Part 3: Capital Audiofest 2024 Rooms 702 to 733
Impressive stereo systems on the 7th floor at CAF 2024.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

702  Hollis Audio Labs
This room was attributed to Hollis Audio Labs, but I recognize the gentleman from Danville Signal from last year. This is a B2B room, I think, where other manufacturers come seeking engineering expertise for their projects.

Attending CAF puts them right in the thick of activity. I came upon a room down the hall that tapped into Danville for their services.

703  Audience AV
This was my first experience of the classic Audience 1+1 monitor, now in its 5th version ($3900). The excellence was easily confirmed but the surprise was that it was driven by the Atma-Sphere Class D GaNFET monoblocks. I've visited Ralph Karsten's room at AXPONA several times and been underwhelmed by the performance, which I attributed to the monoblocks being set directly on the carpet. Here, they were placed on an amp stand with vibration-absorbing footers which seems to have made a significant difference – or maybe it was just the speakers? The preamp was an Atma-Sphere MP-3 which is a fully differential all-tube design with a high-current output capable of driving low impedance balanced lines. It wasn't clear if this was the latest 3.3 version of the preamp.

They were using a sleek, affordable-loading Sony CD player as a transport to feed an Exemplar Audio DAC (~$4500) with a couple of tubes protruding through the top. This is how I get the best out of my AGD Audion GaNFET monoblocks – with a tube DAC, tube phono stage, and a tube preamp, along with special isolation footers just about everywhere. I also noted the very substantial four-pillar speaker stands supporting the Audience monitors.

I was very impressed with the monitor in this hotel sleeping room. It had reasonable clean bass response down to a claimed 50Hz, but the experience nixed the idea of ever using them in a large room supplemented with a pair of subwoofers. The money would be better spent elsewhere for a larger speaker. Still, the experience here was very good – affirming the reputation of the Audience 1+1 and reversing my previous dour impression of the Atma-Sphere GaNFET monoblocks. Ralph needs to get a serious amp stand.

706  Black Ice Audio
There was very nice rock music coming out of the new Zu Audio Method Bookshelf speakers with IsoAcoustics feet atop speaker stands. It used a coaxial driver with an 8" woofer and concentric tweeter. Unfortunately, the lighting here didn't shed much light on the front baffles. I didn't find any data, but I recognized the very versatile Black Ice preamp in the rig, and obviously, those were monoblocks driving the Zu Audio loudspeakers, I believe a new model with KT170 tubes from Russia. Sadly, the Rolling Stones LP was not being played at the moment.

707  Black Ice Audio
Sean Casey of Zu Audio was taking his DJ role very seriously in this second Black Ice room. The floorstanding speakers were the Zu Soul 6 (~$6k).

On the top shelf was a Black Ice integrated amp with headphone input. Below that was the Foz Phono stage sitting on top of their preamp. To the left was the versatile Aires DAC / Streamer / Headphone / Preamp unit that I saw again later on at the show. The seats were all full in this room as they usually are when Zu Audio is in town. Their speakers are efficient and invite high volume, which attracts a younger crowd. I reviewed their Union model many years ago and it was a lot of fun.

710  Innovo Audio Designs
I was looking forward to seeing the Innovo Audio Designs Luxe T1 speaker that I had seen in a press release. It is designed for both audiophiles and as a lifestyle speaker (a very rich lifestyle at $40k). It is designed to sit just 6" in front of the wall, about the same distance as a wall-mounted TV.

It features a ScanSpeak tweeter and a midrange on the front baffle, and four 3" x 6" custom woofers on each side covered with a black grill cloth. The front can be covered in a variety of different veneers. That's a front port at the bottom of the front baffle.

There is a four-channel Pascal amplifier with Danville DSP inside, along with provision for an eventual Atmos speaker module to be added on top at a later time, allowing for four-channel Atmos material. There was a lot of talking in the room during my visit as this was a speaker that needed a lot of explanation. At $40k a pair, they are going to need some very favorable reviews.

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