Part 4: Capital Audiofest 2024 7th Floor Rooms 736 to 761
Listening to luxurious stereo systems at CAF 2024.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

736  Bache Audio, Alexus Audio, And DS Audio
I've commented extensively on Bache Audio speakers before. They are a boutique manufacturer in Brooklyn with an in-house listening room. The floorstanding speaker here was their newest model, the Sofia-103 with a side-firing 10" fiber wood cone woofer to achieve low extension. Note the twin tweeters in D'Appolito configuration with 6.5" mid-woofers on the front baffle and the super-tweeter on top. They aim for high efficiency in their designs and I heard no compression or clipping from the Russian KT tubes in the Alexus Audio monoblocks. That was the Sofia 101 stand-mounted monitor next to it and there is a Sofia 102 midsize floorstander in the lineup, too.

DS Audio makes optical cartridges with matching phono stages but the music I heard here was streamed through a Cocktail Audio digital front end below the turntable. On the right side of the rack was the Alexus Audio Perfect Phono V2.2g phono stage with a graphene battery sitting on top of what appeared to be an Alexus phono stage specifically for DS phono cartridges. On the next shelf below was an Alexus dual-mono preamp with balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs.

737  YG Acoustics and Burmester
YG Acoustics teamed up with Burmester to present one of the most elegant minimalist rigs at the show. I'd have to go through hundreds of photos to try and find anything sweeter. And don't you just love those cute cable risers holding up the massive AudioQuest speaker cables?

The 232 Integrated amp was a new product in their Classic line that comes close to being an All-in-One product. Strictly as an integrated amp, it costs $21k, putting it squarely in the luxury class as the polished chrome detail on the knob and faceplate suggests. With a DAC and streamer, the price jumps to $30k. Adding an MC phono stage bumps the price to $35k. The unit comes with a sophisticated remote that controls all functions. There is also the mobile Burmester Conduct app for iOS and Android so you can sit back and relax.

The Carmel 3 two-way speaker ($29,800) from YG Acoustics caught my attention at a previous show as being noticeably improved over previous generations. It worked very well here and this entry-level model to the aluminum-bodied series might be the sweet spot of the line. If you're drawn to YG, don't shy away from this over-achieving model. They are now available in black in addition to silver, and possibly other finishes – see your dealer.

740  Songer Audio
I was deeply disappointed to realize upon returning home that I had missed the Songer Audio room. I'm a fan of tube amps, open baffle speakers, and field coil drivers. The speaker here was not an open baffle, but it did have a full-range field coil driver. Other speakers from Kenneth Songer are open baffle designs, and in 2022 I gave this room a Best Rooms award. The best I can do for you this year is to quote from their press release:

"This is the East Coast debut of the mighty S1x.  Our peerless Nova field coil driver is at the heart of this no-limits reimagining of the S1, and in tandem with the components we've curated for this event, we anticipate pure magic."

"We're fortunate to be partnering with Whammerdyne Heavy Industries, under new ownership, who will likewise be debuting their DAM-Ultra 8.4 Watts per channel (Wpc) 2A3 monoblock amplifiers, along with our longtime friends at LampizatOr and Innuos, who will once again furnish us with reference level Poseidon and Statement components. A new partner joins us at this show as well; KBL Sound will provide superior cabling throughout the system."

Sorry I missed you, Ken.

741  Volti Audio
Walking into the Volti Audio room you are hit with unrestrained music. Greg Roberts presented his finished version of the Lucera model ($11,750), the middle speaker in his 3-model lineup. It was shown without the standard cloth grills to display the three-driver design that included an impressive 15" woofer, a modification from the 12" that was originally spec'ed. The 2" midrange compression driver has a wide-dispersion horn and the tweeter is a neodymium horn driver. With 99dB/W/m sensitivity, this 40" tall conventionally shaped speaker answers the question, "What would a modern-day 'Voice of the Theater' speaker look and sound like today?" The answer I took away was "higher resolution, deeper bass, and a more room-friendly design." (Yes, I've owned two pairs of VoTT in the past.)

And, unlike those massive Altecs, you can get the Lucera in a variety of real wood veneers and grill cloth covers to suit your décor. The pair shown here were in Padauk veneer with a reddish stain and clear satin lacquer finish. Sold factory direct, you can hear them where he builds them in Baxter, TN between Knoxville and Nashville, just off I-80.

The rig included an Innuos ZENith music server with 2TB of storage ($6,700) and a Mojo Audio Mystique Y model that was very similar to their acclaimed X model but simplified with only a USB input for streaming. The Y starts at $4k and there is an upgrade version at $7k. The Cary Audio SLI-80 integrated has been around for decades and now sells for $5k. The cabling was from Triode Wire Labs. And who could not notice the audio rack Volti has used for years, cut from 16-layer plywood and topped with a gorgeous veneer?

On the back of the speaker is access to crossover parts that can easily be swapped out to adjust the tweeter and midrange performance to your room or your personal preference.

It's been quite a while since I've seen Cary Audio amps at a show. Volti is also a dealer for an authorized dealer for Cary Audio, Innuos, and MoJo Audio products.

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