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

633 Supreme Acoustic Systems
This was one of those "Oh, wow!" rooms that were both visually and acoustically impressive – the kind that neophyte audiophiles are afraid to enter, but really should visit to train their ear and help them better evaluate components in any price range.

The Albedo Atesia SGS speakers ($160k) feature Accuton ceramic drivers (though the woofers are an aluminum sandwich with a honeycomb membrane and the tweeter is an inverted diamond dome.) It also features a proprietary acoustic filter with Helmholtz resonators to control and integrate the bass and an equalized transmission line loading. The style, fit, and finish were all outstanding, as we've come to expect from the finest Italian companies.

Powering the massive Albedo speakers were Western Electric 97A monoblocks ($125k) that put out 80 Watts in push-pull configuration courtesy of eight 300B tubes in each amp. The Atesia has an efficiency of 87dB and is rated at 4 Ohms.

In the rack was a prototype of their new model 95A preamp ($12k) in black that uses 300B tubes driven by ECC81 tubes. It takes its styling and functionality from the 91E integrated amp. It features both single-ended and balanced inputs and outputs as well as a built-in phono stage for both MM and MC cartridges.

Above the preamp, in silver, was their 116C phono stage with a separate power supply ($16k). And beneath the preamp, on the floor with special footers were a Gold Note DS-10 EVO streaming DAC and its PSU-10 EVO power supply. The very attractive rack with thick glass shelves was from Music Tools ($1370 ea. level/$4,110 total.)

On the top shelf was a Bergmann Galder turntable with Oden tonearm ($29,260 with air supply) with a separate motor and power supply that slides under the tonearm armboard as mentioned in a previous room. It featured a Lyra Delos cartridge shown above.

636 Supreme Acoustic Systems
This was the last of the six rooms sponsored, at least in part, by Supreme Acoustic Systems, a new distributor of imported and American brands – so new their website isn't up and running yet. From what I've seen in these six rooms, I'm impressed with the brands and presentations they've delivered. Fortunately, one of their associates sent me an email detailing each room because there were conflicts and omissions in the show program that spun my head. But hey, mistakes happen.

The Odeon speakers from Germany were the eye-catchers here and with three different models on display, you might have heard one or another on any given day at the show. As another presenter did earlier, it is a cool idea to publish and post which speaker will be presented on which day to give attendees the chance to hear the particular model that interests them.

This being Saturday morning, I heard the Semper model with two black horns and a woofer below which has a base price of $45k in plain finishes. The gorgeous special finish shown here takes it up to $49k. A representative whipped out his phone to show me other models in other special finishes to impress me with their ability to come up with a wide variety of custom designs to meet a client's needs or desires. You can see more on the Odeon website. The ability and willingness to provide custom finishes have almost become mandatory for branding in the upper price ranges where people with big money are looking for unique products.

Tucked behind the Semper was the Odeon Carnegie ($100k) with a 97dB/W/m efficiency and 8 Ohm resistance – so drive it with a 2A3 amp if you wish – like the 2A3-S from Triode Lab I reviewed in 2014. Notice that the Carnegie uses a horn on the woofer, unlike the Semper.

In the middle of the Odeon line is the two-way Celeste ($5,900, 93dB/W/m @ 8 Ohms) for those with more modest rooms and means. Limiting the walnut burl veneer to the front baffle and partial covering on the side gives the Celeste an interesting look and keeps the price under control.

On top of the Music Tools rack (again) was a Benny Audio Immersion II turntable with an arm ($18k) from Warsaw, Poland. The Semper speakers were driven by a Western Electric 91E integrated amplifier supplemented with an Air Tight Step Up Transformer for the EAT moving coil cartridge.

And that cartridge was the EAT Jo No. 8 seen here.

Part 6 Coming Soon!
I'm looking forward to diving into the next room with Jeff Wells of Wells Audio, but I need to break up the 6th Floor into two parts before people think I've died from turkey poisoning at Thanksgiving. Sorry to be late with Part 5 but there were too many interesting rooms to breeze through them quickly.

Keep checking back for Part 6 though I'm going to break away for a day to buy my wife's Holiday presents.

---> Onward to Part 6 of Rick Becker's Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report.

---> Back to the main Capital Audiofest 2024 show report homepage.