Part 9: Capital Audiofest 2024 Large Rooms Part 2
Extensive CAF 2024 coverage of the large exhibit rooms.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

Sunday At Capital Audiofest 2024
The EVEN Hotel was directly across from the Hilton, separated by seven lanes of traffic. The earlier you traversed the road, the greater your chances of survival.

I recognized the blue Volvo Rich Pinto uses to deliver his magnificent Treehaus Audio open baffle speakers in the parking lot below.

LTA Headphone Lounge
The LTA Headphone Lounge held several tables full of headphone-oriented gear, but at this show, it was not the only destination for headphone enthusiasts. I'll come upon more in the Atrium and we have already seen other headphone displays earlier in the show. LTA (Linear Tube Audio) was not the only amplification seen in this area.

I'm not a headphone geek, though I use my basic and trusty Grado headphones daily for my writing and Zoom classes. Consequently, I didn't spend much time here other than to grab a few photos of the players.

Being early on Sunday morning, this area was not as packed as I had seen it before. Sunday is a good day to explore headphone gear if you want to sit down and listen.

I wasn't sure how this guy qualified to be in the Headphone Lounge, other than to allow sampling of the Hazelrigg Brothers LPs and CDs he was selling. He also represented Outer Marker Records, "a boutique, audiophile label dedicated to artist support, creative experimentation, and audio excellence. We exist to offer records that mainstream labels are unable - or unwilling - to produce." It also intrigued me how a guy with donuts all over his shirt stays so thin. He might be onto something.

Washington Theater – The Seminars
The sound of this guy playing what I learned was a hand drum beckoned me into the Washington Theater. Definitely Hearts of Space material. This was the first time I'd been in this room, probably because it was used for the seminars and panel discussions at the show – something I never had time for. Anyhow, this guy seems to be musician/producer/engineer/educator Karttikeya, one of the artists on Outer Marker Records. I invite you to visit their website and sample some music unlike you've heard before.

The upcoming 11:00 a.m. seminar was with Doug Fearn, George, and Geoff Hazelrigg, on Producing an Audiophile Recording. These folks are principals at Outer Marker Records... so that explains the guy with the donut shirt.

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