Part 2: Capital Audiofest 2024 Rooms 833 To 861
Enjoying great gear and music on floor 8.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

833 Vinyl Sound
Vinyl Sound, a retailer from a suburb of Buffalo, NY, had a straightforward rig on a SolidSteel rack. An Accuphase E-5000 integrated amp ($18,975) was the heart of the system. A HiFi Rose RS150B Reference network streamer ($4500) handled the digital. An IsoTech V5 Aquarius power conditioner ($3k) was hiding on the bottom shelf and Furutech cables were used throughout.

On top of the Tannoy Stirling iii LZ Limited Edition speakers ($6250 each/show price $5625) were Tannoy Prestige GR Super Tweeters ($2195 each/show price $1975). Lovely cabinet work on this traditional style. This was my first time seeing IsoAcoustics footers on a Tannoy speaker.

The turntable was a TransRotor (Germany) with a separate power supply on the shelf below, but it was not on the room sheet, nor was the cartridge. I'll have to stop and see these guys next time I shuffle off to Buffalo.

836 Perfect 8
This rig took a Best Rooms Award last year and it was sounding just as good, if not even better with a slight re-design this year. The Ypsilon Phaeton integrated amp (~$28k) looked the same, but the Thrax Maximinus Silver Edition DAC (~$40k) looked new. This was an expensive rig, but the sound quality and elegance of the components justified the price. I noted the elegant glass equipment rack, the thin, spaced speaker cables, and the use of only a serious power strip behind the rig.

The Perfect 8 Cube-S Mk II glass speakers ($25k) give me pause from a safety standpoint, but if you can afford them, they will likely be in a mature, dedicated listening room. They also have a floorstanding speaker. In the Mk II, the waveguide was redesigned to make the sound more spacious and warmer. The subwoofer adds $20k and blends perfectly with the monitors.

837 ELAC
Sadly, no one was home in the ELAC room. With their very reasonably priced speakers, this is always a very popular room.

840 Popori & Unique Home Audio
Listed as Unique Home Audio LLC, they work by consultation out of the St. Petersburg, FL area. Poporiis the manufacturer of the speakers seen here. It is an attractive style and sounded good from my off-axis position. (The seats were full and nobody moved while I was there.) I double-checked with the room host and the subs were turned off – as the sign said. I had to ask because the bass response was pleasantly strong. The speaker was rated at 32Hz to 22kHz with an efficiency of 91dB/W/m and 6 Ohm impedance with a 3.5 Ohm minimum.

Here again, we have special vibration-absorbing footers built into the feet of this speaker.

This was something new – large SPL meters visible from the seated position. I saw this one here and another in the MACO room. I don't know where the microphone for this was located, but off the edges of a planar speaker like this, there is generally a null.

There was a Bacch Stereo Purifier from Theoretica Applied Physics on the shelf below the VAC amps but standing off to the side, there was no way I could appreciate its contribution to the sound. I had another opportunity later in the show where I finally had a convincing listen to the Bacch system. I'll have more to say when I come to that room. This may explain why listeners were reluctant to leave their seats in this room.

Above is a look at the room list for those interested in prices and ancillary equipment.

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