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 Wilson Room - The Voice That Is
It is always a pleasure to visit with Doug  White, the owner of "The Voice That Is," of Broomall, Pennsylvania, located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. Doug is not only one of the most knowledgeable, sincere, and engaging gentlemen in our industry, but he is also among the exhibitors who never fail to achieve an amazing sonic result with his room set up, and this year was no exception.

He was highlighting the new Tidal Audio Contros Digital Controller and Intra Class-D integrated amplifier, Tidal's latest offerings. This system is, in essence, a brilliantly executed, synergistically scaled-down version of the remarkable TIDAL for Bugatti Royale system first heard during its introduction in Munich last May.

The advantages of having a streamer, DAC, and preamplifier in one box should not only be obvious – no multiples of interconnects, digital cables, or power cables to contend with, and the decidedly shorter, better managed more accurate signal paths and grounding options – but the clear opportunity to offer tremendous value and elevated performance. And it has become an immensely popular product development goal for many audio companies, at virtually every price point imaginable.

The system in this room included...
TIDAL Audio Contros Digital Controller - $60,000
TIDAL Audio Intra Stereo Amplifier - $28,000
TIDAL Audio Contriva G3 Loudspeaker New! - $79,000
Siltech Ruby Crown Cables – North American Premiere New  (prices vary)
Equitech 2RQ - Balanced Power $6,990
Ictra Design Proto Rack  $25,000

It should come as no surprise that Germany's Tidal electronics and loudspeakers are exceptionally refined, with detailed, resolute voices, and which consistently retain their remarkably musical lucidity. My listening in the Wilson Room revealed this system's breathtaking microdynamic expressiveness, recreating tremendous delicacy and intimate detail with every track offered.

Instruments were conveyed with vivid color, convincingly corporal texture, and remarkably solid body and bloom, generating a wonderful sense of instrumental weight. It offered a realistically sized, remarkably open soundstage, providing solid, stable, and accurate imaging. Everything was well balanced, octave to octave, nicely fleshed out, and alive sounding, yet utterly natural in doing so.

Upper-frequency extension was exquisitely detailed and extended, allowing for an incredibly authentic expression of air and shimmer. As mentioned, the tonal balance was remarkably smooth and coherent, rendering an exceptionally finely textured and fleshed-out sense of the entire musical envelope, all emerging from a starkly quiet, remarkably dark, virtually noiseless "background."

The result was a musical presentation very alive sounding, one that was almost dripping with immediacy and palpability. This was clearly a very accomplished system; detailed, resolute, fast, vivid, and airy. I hope you may begin to have some idea as to why Doug's rooms always find their way into my show reports....

The Plaza Ballroom 1 - Matterhorn Audio Group
One of the biggest surprises – and treats – during this year's show came at the hands of Tim Lukas, of the Matterhorn Audio Group and BLINK High End, of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

I was completely smitten with the magically enchanting sonic envelope created by the extremely synergistic combination of products put together for the prime system in this room. To be honest, I had never heard any of the Kroma Atelier products from Granada, Spain, before this listen. Shame on me....

The system in this room included...
Linn Klimax DSM Organik with new Utopik power supply - $42,000
Technics SL-1000-R turntable - $19,999.95
Ortofon MC Diamond cartridge - $9,999
Aavik R-580 phono stage - $25,200
Aavik C-880 preamplifier - $70,000)
Aavik P-880 power amplifier - $70,000
Kroma Atelier Turandot - as shown in black Krion™ finish - $242,000
  - available in white Krion finish - $220,000
Ansuz Acoustics Gold Signature and Supreme cables and accessories - no price given
Ansuz Acoustics T2 Supreme rack – no price given

Breathy was my first takeaway.... You were given the impression that you were experiencing the voices of living, breathing artists, playing live in the space in front of you in a remarkably convincing and vivid manner.

I was further taken with the way the system recreated the left-hand performance of the piano, expressing it with an uncongested, earnest weight, and a most convincing sense of body... Very impressive.

And so it goes. Yet another amazing Capital Audio Fest is in the books. CAF 2023 was such a GREAT show. I hope we see you there next year. Until then...

Enjoy the Music!

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