I just got home after 2 days at CAF. All in all, I thought it was a very good show. It’s my first show since NY in the early 2010s. Where else can you hear all this great gear in one place? Granted, it’s not all great and much of it was a bit above my budget but still amazing to get a chance to hear it. I’d never heard Nagra gear before and wow. Gorgeous stuff. Audio Note room was very impressive. The new MoFi speakers were great. Finally had a chance to hear BMR speakers and very impressed by what Dennis Murphy created at that price point. Completely agree with @Drew769 about the Vandersteen room. Great sounding room. I recently picked up used 3A Signatures and want to work my way up to those Kentos. I met a few Internet personalities — who were all very friendly and happy to talk for a bit. Also met two of my favorite Michaels — Fremer and Lavorgna. Well worth the trip from northern NJ.
I didn’t see any Cornwalls, but VPI had a new pair of Tannoy Canterburys from Upscale Audio on their signature room. I didn’t see any Harbeths this year.
I saw a Forte, I believe, but no Cornwalls, and I did not see Harbeth. I was hoping the new flagship of the classic line of Klipsch would be at the show, but, I don’t think it made a showing.
I forgot I had been in that room. The MC Audiotech did sound nice, but like you I thought the bass was a bit overbearing. I think those need more than a "twin bed, no refrigerator" hotel room to get justice on sonics. I also visited the YG room. The speakers were very handsome, and it was nice seeing gear that didn't swallow the entire room. I wanted to visit the SOTA room and totally forgot about it once I arrived at the site. I've never seen a SOTA table in the wild, and it sounds like that phono amp would have been a treat, too. My loss.
While described some of my favorite systems in my prior post, there are many more I also liked. The $11,000 Borreson speakers sounded very good for the kind of music they played but they were only played loud and mostly with electronic music so I did not get full measure of what they can do. Still, it is obvious that they are extremely nimble, clear, and can deliver detail without sound harsh and brittle. Their rival-Scansonic/Rhaido also sounded very clear and beautiful on top, but under show conditions the upper bass sounded a bit thin and disembodied from the rest of the sound (still, overall, I liked these speakers). I liked the Treehaus room. The open baffle speaker made from gigantic slabs of wood with the rough outer bark showing is extremely attractive to me. The tube electronics was all their design and also different in looks and also attractive. The speaker employed a fieldcoil Telefunken midrange that has been reconditioned. I liked the overall sound—open sounding and relaxed, yet not sluggish, but for my taste a bit more “weight” would be nice. Speaking of nice, you cannot expect a more pleasant crew of folks manning a room than these. Goebel Speakers had a very large system that sounded very good—it delivered scale, weight, and authority while still sounding more relaxed and at ease than many other such high end systems. Great sound, but this “entry-level” speaker cost $90,000 in a three model line that goes to $500,000. The Kharma speakers were a surprise to me. In the past I’ve found them to be “weird” sounding—in ways hard to describe they seemed unnatural—but this was not the case at CAF. I found the sound natural and the speaker conveyed a lot of subtle texture without sounding forced; the only issue was a slightly sibilant edginess. The Conrad Johnson electronics worked well with these speakers. For the money ($3600) the new Mo-fi speakers sounded terrific—plenty of bass, punchy, dynamic and “big” sounding. They also looked very good with their faceted baffle. My only issue with the sound was a sibilant edge in the upper midrange and a slightly bright top end. Still, this is a remarkable speaker in its price range. From a practical standpoint, it is quite a large stand-mounted speaker, not a mini-monitor. For those Jonesing for these speakers but still pissed at Mo-fi, perhaps you can offer to trade in one-steps for the speaker.
we're at the show! sooo much to see. walk up and say hello maybe if you see me. tall black guy with white curly hair.
I just got back and my favorite combo was the LTA/Devore setup. I felt like the Audio Note setup was...lifeless. I've heard them at Deja Vu before and they sounded way better. It's possible it was just what they were playing when I was in the room but it was less than impressive. I agree with the complaints about the music selection as it really irritated me this year. If a room isn't playing something interesting or the system doesn't grab me immediately, there's a good chance I'm leaving within 30 seconds. Another winner was the VPI room with the Tannoys. Those things sounded great. Edit: I want to also say that I was really let down by the Volti room. I've really wanted to hear their speakers and they just sounded muddy and slow in that room.
I spent some time in that room as well. One of the best rooms I heard at the show. Those Wolf von Langa speakers are either $16K or$18K. Can't remember.
