Part 6: Rooms 637 To 661 At Capital Audiofest 2024
More wonderful music on the 6th floor at CAF 2024.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

653  Gestalt Audio
See what a difference some plants make to the light wood stands? Gestalt Audio is a retailer in Nashville that sells very high-quality lines that often offer very high style. There was much that was new here, plus one very familiar friend.

While not the first item that caught my eye, it didn't take long to recognize the Codia Acoustic Design Stage 3000 Diagon racks, a component I was the first to review back in 2019. It replaced the Codia Stage 3000 BAB which had been my previous rack. The all-black version shown here doesn't begin to hint at the beauty that can be created with the choices of wood shelves and different finishes on the metal posts and trim, not to mention the custom sizing you can achieve with different-length pillars.

Equally important, these racks are rock solid and incorporate resonators on the shelves to dissipate micro-vibrations. I trust my full force on them when leaning behind to make cable connections. They don't budge or quiver. Moreover, they can be designed to please your significant other if that's important, even if they are into Goth styling.

On the upper left were the Cinnamon Galle DAC ($15k) which I had just heard weeks earlier at the Toronto show and the Cinnamon Galle NT ($7k, network transport). These guys don't just think outside the box, they think about the box itself. From their website:

"The massive bronze top is a damped inverted pendulum. It sits gently suspended by a viscoelastic polymer adhesive, providing exceptional vibration damping throughout the chassis. Complementing this, the bronze base ensures a robust connection to any surface while facilitating seamless stacking of Galle units. Every surface is hand waxed with a polycrystalline compound, safeguarding against staining and corrosion. The massive metal body acts as a shield, safeguarding the internal components from external interference, ensuring operation free from environmental noise."

Around the back is a wood panel that can be finished in a wide variety of veneers. I expect their products will soon grace the covers of major magazines.

In blue was a Trafomatic Head 2 SE tube headphone amplifier with variable headphone impedance settings around the left knob. The paint job here stretches the envelope in an eye-catching way.

On the shelves below were Trafomatic Pandora monoblocks ($26,450) that put out 40 Watts, each, in push-pull mode with 811 tubes from Russia.

The Wolf von Langa Serendipity monitors ($10k) sounded very good and looked well-constructed. They were sitting atop wood stands with the bottom half filled with sand. The Serendipity cost only half the price of the Son model that has been popular in the previous few years at shows. At 88dB/W/m sensitivity, they are also much less efficient than all the other WVL models that range from 94dB to 96dB, which is expected from a small monitor. The woofers, with their wrinkled surrounds, were familiar from a forgotten but fine-sounding driver I recall from a past show. I came across another monitor with the same form factor and similar woofers in the final room on this floor. Keep this in mind as you read on.

655  Belleson
The Belleson room was another consortium whose focus was supposed to be the new Belleson Radiance phono stage ($3,250), a scaled-down version of the flagship Brilliance model ($8,500) that was shown last year. These are their only two products. I sure hope they didn't foot the bill for the room by themselves.

While it was difficult to figure out how much sound quality the Radiance was contributing, their Wi-Fi HiFi remote control which can remotely switch between MC and MM, and adjust the gain, and the resistive and capacitance load was something to write home about. The Radiance also features balanced and single-ended outputs. The serious-looking footers on the unit did not go unnoticed. Hopefully, they will get some samples to reviewers who can evaluate the Radiance under more controlled conditions. At 38% of the cost of their flagship model, this new model could be something special.

On the Solidsteelrack was a Rega P6 turntable ($2,895) with a Rega Ania Pro MC cartridge courtesy of The Vinyl Revivers and The Audio Hunters. Below, on the left was an LTA MicroZOTL preamp ($5,750) and an LTA ZOTL Ultralinear+ power amp ($6,800). Anticablessupplied the entire cable loom.

The speaker here was the Lucera by Volti Audio which I had heard earlier in Room 741 where the music being played gave me a more favorable impression of this speaker. The character stripe up over and down the sides of both speakers will be loved by some and disqualified by others. I think it gives them a unique identity that you are unlikely to find in other brands.

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