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

Plaza I   Matterhorn Audio Group, Ansuz, Aavik, And Audio Group Denmark
The Matterhorn Audio Group, a distributor from a showroom (by appointment only) in Cambridge, MA, had a very fine-sounding room last year and it looked much the same when I entered this year, but a lot had changed. Plaza I was a big room, but a little smaller than the Regency. Unlike the Regency, it is rectangular rather than square and the rig was set up along the long wall giving it a decided advantage over the Regency. As you can see, the long rows of chairs were set back quite far from the plane of the speakers and I noticed quite a bit of bass bloat in the third row. Moving up to the front-row center was much better but I still wasn't impressed. So I dragged a chair about 6' further forward and found the sweet spot – or something close to it, without the bass bloat. While it may seem awkward to sit that close to such tall speakers spread so far apart, they had wide dispersion and it was an advantage to avoid a bass node. The horizontally mounted rear-firing AMT ribbon tweeters helped create a vivid soundscape.

Kroma Audio of last year is now Kroma Atelier from Grenada, Spain. This year they left out the stand-mounted Kroma monitor and just featured a real world and an other world speaker. The form factor of the tall Reference Series with dual AMT ribbon tweeters – one rear-facing, dual midrange, and dual woofers is available in small, medium, and large, ranging from $188k to $456k with a stop in the middle at $288k which is what I think was shown here. I failed to notice the short white speaker on the floor set behind the tall one when I was there. It looked like a subwoofer designed to nest into a corner. I noted the tall Kroma speaker was on footers that looked like IsoAcoustics, rather than spikes. And having a woofer both high and low like these speakers imparts multiple bass nodes rather than fewer large ones. The use of ribbon tweeters on both models gave the music an airy signature.

Two Ansuz 3-shelf racks from Audio Group Denmark were flanked by large Linn monoblocks on Ansuz stands that were essentially a single-shelf version of the equipment rack. Ansuz cabling and power conditioning appeared behind the racks. On the farther rack was an upper-level Technics direct drive turntable. On the near rack appeared to be a Linn streamer that was not connected at the time. The electronics on the lower shelves were from Aavik, but the equipment list sent to me didn't make it to my email box.

An Ortofon Verisimo cartridge was fitted to the Technics turntable.

The monoblocks were Linn's Klimax Solo 800 ($45k). The 800 is for Watts @ 4 Ohms and it will put out 1.2kW @ 2 Ohms. With its switch mode power supply, it weighs only 27kg. It is available with either a black or silver faceplate.

John Li of Alpha Audio was displaying an assortment of their hi-fi music streamer / DAC / preamp / headphone amplifiers on a table nearby in the hall. They were colorful, attractive, and looked affordable, which seems like a winning combination. I expect to hear more about them in the future.

Headphone Lounge  Kimber Kable, LTA, And Warwick Acoustics
Kimber Kable set up a table near the LTA Headphone Lounge featuring just their Axios line of headphone cables which can be custom-ordered to fit a wide variety of headphones using a variety of metallurgy and connectors. While they had plenty of cans on hand to try out, I suppose it would be a good idea to bring your own to connect to their various cables if you are intent on serious shopping.

Martin Roberts of Warwick Acoustics was showing off their headphones and their Sonoma system of headphones, amplifier, and DAC.

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