Capital AudioFest 2022 Show Coverage
Always fun and educational to see how things have evolved... and to see old friends.
CAF 2022 Show Report By Bob Grossman

New Speakers To Me
In the realm of new offerings, three rooms had remarkable introductions that I felt were each deserving of longer listening times, evaluations, and full review coverage. The JansZen Audio Nine.Five loudspeakers are an updated version of the classic 1950s vintage KLH Nine. This modern-era speaker features six ceramic cone drivers on one side along with a line array of electrostatic panels on the other half of each vintage-looking panel. The sound was tremendously fast and clear with the remarkable and innovative AGD amplifiers designed by Alberto Guerra. His unique GaN power supply design housed in a tube capsule brings a sound more akin to Class A than a solid-state Class D product. The near-field presentation was ingenious and mesmerizing with a musical vitality that commanded attention to doing something in a new and unusual way.

Dr. Frank Brenner was in the Linkwitz room, which set me back in an astonishing way. He had baffle-less and box-less speakers with bass drivers that were so different looking while sounding transparent and natural. It felt like a magic act. I have a long history of hearing dipole speakers from owning Magnepan speakers for over twenty years along with now enjoying Quads. The five-way speakers each have their individual amp connected with Speakon plugs. These speakers started from research, proposals, and plans created by Siegfried Linkwitz. Initially, they were available as kits with detailed directions. Today, Dr. Brenner is producing fully completed versions in various woods and finishes. Their website offers explanations, charts, and analytics for their unique designs. These are speakers that needed more time to be heard and experienced.

Another remarkable introduction was the two field coil speakers from Ken Songer. The S1 is phase perfect phase single-driver model speaker while S2 offers a different approach with the addition of a woofer driver in an open baffle setup for the field coil driver blended exquisitely into a wood cabinet of the highest fit and finish. Both speakers had cabinetry with beautiful details and form. Their specialty-designed patented driver is a work of art for lightness, materials, and jewelry-grade finishing. Ken Songer held a presentation on field coil designs at CAF 2022. These are other speaker introductions worthy of more coverage.

Turning Heads, Delighting Hearts, Igniting Passion
In the realm of cavernous rooms and gracious hosts, Tim Lukas and Veronica Diaz had organized a huge array of equipment from Kroma Audio, HiDiamond, the Fink Team, Illusonic, Creek, Aavik Acoustics, Ansuz Acoustics, Borrensen Audio, Goebel, and Technics. Veronica also headed up a smaller room on another floor featuring outstanding equipment from Raidho, Margules, and RSX Tech.

I walked into the very realistic sounds of Mahler's 3rd Symphony playing on the Kroma Audio Elektra speakers and stayed for a couple of hours hearing a lot more music on numerous speakers and electronics in a wide range of price ranges. This was a room not to be missed. Their tagline in the show program said "turning heads, delighting hearts, igniting passion" which was true and evident upon a visit. I could devote an entire article to the range of products offered by Blink High End and the AV Luxury Group.

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