Also thought the Audio Note room was blah and the LTA/Devore room was fantastic. The other Deja Vu room with the Dulce Vida(?) speakers sounded awesome. I couldn’t believe those Odyssey speakers go for under 6k. That room sounded huge
I think there were a lot of great-sounding rooms at the show. Just a few of my favorites: Heretic Sound System 612. Floor standing coax speakers. Absolutely wonderful. Too large for my room but I could have listened to that system all day. I just kept thinking "this is how it should be". Loved them. LTA/Devore. Smooth and warmish but not overdone. A real listening pleasure. Genesis Tribute speakers. If I had to pick a favorite sound it would be this. I typically prefer smaller systems but I fell in love with this one after a couple of minutes. Exhibitor was playing some big band Basie stuff. Wow. I mean wow. Great show.
Ok got home a little while ago I will say Sunday is the day to go to the show much less crowded than Saturdays past and a more laid back vibe. There were some very good sounding rooms and some bad sounding rooms also. As many have stated so much bad music non-stop female vocals, Dire Straights, etc. I took a ton of pics too so here goes! LTA/Devore I liked this room, didn't love it but liked it quite a bit and they got bonus points for playing Garcia/Grisman The Thrill Is Gone. The Gestalt room sounded great it was literally the last room I saw at the show Colin was super nice and totally accommodating when I begged him to change the female vocals that were playing. The Tron electronics are just gorgeous and now I know the sound that @WvL is getting from his Wolf Von Langa speakers great sounding field coils. A closeup of the gorgeous Tron 300B integrated. Another room I thought sounded quite good was Rethm/Ampsandsound. @izeek sorry I didn't see your post til now I would've looked for you!
A few more rooms first Blink High End which was Margules and Raidho, this room didn't grab me at all but the Margules electronics looked very cool. Another room with Raidho speakers and a giant Jeff Rowland Daemon amp, and Jeff Rowland himself, sounded quite good and amazing bass for such small speakers. I was curious to hear Rossofiorentino speakers but thought this room sounded very blah, the guy running the room kept saying just listen to that bass but we weren't hearing it. 4 Deja Vu Audio sounded predictably excellent I really liked the new Dolce Vita speakers and new Synthesis KT66 monoblocks which are special production for Deja Vu and they didn't like the amps with KT88 tubes.
@jonwoody agreed on the @WvL speakers and Tron gear. A highlight and the guy running the room did a good job. I meant to ask but forgot, are those full ranger drivers with a super tweeter or is the tweeter operating in a “normal” range?
The Borreson speakers with Aavik electronics sounded quite good was surprised they were just $11K their stuff is usually very pricey, sorry for the terrible pic I was too close to get the whole system view. Trehaus Audio sounded good, not as good as last year I thought but still very good, though the first time we entered the room they were playing something that sounded like cats in a bag! Take 2 was much improved and fantastic looking gear though my GFs response to this pic was yikes so go figure.
I thought the Graham LS8/1 sounded nice though they were spaced very widely for my tastes and I never got the sweetspot, but good music was played and the Moonriver electronics look fantastic. A closeup of the rack.
The tweeter is operating in the normal range. It isn't a super tweeter. I think the xover point is 800 Hz, but feel free to prove me wrong
Great pics Jon. Have to say though, I don't understand those Trehaus Audio speakers; just atrocious looking.
Two rooms I liked quite a lot were Robyatt and Voxativ this was definitely the best sounding speaker I've heard from Voxativ yet and their 805 integrated amp sounded fabulous. I could listen to Robin Wyatt speak all day fascinating gent and great taste in music also. A woman came in the occupied his time and then was constantly in the way as I was trying to snap a system pic, I finally gave up and she's in my pic I realized later it was Julie Mullins from Stereophile. Also spotted at the show Michael Lavorgna of Twittering Machines. Fern & Roby sounded nice as always and nice to see their floorstanders sadly people were talking the whole time I was in the room so hard to listen. Terry from Great Plains Audio was fascinating a total pro audio geek and this system sounded great in a total lofi way I thoroughly enjoyed it. The thing on top of the rack is a pro eq that he was just using as a buffer for his phono preamp which was from Vac.
Thanks Tim they are very much an acquired taste on the other hand I think their electronics are fab looking.
One of my favorite rooms was Songer Audio/Whammerdyne they really represented Portland OR in style. The woman also nicely played my request Misterioso from Sonny Rollins Vol 2. And another field coil definitely a growing trend, albeit one that I'll never be able to afford, or fit in my tiny room. As you can see it's a full range driver with reinforcement at both frequency extremes. A closeup of the gorgeous Whammerdyne amp.
Agreed on that Voxativ system. Sounded awesome, and it $hould! jon I wonder if we were in the fern and Roby room at the same time. There was quite the chatty guy in there! And I thought those speakers sounded way better than last year. The turntable and rack and speakers were all gorgeous.
I was very surprised by the all Technics room (sources, integrated amp and speakers). I could live with that whole package I think edit: also that United Home Audio room with the reel to reel playing and those big speakers with the plasma tweeters. Sounded great I thought
