Capital Audiofest 2023 Show Report / Chronicles Part 1
The 8th Floor Part A
Show Report By Rick Becker

  Wednesday night before the show I finished my nominations of Best Rooms at the Toronto Audiofest that had taken place just three weekends earlier. Thursday morning I loaded my CD player and an old Counterpoint amp into the Shooting Brake and headed south for Rockville at noon. By 6 p.m. I was in heavy traffic driving into Frederick, MD, and by 7 p.m. I was at the Hilton looking for the open bar sponsored by Enjoy the Music.com.

Well, the bar at the Hilton was obviously too sedate for anything sponsored by Enjoy the Music.com. I asked around and learned the party was at a local bar about 100 yards to the east of the Hilton in a little strip mall. I walked over.

Ah, this was more like it. I immediately ran into Rich Pinto of Treehaus Audio and begged off to find a beer.

Wait a minute! Was that a stack of pizza boxes at the far table? Gary Gill had come through for us!

On the left, Gary Gill in the black T was putting the squeeze on David Solomon of Qobuz. On the right with long silver hair was another friend, Mark Conti of MC Tech. On Mark's right was Robin Wyatt of Robyatt Audio, and beyond Rob by the front window were Charles Kirmuss of record restoration fame, and Rich Pinto, who got out the door before I could get back to him.

This was a cool bar with an aisle of cold beer as well as warm beer and wine at the back end of the establishment. Behind the bar, you will note the long silver tube with 24 spigots of beer on tap.

So many choices of beer on tap was a problem for one of my colleagues, Bob Grossman, who is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of beer who is as picky about beer as he is about audio equipment, rejecting several before finding one that complemented the vegetarian pizza.

The Rockville Pike had thinned out considerably by the time I left to establish residency at the Marriott about a mile down the street. I still had to put in a couple of hours studying the floor plans and blitz through the day's 92 emails. I counted 129 rooms in the program. I set a goal for each day and figured this show report would break down into 10 parts. It was a long day behind me and a long weekend ahead. Of course, you're welcome to join me for the ride.

Friday morning I awoke to a light rain that carried on and off for most of the day. It wasn't a problem as the Hilton has cavernous underground parking. I parked at a nearby shopping mall for free and walked to the show.

Traffic was light at the registration desk, shortly after the opening bell.

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