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 Jefferson Room – Acora Acoustics, Audio Research, And VPI
Aside from being populated by some great folks, the founder and patriarch of VPI, Harry Weisfeld, its current President, Mat Weisfeld, Acora Acoustics and Audio Research CEO, Val Cora, and Acora Acoustics Director of Sales & Marketing, Issac Markowitz, the Jefferson room developed some damn good sound!

The system in this room included...
VPI Industries Titan Direct Turntable - $60,000
Vintage Revox PR 99 ¼" Reel to Reel ~ value - $4,500 and up...
Audio Research Reference Phono 3SE phonostage - $19,500
Audio Research Reference 6SE linestage - $19,500
Audio Research Reference 750 SEL monoblocks - $42,500/ea - $85,000
Acora Acoustics VRC-1 - $218/pr
All cabling Nordost Odin 2

The Titan is VPI's statement ‘table, advancing on the engineering performance and definition of their recent award-winning Avenger Direct turntable. It employs an improved version of their double-stacked chassis, a magnetic direct drive system, and an air suspension isolation, with additional resonance canceling technology. It comes standard with their "Fat Boy" ten-inch gimbaled tonearm and VTA base and offers the ability to mount up to three tonearms of any length and from any manufacturer.

The Audio Research system represented their all-out approach, featuring the Reference 750 SEL monos, which I had not seen in an extraordinarily long time. This goliath of an amplifier uses one 6550WE regulator, one 6H30 regulator amplifier, one matched pair of KT150 drivers, a 6H30 follower, and EIGHT matched pairs of KT150 power outputs! At one hundred seventy pounds and with 750 Watts per channel of continuous output, this beastie can ROCK.

When I asked Val if he had heard the new Steely Dan UHQR release of Aja from Acoustic Sounds, he proceeded to walk to his LP storage bins, pull out his new, sealed copy, and tear off the cellophane wrap and put it on for everyone's listening pleasure!

This system delivered exceptionally dynamic and powerful sound, regardless of genre, source, or volume, and the room was never easy to get a seat in, as it was constantly full of listeners. There was an authentic sense of scaling, combined with an immediacy and inherent tonal and textural truthfulness that proved infectious.

Harry Weisfeld expressed it quite clearly while we were conversing and catching up. He had the biggest smile on his face I've seen in years and ventured that this was the best sound he could ever recall getting at a show. 'Nuff said.

Early Sunday evening, after the bulk of the tear-down and a good meal, I was able to interview Val, and Allan Haggar, the Vice President of the revitalized Audio Research Corporation as seen within the video below. 

They shared some encouraging and exciting news about the future of ARC, and Val has agreed to put some Audio Research reference products into play in my reference system for a listen....

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