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

The Eisenhower Room – Audio Group Denmark
At Pacific Audiofest last June, Audio Group Denmark made a splash showing all their flagship level products at that time, with the stunning Børresen $550,000 a pair M6 loudspeakers taking the spotlight.

Since that time, the new Aavik SD-880 Streamer DAC has been released, a brand new and revolutionary in-house developed and manufactured non-switching continuum processing DAC, the prototype of which I first heard while visiting the AGD factory in Aalborg, Denmark last January.

Their digital-to-analog solution is based around upsampling the digital signal to an astonishingly high 22 MHz (that is the rate of DSD512, or Octal DSD, some 512 times denser than Redbook CD), and then seamlessly converting it to an analog signal, maintaining what they call an uninterrupted continuum of signals, without the need to resort to switching arrays. It further combines Aavik's most advanced streamer technology, noise reduction technologies, and a pioneering enclosure design, and features Flemming Rasmussen's exceptional aesthetic design.

Though there were two systems in the room, the primary system featured AGD's all-out assault, implementing the absolute pinnacle across the spectrum of all their products - from Aavik, Ansuz, and Børresen - one breaking the $2,000,000 price barrier!

The systems in this room included...
Aavik SD-880 Streamer/DAC (one box solution) – $70,000 (North American Debut)
Aavik C-880 Preamp – $70,000
Aavik P-880 Stereo Amp – two used to Bi-Amping the M6 – $70,000/ea – $140,000
Borresen M6 Flagship Speakers – $550,000/pr
Full Loom of Ansuz Gold Signature Cables and Power and Ethernet Switch
Ansuz Mainz8 D-TC Gold Signature Power Distribution – $64,00/ea
Ansuz D-TC Gold Signature Ethernet Switch – $23,000/ea
Ansuz D-TC Gold Signature Power Box Power Box – $23,000/ea
   (Powering all Active Circuits in our cables and inside the M6 Speakers)
Ansuz Digitalz LAN Gold Signature Ethernet Cable –  $12,400/2M ea
Ansuz Signalz Gold Signature Interconnects – $51,00/2M pr
Ansuz Speakz Gold Signature Speaker Cables – $108,000/3M pr
Ansuz Mainz Gold Signature Power Cables – $68,000/3M ea

The room also featured a second system in the rear corner of the Eisenhower room, featuring the electronics and loudspeakers from the AXXESS product lineup, one that comes in at a much more modest price of about $50,000.

AXXESS Forte 3 – Streamer/DAC/ Integrated amp and Headphone Amp – $11,000
Børresen X6 Loudspeakers – $22,000/pr
Ansuz A3 Power Switch Ethernet Switch – $4,000
Ansuz Mainz8 A3 Power Distribution – $3,700
Ansuz Digitalz A2 Ethernet Cable – $1,200/1M ea
Ansuz Speakz A2 Speaker Cables – $4,600/2M pr
Ansuz Mainz A2 Power Cable – $2,300/1M ea

First, the main system was just NUTZ... While I feel that the room interaction with the M6 loudspeaker introduction in the Northwest Ballroom 1 at the Doubletree by Hilton during the Pacific Audiofest in June allowed them to strut their stuff a little more advantageously, this system was still completely off the hook!

This system – and in fact, every system I've heard from AGD, from their entry-level AXXESS electronics and loudspeakers to the flagship Aavik and Børresen products – presents the starkest, darkest, quietest background for all the music to emerge from that I have yet experienced. The result is nothing short of breathtaking.

Definition? Hell, yes! Dynamics? Off the chain! Speed? Shut the front door. This system is as exciting, expressive, and engaging as you would expect from this manufacturer, and while its price is jaw-dropping, so are the musical results it delivers.

What about the little ol' Axxess-powered system driving the new Børresen X6 loudspeakers at the back of the room? As exemplary as the "Big Rig" was, this much more affordable system was just as breathtaking in its own right! I simply cannot believe how significant the advantages pioneered and incorporated into the flagship AGD products that trickle down into their affordable ones affect the resultant sonics at these price points. You REALLY need to hear them to understand just how good they are.

I will be releasing a YouTube Episode highlighting both of these dramatically engaging systems from Denmark very soon.

The Potomac Room – The Audio Company, Valve Amplification Company, And Von Schweiker Audio
This is the most impressive – and challenging – room I've experienced in any venue I've visited during my annual show circuit coverage. It has been the stage for some of the finest audio performances ever put on the road over the last three-quarters of a decade, all realized by the extraordinary partnership formed by The Audio Company, of Marrietta, Georgia, the Valve Amplification Company, of Sarasota, Florida, and the Von Schweikert Audio company of Riverside, California.

This year, these partners took several very bold and successful steps. As well as introducing us to the new Valve Amplification Company's latest addition to their Signature product series, the Signature 202iQ power amplifiers, they also used four of them (in mono configuration) to bi-amplify a pair of the Von Schweikert Audio Endeavor Special Edition loudspeakers.

Why was this so bold? These partners typically use one of the flagship ULTRA models from VSA to anchor this monstrously sized room, products that carry retails of between $180,000 and $350,000. The Endeavor Special Editions sell for just $27,000!

And when fronted with the famous "Million Dollar" sources and electronics, featuring the world premiere of the VAC Signature 202iQ amplifiers, these supremely overachieving and slight loudspeakers, stunned the crowds that came to listen. Though measuring just three foot eight inches tall by nine inches wide and fifteen inches deep, when implemented with a pair of the new Shockwave 12 subs – used for active room correction to allow the ESE's true voice to be heard throughout the room – they had no business filling this massive space so remarkably well!

This room was the site, for the sixth Capital Audiofest in a row, of my Saturday night after-hours LP session, and the session is one of the most well-attended and reviewed events of this annual show. This year, when someone brought up the use of the subs during my presentation, we took the opportunity to more fully explain how and why it worked and to demonstrate the effect by turning the subs off and on, contrasting their effectiveness in the room.

The system in this room included...
Transrotor Rondino Turntable with TR5003 Tonearm - $23,200
Airtight PC1 Supreme MC cartridge - $11,000
VAC Statement Phono Preamplifier - $80,000
Esoteric N-01 XD streamer/renderer/DAC - $20,000
Aurender W20SE music server/streamer/renderer - $25,000
Aurender MC10 Master Clock - $16,000
Esoteric K1 Grandioso CD/SACD player - $21,000
VAC Statement Line Preamplifier - $80,000
VAC Signature 202iQ Power Amplifiers - WORLD DEBUT – $22,000 each - $88,000
Von Schweikert Endeavor Special Edition Speakers - $27,000.pr
Von Schweikert Shockwave 12 (subwoofers) - $15,000 ea
 - two used throughout the room for active room correction
This system uses Critical Mass and Artesania Audio racks, and Masterbuilt cables.

To say this system was surprisingly accomplished would be the severest of understatements. In fact, its remarkably authentic tonality, unsurpassed soundstage and imaging abilities, and its dynamic prowess was downright scary good. Unbelievable performance – again!

I will also be highlighting this extraordinary system in an upcoming episode on my channel.

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