Capital AudioFest Chronicles 2022
Musical mastery within the 3rd floor Meeting Rooms.
CAF 2022 Show Report By Rick Becker

Montrose Room  Odyssey
Klaus Bunge had his Odyssey room decked out with candles and the equipment in a pagoda-like rack with thick maple shelves. The Acoustic Signature Typhoon turntable was on yet another custom-cut block. The Symphonic Line preamp and monoblocks replaced Klaus' more affordable Odyssey alternatives that have made him a cult figure on the American audiophile scene.

The monoblocks, with their polished (chrome?) chassis blended in with the reflections of the carpet making them almost invisible. The monoblocks were placed on 3.5" thick Symposium Ultra amp stands.

The units with the brushed aluminum faceplates were the Symphonic Line Reference phono stage and presumably, a power supply.

The speakers had a home-brew look about them, though very well made. They featured a rare footprint with the back side being wider than the front baffle and picture frame molding on the vertical and top horizontal edges.

Klaus was preaching to the choir in what seemed like an endless sermon, so I ran through a verse of Lyle Lovett's "Church" in my head and left. I still had all but two of the large rooms yet to cover. I came back to this room at the very end of my visit to the show and I'll have more to share at that point. It will be worth your perseverance.

Democracy Room  Command Performance AV
The Democracy room, like many, was dimly lit but featured a very fine-sounding rig arranged on the diagonal of the room.

The speakers were beautifully finished Marten Design Parker Trio ($24k) with special vibration-absorbing footers that are growing in popularity with manufacturers these days. The speakers feature ceramic drivers .

This is how to display a Gryphon amplifier — whether it's the Antileon EVO stereo amp ($38,350) or their integrated. Massive and sculptural.

On the rack, but not very visible (sorry), were the Gryphon Audio Essence preamp ($16,900), Doshi Audio Evolution phono preamp –1 MC ($20k), Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3 ($28k) with the additional Alpha USB unit ($2k). An Aurender W20SE server ($22k) was the digital source and an IsoTek Nova power conditioner ($10k) kept all the electrons vibrating. The cabling was all by Gryphon.

That's a J. Sikora Reference turntable with Reference power supply ($47k) and a new J. Sikora KV MAX 9" tonearm ($tbd) that was fitted with a Koetsu Onyx cartridge ($11K) or Lyra Atlas Lambda SL ($12k), depending on when you were there.

The big Gryphon amp was on a StandArtAntileon EVO amp stand ($4,100). The rack was by Modulum with solid birch shelves at $1,635 per level and it was equipped with Modulummodpods HD vibration absorbing feet ($2180, set of 4) — again, the trend toward floating gear rather than anchoring it to the floor with spikes.

As I stood near the back of the room to take a photo, the guy in the blue shirt tugged on my sleeve and told me the woman next to him was the woman we were listening to on the J. Sikora turntable. It was Lyn Stanley who flashed a smile as I turned to take her photo. I'm not sure about the fanboy next to her, though.

The LP jacket was on a stand by the doorway indicating that it was an Original Master Lacquer Recording No. 000416, a Global Music Awards winner of five medals. It is also available as a Super Audio Hybrid CD and in stereo as well as multi-channel.

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