Capital AudioFest Chronicles 2022
Rick Begins... 6th Floor Part A
Show Report By By Rick Becker

Room 625 PureAudioProject
Walking into the PureAudioProject room I got a big welcoming smile from Ze'ev Schlik whom I first met back in 2014 at the TAVES show (Toronto) when he was just getting his company off the ground. My review (which was their first) of the Trio TB15 came out in April 2015. I loved that early version but could see that it could easily be refined even further. Since that time, many of my peers at Enjoy The Music seem to have beat me to the review samples of Ze'ev's new models.

One of these newer models was on display here, a Trio 15 with a full-range compression driver with a wood horn. These speakers are a design-it-yourself/assemble-it-yourself kit that offers a variety of drivers as well as different sizes to tailor it to your room. Assembly is not difficult if you can wield a wrench, though a second pair of hands can be useful as the drivers are sometimes heavier than you expect.

The rig started with a VPI Scout with a red plinth, followed by a Pass XP 17 phono stage, Pass Int-25 integrated amp, a Denafrips DAC, and an Apple server. The equipment rack, also by PureAudioProject, was also a DIY kit — sort of an adult version of an Erector Set with black angle iron and wood shelves made of Plyboo in a natural finish. Plyboo is known for its vibration-absorbing property and the sound here was high resolution with a lot of transparency without being sharp or irritating. Being an open baffle design, the soundscape was holographic.

And with the high efficiency of this design, it was also very dynamic. I also noticed that despite the horn being below ear level, the sound of singers and musicians was at the proper height and of the proper scale. Even in this small hotel room, the speakers seemed smaller than I remembered. The music sounded better than I remembered, too, probably due to better drivers, and improved crossover parts and wire. All was very good, here, and the speakers were very high value.

David Solomon, Qobuz
As I was leaving the room, who should appear but David Solomon of Qobuz? This was the first of many times our paths crossed at the show as Qobuz was offered in many rooms as a source for music. I noticed on their ad in the show program there was a QR code and they were offering a one-month free trial. Not this month, for me, David. I'll be here at the computer keyboard until mid-December. Ciao!

And ciao to you folks, at least for a few more days until I finish up the rest of the rooms on the 6th Floor. There is much much more to come, so stop back periodically until I reach the Atrium at the bottom of the Hilton.

And in the meantime, enjoy your music.

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