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

Executive Lounge  Now Listen Here
Now Listen Here, with brick-and-mortar stores in Harrisburg, PA, and nearby in Falls Church, VA have put together great systems in the Executive Lounge next to Olive's Restaurant for several years in a row. Of the 48 brands they list on their website, 28 are either USA or Canadian brands. They sell lots of mainstream products and the banner across the front wall does a great job of advertising many of them.

Those were the Vandersteen KENTO Carbon speakers ($47k) attracting a new audience in bright blue, a trend toward more colorful speakers in recent years – something I've been championing for at least a couple of decades now. If a speaker is in the room, how is it not part of the décor? The Vandersteen M5-HPA amplifiers ($21k) are part of the package with the speakers as well as the cable that connects the amp to the speaker and the black high-density base with beveled edges.

That's an AudioQuest Niagara power conditioner between the speakers and I believe the thick braided cables on cable risers are power cords running to the Vandersteen amps. There are also 400W internal Class B amps and an 11-band EQ to power and dial in the twin opposing 9" woofers on each side of the speaker.

Both an AudioQuest Niagara 7000 power conditioner ($11k) and a Niagara 5000 ($5,900) were used in this system. I'm not sure whether one is better than the other or if they put the higher-quality one on the more critical front-end components.

Richard Vandersteen was in town and in this room on Saturday, I believe. I spotted him in Olive's Restaurant and interrupted his breakfast for a quick hello before getting back to work upstairs.

From the top down on the SolidSteel rack was a new Pure Fidelity Symphony turntable ($21k) equipped with a DS Audio W3 cartridge ($5k). Below that was the Pure Fidelity Conductor power supply and speed controller for the turntable that was sitting on top of the new EMM Labs DS-EQ1 V2 optical phono equalizer ($12.5k) for the DS cartridge. Further down was the new Vandersteen L5-ACC preamp ($15k) and below that was the Bel Canto Design Black DAC & power supply ($40k). On the bottom shelf was an Innuos ZEN NG server ($12k).

I was delighted to listen to a cut from my Rickie Lee Jones LP and even more delighted to hear a very rare Rolling Stones cut from a Japanese(?) recording provided by another visitor – one of those rare instances of being in the right room at the right time.

The Atrium Level
To reach the open Atrium level I always take the stairs to give a different set of muscles a little workout. I suppose you can take one of the two elevators to reach it, but I've yet to investigate that possibility. At the bottom of the large marble staircase that takes a turn, then flares out to the left, is the open floor of the Atrium filled with tables occupied by small vendors…or booths as they are labeled in the program. I'll get to them a bit later. There are also three of the largest rooms at the show. I'll start with those.

Montgomery  House of Stereo
While the House of Stereo in Jacksonville, Florida shared the medium-sized Lincoln room with importer High End by Oz, in the much larger Montgomery room they set up two large systems. The first area was a replay of the presentation of Focal's new Diva Utopia I heard at the Toronto Audiofest a few weeks earlier... except they staged it with an empty component rack to emphasize that it is an all-in-one active speaker with embedded wireless technology for music, gaming, or movies.

Coming to the cover of your favorite print magazine, soon, I expect, I won't bother with the specs of this speaker. They're online. What I will say is this speaker sets a benchmark for wireless speakers for its sound quality, connectivity, and trend-setting styling. I admired the sound quality in Toronto and I loved it even more the second time around at CAF. The grey felt side covers and the contours they create around the drivers give it a warm, inviting, unique look that immediately feels "at home." The design detail of the drivers, right down to the logo that lights up gives the Diva Utopia a very rich look that justifies its $40k price on looks alone.

While it is "audiophile" in sound quality, it is "everyman" in form factor with family appeal via remote control, an app, and even voice control. You don't need to be a licensed audiophile to use it and your interior decorator will love it.

The only potential downside is, being an all-in-one, if it needs service you are out of commission – or at least reduced to monaural listening. Given the reputation of Focal and Naim, who supply the 400 Wpc amp and other electronics within, the risk is low. And if the price of admission is too steep at the moment, consider the likelihood of trickle-down technology into lower Focal series in the future, sans the felt cladding. For those who might lament the loss of component interchangeability, I suggest upgrading your turntable and amassing a collection of fine phono cartridges.

In the larger portion of the Montgomery room was a mega system featuring Focal's flagship speaker, the Grande Utopia EM EVO with Ziricote finish ($350k).

T+A P 3100 HV preamp ($23,750) and M 40 HV monoblocks ($62,850/pr) served as amplification for the digital front end with Wolf Audio Systems Red Wolf 2 SX server ($16.5k) feeding the T+A  SD 3100 HV Reference DAC ($36,390). The monoblocks put out 550W into 8 Ohms and 1000W into 4 Ohms. They have a High Current mode that delivers up to 60W in pure Class A along with up to 250W in Class AB. For speakers with impedance as low as 2 Ohms, they have a High Power mode that delivers up to 1500W. The monoblocks weigh almost 115 lbs. each. And they look super-cool, too, with the input tubes glowing under their caps at the front on top.

Because Focal speakers are usually driven by Naim Audio electronics due to the connection between these two French manufacturers, it was a pleasant and very successful treat to experience this combination of components.

There was also a lot of assistance from Synergistic Research products in this rig. Their SRX XL cable loom was most evident in the $40k/8' speaker cables that were wound in front of each Focal speaker on Synergistic cable risers. The power cables were $13k/6' and the interconnects were $17k/1m. Also from Synergistic was the Galileo PowerCell SX ($28k) and Galileo SX Ground Block ($8k to $12.5k, depending on the bundled power cord). A Synergistic Tranquility Base XL  was seen beneath each monoblock amp and a white original Black Box resonator sat in front of the short rack.

As if the Focal speakers were insufficient to fill this room, a pair of REL No. 32 subwoofers ($10k ea.) were added. I didn't have an opportunity to hear the system with and without the subs but I appreciate their presence at the show. Between the small size of the sleeping rooms and the large speakers in the large rooms where the manufacturer may not want to admit a sub is needed, it is all too seldom we get a chance to hear subwoofers demonstrated at shows... and by "demonstrated" I mean a chance to hear the system with and without the sub active. Next time I will request such a comparison.

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