Part 5: Rooms 601 To 633 At CAF 2024
More rooms, and more magical music!
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

612 Elite AV Distribution
Elite AV Distribution featured a large silent display of Furutech parts in the first of their two rooms. In addition to making complete cables and power distribution boxes, a couple of which I have recently reviewed, they also sell individual parts such as connectors, duplex outlets, and other accessories. 

Among the goodies I reviewed were their newest (and best) duplex outlet, carbon fiber cover, and the GTX Wall Plate that surprised me with its additional damping capability above and beyond just the carbon fiber cover. They were offered at a nice Show Special price. The NCF Booster Brace collars shown above were very similar to the connector support built into their new NCF Power Vault I reviewed. They can be used on wall outlets or power conditioners in either a vertical or horizontal position to support power cables.

614 Elite AV Distribution
Access to the active rig presented by Elite AV Distribution was through a connecting doorway from Room 612 with the Furutech parts mentioned above. If you didn't enter the Furutech parts display room, you probably missed this active rig. The rig had some interesting components that are seen less often as well as some brand new product.

The Kuzma turntable looked similar to the Model R but had a full wrap-around plinth, so it may have been an earlier model. The white Kuzma Safir M tonearm came out about 2021 or 2022 and it is both expensive and very highly regarded in addition to its unique design. It is also available with a black finish if the white is too avant-garde for you. That was Kuzma's Car-40 cartridge, another upscale item. What most people probably missed was Kuzma's Platis 65 isolation platform beneath the turntable. It is available in black or silver.

EveAnna Manley's gear is seldom seen in an active system. I reviewed her Mahi Mahi monoblocks when they first came out. I took them out to sell them this summer but after cleaning them off and installing them in my rig to check them out I realized how much better they are than when I reviewed them in the context of a much less expensive rig. I've been rocking with them all fall.

That's a Manley Steelhead phono stage above a Jumbo Shrimp preamp in the photo above. But what's that Schiit item among the tools on the next shelf down?

At ground level (where all the dust is) was an Allnic A 2000 25th Anniversary amp loaded with Russian KT170 tubes.

I recognized the vintage Chapman speaker from back in the mid-1990s which was a well-respected speaker in its day and still sounding good today. It was supplemented with a pair of older REL S-3 subwoofers.

The real big news in this rig was the fantastic new Furutech NCF Power Vault power conditioner ($7875) and Project V1 Power Cable ($9550) which were featured in my Furutech review within the November 2024 Enjoy the Music.com Review Magazine. You can read about them here along with their AC duplex wall ensemble.

After talking with Scott Markwell of Elite AV distribution on the phone for several months it was a pleasure to meet him in person.

615 MACO
The MACO MACARIA with the Quartz baffle was stunning against the black background and it sounded much better here than in the room shared with Geshelli – and for good reason. The rig was far more upscale with Westminster Labs preamp and monoblocks. The music here was even better than I had achieved at home with my less expensive LampizatOr DAC and more affordable amplification. It achieved even higher resolution with a "you are there" presence but was even more listenable for longer periods of time, I suspected. As with the wooden baffle version earlier, I pinched the Quartz baffle between my thumb and forefinger and could not detect any vibration – just as I had not with the black granite version I reviewed.

The MACO has a very high-class visual presence in the room, whether in black or white stone, but being an open-baffle design, it lacks the bulkiness that a speaker of this caliber would have in a box design. The exposed drivers on the back side are all black and recede to the point of being forgotten after living with them for a short while. You can find my review here if you wish to read more.

The external crossover is in a heavy metal chassis which allows flexibility of placement behind or beside the speaker. The exposed components shown above reveal the effort they have taken to minimize vibrations of the components with the Plexiglas matrix as well as the quality of the components themselves. The design and construction of this speaker was exemplary.

A LampizatOr Poseidon DAC with the Westminster Labs preamp was on a rack off to the side. VIABLUE cables were used throughout, along with the VIABLUE cable risers that were seen in previous rooms. Prices for most of the pieces are below.

616 Fern & Roby
Walking into the Fern & Roby room as shows is a lot like walking into an Audio Note (UK) room. The sound from one show to the next is very consistent which is very good from the standpoint of branding. Christopher Hildebrand takes a different bend in that Fern and Roby is a subsidiary of Tektonics Design Group, a design firm that revels in integrating different materials into designing a much wider array of products branching into architecture.

Hence, they had their Amp No. 2 integrated amp with a stained wood faceplate and metal knob and push-buttons from an era long before stereo. ($6950, Special).

The Montrose Heirloom Turntable ($16,500), with Schroder CB Ebony tonearm ($4,750) and Miyajima Carbon cartridge ($3k), and its metal plinth has an air of machinery from the age of robber barons.

The Raven II speaker in light ash with a single full-range driver ($5,450) on custom stands ($1,650) looked too contemporary but that's something a little wood stain can fix upon request.

What really works in the Fern and Roby rooms, show after show is the warm, inviting sound that draws you into the music for endless listening and makes you forget about ever wanting to upgrade anything. You've paid good money for it and anyone who wants anything more is just chasing rabbits.

The phono stage here was a ModWright PH9.0X ($4,750) that I didn't hear. A Weiss Helios DAC ($22k) was used in conjunction with a Network Acoustics Tempus Switch ($4,325) and Network Acoustics Eno2 Filter ($1,075). Black Cat Cables were used and Fern and Roby rack and isolation feet were used.

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