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Capitol Audio Fest

Did anyone else attend Cap Audiofest this year? I've seen no threads about it, I was only able to attend Friday afternoon but heard some good systems. Favorites for me,  Shindo/Auditorium 23, Zu Audio, Tidal, Classic Audio/Atmasphere, and Deja Vu Audio. I thought the Zu system with Omens and First Watt Sit monos was the best value priced system. Best system overall the stunning Deja Vu vintage system with their field coil speakers just astonishing sound.  I wish I had gotten more time to spend looked like there were lots more rooms this year.
128x128jond
larryi
1,972 posts
 

Sal,

I really liked the system with the Goodman woofers and the YL 5500 compression drivers too.  It might have been a little bit more dynamic sounding and vivid than the G.I.P. system, but, as with almost everything audio, there are some tradeoffs.  To me, the YL/Goodman system was not quite as smooth and coherent, particularly with respect to the treble response, and I heard a bit more coloration, particularly in the form of tonal unevenness with solo piano.  But, both are great, and I have not heard anything that sounds bad with YL drivers.  The YL horn tweeters are also very good.  The big plus with the non-fieldcoil system is not having to deal with a power supply and warm up issues.  From a commercial point of view, the plus with G.I.P. drivers is that they are currently being manufactured while the YL stuff is vintage and quite difficult to find which makes production of such systems extremely limited.

salectric
683 posts
 
That's interesting about your reactions to the YL/Goodman system.  I can't say I heard those issues with it but perhaps if I had listened longer they might have bothered me too.  My only quibble with it was the bass wasn't quite as rich and weighty as most of Vu's designs. 

Vu said that one of the challenges with the CAF setup was the wall voltage varied quite a bit which meant he had to keep adjusting the field coil power supply voltage. 
jond's avatar
jond OP
3,400 posts
 
You guys know so much more about these drivers than me its a bit humbling to hear you discuss them with such authority. I guess I need to spend more time hanging around Vu's on the weekends! Glad to hear you both liked the CAF speakers better at Deja Vu I was so impressed with them at CAF I can only imagine how good they were at the shop.
bugredmachine's avatar
bugredmachine
167 posts
 
Boy, I must have bad ears because many of the rooms some of you praise were horrible to me. Just goes to show how we hear differently. I disliked the Volti, Zu, Quad, Harbeth, and Tekton rooms. I came back to the Vandersteen 5 room twice. Liked every room with Tidal speakers. And really was smitten by the Joseph Audio small floor standers. I'm not sure how folks can listen to Tektons. Grating sound. And the Rethms were boring (to me).
A humbling experience putting that data into my head and then reading how others have different takes.
A small show I always wanted to attend but not sure it was worth the drive to do it again. Of course the advantage is plenty of seats and the ability to spend more time absorbing. The crowd was so small on Saturday.
barrysandy
152 posts
 
This is a show that has gotten better and better over the past 3 years I've attended and is well worth the trip.  The overall sound quality of the systems/rooms has improved every year. The big VAC / Von Schweikert room was truly amazing if you heard it when it was sounding it's best (depending on source material, etc.). TIDAL (TVTI),  Deja Vu, Classic Audio, Robyatt, C-J (EVO) rooms all sounded very good. EMIA's always creative and interesting. Only the GT Audio Works system's subwoofer volume drove me out of the room. CanMania's always a hoot and there was enough music to hunt through for me. There's something here for everyone. Looking forward to next year.


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