipsch clone speaker maker Volti Audio. Soon the designer of Border Patrol joined us and we talked about audio and assorted minutia for 3 hours. That's the part I love the most about the audio shows - who you meet and the memories from after hours. Gary of Border Patrol has been in hifi biz for 30 years and has a lot of stories to tell, and a lot of technical insight into good sound. It was very funto listen to him.

I heard one song on D'Agostino /Wilson room, some sax tune so poorly recorded it was impossible to listen. Peter McGrath should give up doing the show demos. I'll try again tomorrow.

Tidal was good, slightly too etched for me with Tidal electronics, but the midrange detail is awesome with accuton drivers. Pass class A or Manley tubes would be a perfect match, imo.

Manley / Joseph room was interesting. They were playing the Manley Snappers, amps I used to own and loved. They had the unmistakable snappiness, and sounded excellent with the Jumbo Shrimp preamp. I'd auditioned the Shrimp many times and each time it was a dud. But the Jumbo seems to have the life and dynamics restored with an added gain stage to power the volume control.

Another room with Carnegie Speakers had Manley Mahis driven by their 300B preamp. Now that sounded gorgeous! Tiny little amps drove the tall arrays easily. As in AXPONA the Carnegies make a lot of good sound, full range, punchy and dynamic.

The Salk / Phil / AVA room had gritty and harsh unrefined tone and incoherent music. I assume it was the electronics, or poor quality power or whatever. Salk or Murphy should be able to hear how bad it was if they are audio designers. Disappointing considering all the hype on AC about these Salk flagship speakers. I think the Phils sounded more of a piece and musical with the rough signal than the Salks.

The Volti room was excellent, with clone Klipsch speakers driven by Border Patrol 300B PP amps. Great bass from a 300B amp, sounded similarly punchy in the Border Patrol's own room.

MBL bass modes were horrendous. But it was the most dynamic speaker by far. Tone was a little off this time. Confidence and refinement. Played some nice tracks when i was in there. No drum beat film scores this time.

Audience had two speakers and electronics. The 2+ is in production now, with 4 full range drivers and one passive radiator. Sounded big, natural. The tiny speakers against the way had a single 2.5" full range driver with a 4" passive radiator on the back of a 8" cube box. It played Charnett moffett solo bass and it was gigantic, accurate and full and rich. I thought it was the bigger speakers. These will sell soon for $1000/pair. Also 4+4 floorstander is coming in 5 months. The electronics are class D, and they sounded pretty good. They had the best tone of any full range driver I've heard, not quite as extended as a separate tweter, but natural and accurate up to that point. Sounded like a SET amp with a little roll off above 12-15kHz.

A DIYer from Florida drove up just to get some feedback and opinions from listeners for his speakers. They are not for sale. Was it called Soundfield? something like that. It was very interesting design. 12" BMS coax on top in dipole, 18" peavey woofer for lower midrange 50- 200, then a sealed sub under that. Great integration. Some issues with tone and phase between the drivers were revealled in my torture test Mile harmon mute track, but on regular upbeat modern jazz stuff that he was playing it did the job nicely. Super nice guy. I learned a lot from talking to him. The speakers had incredible tone density, tactile midrange and bass. Acoustic issues were minimal. All passive crossover. Tablet PC fed a tiny NuForce DAC/headpohone preamp which sounded pretty good.

Nothing at this show sounds as good as the Tannoy Definition T8 speakers with Linn DS player and amp that I heard at AXPONA atlanta. Still my best show experience ever.

I picked up my new used TT from a local audiophile. Looking forward to getting it home to see how it sounds. It's gonna be a tough drive home tomorrow after the late night, but worth it to talk to Gary Dew of Border Patrol Electronics.
http://www.borderpatrol.net/

Offline etcarroll

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Re: Capitol Audiofest
« Reply #29 on: July 10, 2011, 06:33:28 AM »
1 final point - the Audio Note speakers were very nice, I couldn't believe the sound coming from relatively small boxes, though the Xovers were in seperate boxes, I think the guy said the xover box has 18lbs of copper in each, but I may have mis-heard.

Have the multi-colored MacIntosh brochure sitting here on my desk, that may be a mistake. I tried to get the rep to power up the tubed amp, but he said only at closing time - it made the room look 'messy'.

What the Hell does that mean??? :duh
"...if you want to enjoy your gear, don't listen to anything that might be better."