Part 1: 8th Floor And More CAF 2024 Show Report
A great way to start the day at an audiophile / high-end audio event.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

823 Infigo Audio
The Infigo Audio room sounded very good with the Alta Audio Aphrodite open baffle (midrange and tweeter) speaker supplemented with a pair of Alta Audio Hades subwoofers. I thought I had heard this speaker a couple of years ago but I was told the Aphrodite was new. In fact, I had heard the earlier speaker here at CAF in room 601 with Infigo in 2022, but with a different combination of midrange and mid-woofer drivers. (It is not my stellar memory that serves me well, but rather the Enjoy the Music.com archives and search engine.)

The smaller Infigo amp was a Class D which they used to drive the subwoofer. The larger Class A amp drove the Aphrodite.

There was an Avenger Direct Statement turntable with a red anodized finish and a one-piece tonearm with the headshell being a machined end of the tonearm.

Here's a closer look at the Shyla cartridge ($2k) made in Japan by Audio-Technica.

Above is the price list with an interesting note at the bottom: all the (presumably Infigo) equipment feet have internal sapphire bearings – sort of like the Symposium Rollerblocks or the roller balls used with Mon monitors on their dedicated stands.

825 The Vinyl Revivers, The Audio Hunters, And Linkwitz Audio
I was excited to see the Linkwitz LX521.4MG speakers at this show as they have been among the Best Rooms at Axpona and I reviewed them very favorably at home earlier this year. The aluminum/plywood sandwich open baffle looked very sharp with the black bridge and concealed woofer units. Aesthetically, the woofer covers are a huge improvement.

The sound here was good, but not as exceptional as I've heard it at Axpona or home. Having them on the long wall in this small room allowed for wide spacing, which is normally a plus, but it also required them to be closer to the front wall than is optimal and the seating distance along the opposite wall was too close to the speakers. I used them on my long wall but had them much further out. At AXPONA 2024, they were very successful on the short wall where they could be out further from the front wall, and the seating was better positioned at an optimal distance even though the distance between the speakers was shorter.

The dedicated Ncore power box with analog signal processor is used with a supplied short power cable to the speaker so it can be displayed next to the speaker. A longer cord is available if you wish to keep the units on a rack. Given the speaker, cables, and power box with individual amplifiers for each driver come as a package, this is an excellent value. Plus, there are additional ways and materials to customize the open baffle. Check out their website for examples.

It was also a delight to see this Acoustic Signature Verona Neo turntable with two tonearms. It looks spectacular in their advertisements, but a little less so in broad daylight. Of course, at home, listening in the dark allows for more creative lighting. Having a turntable with two arms for both mono and stereo cartridges, or a daily driver and a really special cartridge for my favorite recordings, seems like it would be a lot of fun. The Acoustic Signature MCX4 flagship MC cartridge seen here is $2,995.

The rack below contained a Bryston BCD 3 CD player, a Gold Note phono stage that was highly configurable, and a Bryston DAC.

Elsewhere in the room was this Acoustic Signature Maximus Neo turntable, which is the entry-level table of this line that extends far above either of the two models seen here.

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