Greg's Exciting Capital Audiofest 2023 Show Report
Bigger, better, bolder, and still my favorite show of the year.
Capital Audiofest 2023 Show Report By Greg Weaver

Room 709 - Audio Skies with Pear Audio / Dr. Vinyl
It is no coincidence that two of my favorite people in this game were involved with this room. Michael Vamos, owner of Audio Skies, an importer and distributor of high-end components in Los Angeles, and Jose Rameriz, most often referred to as "Dr. Vinyl," of Middle River, Maryland. The two had put together an incredibly impressive LP playback system sure to impress all who took the time to stop by.

The system in this room included...
Pear Audio Odar turntable - $15,000
Integrity Tru Glider Brass tonearm - $8,000
DS Audio Grand Master EX cartridge - $22,500
DS Audio Grand Master Power and Equalizer units - $45,000
Backert Labs Rhythm 1.4 preamplifier - $12,900
McGary Audio SA 1E stereo amplifier - $7,000
Larsen 9 Loudspeakers - $16,000
CAD GCD1 ground control $2,200
MosArt rack and platform – price not given

The Swedish Larsen loudspeaker design is unique in that the entire lineup - and the Model 9 is their pinnacle - is specifically designed to be placed right up against the wall. Designed by Stig Carlsson, a famous Swedish sound engineer, one of his earliest patents was granted in 1953, and was issued for the first loudspeaker designed specifically to interact with the walls and the ceiling of the listening room. They may look a bit unusual at first glance, but everyone I spoke with agreed that they sound much bigger and more engaging than that first look might imply.

The DS Audio Grand Master EX optical phono cartridge from Japan is a massive system – and the key word here is system. The separate Power Unit weighs some 65 pounds, and the Equalizer unit weighs another 55 pounds, and they are mandatory for the operation of the DS Audio Grand Master, or Grand Master EX, optical phono cartridges. The EX is the latest, greatest version of the DS Optical Grand Master Cartridge and is the step up from the Grand Master system that I now have in my reference system for evaluation. But I'd bet most of you are less familiar with either the Pear Audio turntables or the Integrity Tru Glider tonearm, so let's take a quick look at them.

The Odar is the flagship of the Pear Audio turntable lineup and uses a combination of the careful control of resonant energy, a massive platter, and belt drive using a very low-torque AC motor. The fourteen inch platter is so massive that you must give it a manual spin to start its rotation. This beautiful flagship transcription system from Slovenija boasts a wow and flutter measurement of just 0.07%!

The Canadian Integrity Tru Glider tonearm is somewhat unique in that it uses no "conventional" bearing and is actually on a free-floating thread suspension system. Jose shared that this arm is not only a snap to set up and configure, and feels that this method somehow helps avoid stylus mistracking and reduces distortion. I can't speak to the validity or specifics of its operational geometry, but I can say that this combination made some damn beautiful sound!

In fact, this is the room in which I hosted my Friday night after-hours LP session, so I got to spend plenty of time listening here. The system was set up along the long wall, which drastically limited how many listeners could enjoy it, especially from a sweet spot, at one time. But we had a BLAST. The system threw an enormous presentation, with excellent tonality, and a good sense of texture, space, and dimension, and sounded much larger than the Larsen 9s look as though they could be capable of producing.

A highlight – and honor – for me was when Garth Leerer, principal of Musical Surroundings, showed up to listen, along with DS Audio's president and inventor, Tetsuaki Aoyagi. Aki, as he goes by, further honored me by taking the time after the event had concluded to compliment the work done on my YouTube Channel with Episode E145 featuring DS Audio's ES-001 Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer. We all had an amazing evening....

Room 715 - GTT Audio
If you have ever been in a GTT Audio room at any show, you know that Bill Parish always delivers an exceptional sonic experience, and this show was no exception. Joining Bill at this event was the newest member of the GTT Audio team, another good friend and remarkably seasoned, experienced, and engaging veteran, Dick Diamond. Finally, Cable Guru and good friend, Joe Kubala, was also on hand to afford his assistance and support as well. This year, Bill brought the baby Giya loudspeaker from Laurence Dickie's amazing Vivid Audio series, the G4 Series 2, and he further treated us to the US Premiere of the MolaMolaPerca stereo amplifiers, using them to vertical bi-amplify this smallest, but by no means small sounding, star of the Vivid Giya Loudspeaker range.

The system in this room included...
Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer - $12,500
Dejitter It Switch X - $3,500
Dejitter It WiFi X - $850
MolaMola Makua-Linestage $12,200
  w/optional MolaMola Internal DAC - $8,500
MolaMola Perca Stereo Amplifier - $9,850 ea/$19,700
 - two used to vertically biamplify the Vivid Giya G4s2
Vivid Audio Giya G4s2 - $34,000
Kubala Sosna XPander - $7,000
- Kubala Sosna Sensation Cables - First meter/per additional meter
Speaker cable - $6,400/$1,400
Interconnect - $6,400/$1,400
Power Cords - $1,900/$450

If you were fortunate enough to visit the room, you'll be aware of just how captivating this system was...utterly musical, vibrant, and alive-sounding. Something that stood out was the ease and accuracy with which this relatively small loudspeaker could project the scale and size of the music under its expression. Keep in mind, this is the entry point of the remarkable Vivid Giya Range of loudspeakers, and the extraordinary G4 Series 2 stands just three feet four inches tall and weighs a scant fifty-six pounds. Yet its ability to present the entire musical tapestry so faithfully and with such authority is a further nod to the exceptional abilities of the products driving them.

As an example, listening to "Take Five," as reimagined by the Helga Lean (Helge Lien) Trio on their 2005 Live release, was surprisingly dynamic. Tonality and texture, as exhibited by the reproduction of the sounds of a bow on string or the vibrance of the piano, resulted in an utterly authentic presentation, rife with subtle nuances, space, and air.

"Under the Boardwalk," from Ricky Lee Jone's 1983 Girl at Her Volcano EP release proved to be chillingly realistically rendered. Among the stand-out attributes of this track is how well it presents the depth and space of the soundstage, highlighting the individuality of the backing vocals from Sal Bernardi, Arno Lucas, Michael Ruff, and Leslie Smith. Image specificity and size were so well done, not overly emphasizing Victor Feldman's percussion and marimba, or Lenny Castro's congas, but underscoring their contributions to the drive pace, and dynamic diversity of this remarkable track.

While you couldn't exactly describe this moving and musical system as a budget system, it was considerably more affordable than many of the other rooms I'll be highlighting from the 2023 Capital Audiofest. It consistently presented with immediacy, musically relevant resolution, and with such an engaging sense of body and space, that you gave no real thought to individual attributes, you just were allowed to revel in the music it was serving up. Bravo, Bill!

---> Next Page.