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

Suite 619 Playback Distribution
Playback Distribution took a different approach by advertising a different rig for each day of the show. As it was still Friday when I visited, they had the American debut of the PMC Active twenty5i 22i bookshelf speaker ($7k in walnut, piano black, or oak) positioned out into the room on stands. It was driven by the new TEAC UD-507 preamp/headphone amp/DAC ($2099) and NT-505-X network streamer ($2249). Esprit cables and power strip, and a Quadraspire Q4 Evo rack ($390/tier) were used.

On Saturday they swapped in Vienna Acoustics' new Bach Ultimate floorstander speaker ($6k in premium rosewood) and drove it with a Java HiFi Double Shot preamp ($6k) and Double Shot power amp ($9k) which I wish I had heard.

Then on Sunday they toned it down with a PMC Prodigy5 floorstander ($2,800) driven by the American debut of Advance Paris' MyConnect 250 All-in-One ($4,300).

Here was the compact TEAC gear on Friday.

This was the active PMC monitor on Friday.

Above is a photo of the unusual mid-woofer driver in the new Vienna Acoustics Bach Ultimate floorstander that was off to the side when I visited on Friday.

621 Angel City Audio
I've been very impressed on the few occasions I've heard Angel City Audio speakers over the years and this was no exception. I'm surprised this speaker has not seen more coverage in the press.

The ACA Seraphim speaker is relatively efficient at 91dB/W/m and is rated at 4 Ohms nominal with a 3 Ohm minimum. It uses a SEAS tweeter with a custom ACA 7" midrange and a pair of custom ACA 7" woofers. At 4' tall and 21.5" deep (though that may include the platform on the floor) it is fairly large.

The Seraphim speaker starts at $16k in satin black but this one had a gloss faux-stone finish that was quite attractive.

It looks like they were using the Eversolo DMP A10 DAC/Streamer/Preamp ($3680) in combination with the Pereaux 300 iX integrated amplifier ($10k). I think the Eversolo DMP A6 DAC/Streamer ($769, lower left) and DMP A8 ($1,980) were for display only as they are popular pieces. They had a lot of Melody tube gear listed with Show Special pricing on a flyer, but only the one piece on display here.

The doors to the rooms were closing at this point as it was after 6 p.m. The Atrium below was not only thinning out of people but also looked like there were a lot of empty tables this year. I recall in past years there were a couple of installers of high-end breaker boxes that came from out west who didn't make it to this show. I wandered down but took photos of the booths on Sunday afternoon when it was a little more active.

In the large foyer near the entrance to the bar at Olive's Restaurant, I spotted the new Von Schweikert VR-30 speakers I had seen (and heard) in the Hear This room and the Synergistic Research/Scott Walker Audio room up on the 8^th Floor – this time in Aston Martin Racing Green – a Special Edition limited to 12 pairs. Like I said earlier, green is the special color of the year this year.

Nearby were the new Volti Audio Vittoria flagship speaker Greg Roberts had just revised. He will be happy to give you an audition at his shop in Baxter, TN if you wish. They look to me like a 21^st Century Voice of the Theater. Spectacular, but without the multi-$100k price tags of European flagships.

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