Capital Audiofest 2023 Show Report / Chronicles Part 2
The 8th Floor Part B
Show Report By Rick Becker

Room 859  Endow Audio
In the next room, Endow presented their Bravura 12.2 floorstander, still priced at $14,900, and offered the same cable and amplifiers at a 5% package-price discount ($18,311). Obviously, with 2 12" side-firing woofers, rather than the 7" driver and 7" passive radiator of the 7.2 monitor, this black dog barks with a deeper voice. While I appreciate the marketing logic of presenting their fine speakers with an entry-level system to attract buyers in greater numbers, I have to wonder how much better they might perform with a more upscale rig. This is a company to keep an eye on.

The Aries unit next to the integrated tube amp is the Black Ice DAC with a headphone amp that I saw in prototype form a year ago. On the lower shelf was a preamp that offered some very appealing control over the soundstage dimensions. It was likely used with a solid-state Oak Orchard amp at different points during the show. Once again, this was a very pleasant stop that gave credence to the Best Rooms recognition they received from other Enjoy the Music.com writers at the Florida show earlier this year.

Room 861  VK Music
VK Music — the Canadian company offering "The best of the best affordable audiophile DIY products", not the Russian music download service that shows up when you search for VK Music, is doing quite well in recent years as Victor Kung has graduated from silent display tables with his Elekit DIY amplifiers to his room with an active rig.

I had a good listen to his Plexiglas speaker with AER full-range drivers (($9800) and was impressed with the fine quality of the music delivered. The speakers are not merely lifestyle speakers, suitable for young people who may be frequently moving, but also for established listeners who appreciate the artistic design statement these speakers make. Dress them up further with gold-colored Soundsmith Fidelium speaker cables to further enhance the music as well as your décor. A Plexiglas subwoofer was in the room, but it was not offered, nor was it in use. There are plenty of subwoofers on the market that would go well with this design. Black, white, or red would look great with the speaker.

Victor (c) and I go way back to much earlier times at the Canadian shows. His success also indicates a growing interest in DIY, aside from him being an all-around good guy in this industry.

Above are a couple of kits with the PC boards on display and the transformers sitting atop the housings.

The amp driving the speakers seems to have been the TU-8850 ($1850) fitted with KT170 Russian tubes, though he has other kits that permit you to avoid such tubes. Amplifier kits range around $1900 and are sold without tubes, except for the TU-8550 preamp kit ($1175) which comes with tubes. An assembled kit will cost you about an additional $1100 if you are solder-avoidant. A CD player, the Sparkler S515U ($1975) is also available. Kits from Sun Valley are offered at prices that are a bit higher, which offers Hashimoto transformers as an option. A Sun Valley phono amp and a Lundahl step-up transformer are also available. Victor will be more than willing to guide you through the process if you're into DIY.

Part 3 Featuring The 7th Floor Coming Soon!
This wraps up the 8th Floor. I will drop down to the 7th Floor in Part 3 of the CAF 2023 Chronicles which should appear shortly after Thanksgiving. So much more to come. Have a grateful holiday, and enjoy some music, football, and friends. Safe journey, wherever you are headed.

---> Onward to Part 3 of Rick Becker's Capital Audiofest 2023 report.

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