DC Audiofest

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Diver110, Aug 30, 2015.

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  1. Diver110

    Diver110 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Camas
    I went to the DC Audiofest yesterday. I would give it about a 7. It did not have too many big names. Conrad Johnson was not there, and its facility if only a few miles away. Most playback was on turntables and most of the music played was jazz. I don't have a turntable and jazz is not my favorite genre, so it was not a great fit. Also, I mostly went to check out headphones, but there were no dedicated headphone rooms, though some vendors used headphones. I ended up getting to compare two which I will discuss in a separate thread. The DC Audiofest did have a nice presentation of mono Beatles albums and music owned by the Library of Congress. Perhaps my favorite room was run by Bricasti, which makes a well reviewed D/A converter that runs for around $8000, chump change for guys on this forum. :) They played mostly classical, a step in the right direction for me. They had a neat set up. Music was loaded on a notebook computer which, via wifi, they could access via an Ipod like device. If I lived in DC I would go again. But for me it was a 60 mile drive one way, so I don't know if there will be a repeat.
     
  2. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    Thanks for the report. I am in the DC area and I was curious about this. Alas, I am moving my office tomorrow so between that and family duties I couldn't fit it in. Maybe next year.
     
  3. Amateurish

    Amateurish Forum Resident

    Location:
    Valencia, Spain
    It was my first audio show, but I agree with your rating. It must be difficult to find a good venue to showcase a couple dozen audio systems, but I found it challenging to get a handle on what was on display and where to find it.

    Sound quality and music is a matter of taste, but I enjoyed the Vinnie Rossi room with the Harbeth SHL5+ speakers as well side-by-side rooms with identical setups (Pass Labs power amps with Sonus Faber Stradivari speakers) fed by the same source (Meitner DAC and Pass pre if I recall correctly) as a demonstration of what acoustic treatments can do. I've always wanted hear those SFs and now I can't unhear them. Very impressive.

    Listening to the microZOTL headphone amp with high end Audeze headphones was a new experience for me too. Discovered a new artist/album an attendee brought in: Dewa Budjana (With Jimmy Johnson & Vinnie Colaiuta): Surya Namaskar (2014). All in all a worthwhile half day
     
  4. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    My understanding is that when they moved the date from July to the end of August, they created some kind of scheduling conflict with the headphone crowd, which meant they did not have the exhibitors to create the big, open headphone room that is one of the best experiences of Capital Audiofest. Perhaps, next year they won't have that problem.

    I found a number of rooms delivering quite nice sound. In particular, I liked the Western Electric StepHorn system with new vintage electronics (new construction using vintage parts) gear in the Deja Vu room; expensive, but, this system really delivered a great musical exerience with all types of music. I also liked the MyEmia room featuring Quad 57s that have been heavily modified and running with custom-designed electronics built specifically for the speaker (active crossover, two channels of push-pull EL34 amplification, etc). The Bohlender Graebener room (tall planar magnetic speakers shown with large dipole subwoofers) sounded quite good too. I also liked the room with the Harbeth speakers and Rossi electronics mentioned above. I generally liked the sound of the side-by-side rooms with Sonus Faber speakers, although I have heard both speakers sound better in home installations (using quite different electronics too). I thought the Gershman speakers sounded decent too, although the top end was way too hot for my taste (I think that can be tamed with the right electronics). Both the Audionote uk room (running AN-E speakers) and the other Deja Vu room running AN-K speakers sounded quite nice.
     
  5. craigh

    craigh Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germantown, MD
    I was at the show Friday. I thought the sound was good in most rooms. I mostly avoid rooms with no analog. There was one room (all digital) that sounded like a portable AM radio. I did pick up mono Beatles For Sale, Sgt. Pepper & a stereo Kind Of Blue for $8.00 each.
     
  6. David Cope

    David Cope Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gales Ferry, CT
    There was a good deal of difficulty in mounting this year's show. The show was being sold to the Chester Group, but the sale fell through after they had started marketing and collecting funds for exhibit rooms. This created no end of confusion and almost certainly reduced the number of exhibitors.

    The elected weekend conflicted with a major headphone event in London, which made having a dedicated headphone room unfeasible.
     
  7. mdphunk

    mdphunk Sharing in the groove

    Location:
    Northern VA
    I didn't even know about it, but definitely would have attended if I had. Is there a mailing list or another resource for DC-area events like this that I should be aware of?
     
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