Part 8: Capital Audiofest 2024 Large Rooms Part 1
Lovely sounds at CAF 2024's large exhibit rooms.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

Randolph   Linear Tube Audio, Dr. Vinyl, And Sound Lab
After suggesting the Sound Lab speakers in Room 659 should have been in one of the large rooms on the 3^rd Floor, I walk into the Randolph room and find an even bigger pair of Sound Labs, the G9-7C electrostatic speakers ($65.9k). Reaching nearly to the ceiling in this room, too, it would have been fun to watch them set these speakers upright. They produced a "wall of sound" effect, like being at a Santana concert at the time I visited, but that is just a slice of the music genres I listen to. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I didn't.

The turntable was a Pear Audio Aras ($14k) with an Integrityhifi Canada Tru-Glider tonearm ($6k) with a Nasotec swinging headshell that looked to be custom fitted to the arm tube. The Nasotec headshell was then equipped with a DS Audio Master 3 Optical Cartridge.

In the rack, from the top down, was a Linear Tube Audio (LTA) MicroZOTL tube preamplifier ($5950), an LTA Aero DAC ($3950), the new DS Audio TB-100 tube EQ ($TBA) for their optical cartridges, and a 432 EVO Aeon Music Server ($7.5k). Albedo Cables were used throughout.

Interestingly, on both the feet of the rack and the feet of the platform supporting the turntable there were round cork footers used in custom racks by a DC area cabinetmaker in previous years. Unfortunately, his work has gone unlabeled this year. And under the LTA preamplifier was a sheet of cork. Cork has also been used inside speakers to reduce reflections and absorb vibrations, thus reducing the need for internal stuffing. And we've seen it used as turntable mats, too.

The LTA ZOTL40 Reference+ monoblocks ($13.6k) were sitting on handsome wood amp stands that I've seen before.

And this would be the Dr. Vinyl himself, known to his customers as Jose, and not to be confused with the Dr. Vinyl upholstery guy. The analog Dr. Vinyl is from Middle River, MD, just east of Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay, and serves a wide area.

Back in the hall, I came upon these fine folks from WPFW 89.3FM, the local "jazz and justice" radio station in the DC area. That sounds like an interesting mix of music and politics. It is a listener-supported community news and music station. I just connected to listen to some Alice Coltrane in Carnegie Hall in 1971 while I write. Speaking of jazz I ordered my 9-Day Club Pass for the Rochester International Jazz Festival, June 20-28 this year. Check it out online. The musicians come from all over the world and spectators come from far and wide.

Further down the hall was a table with a guy selling high-end knives. These were priced from $400 to $995. Excellent for slicing open FedEx packages filled with ultra-expensive audio gear.

I blew by the table with the tacky watches this year. Shades of mall wear.

In case you were wondering why there was no music coming from Plaza II, this is why.

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