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

Frederick  Distinctive Stereo, Genesis Loudspeakers
As in previous years, there were two rigs set up in the Frederick room. The smaller one above featured the new Genesis Minuet speaker that was heard last year in pre-production form. It will sell for $9800, more than what Gary Koh had originally targeted, but inflation has been a significant factor since Covid. From the top down on the Lateral stand was the new VPI Forever turntable, a modestly priced Heed Elixir integrated amp with 50 Wpc, mm phono stage, and a Class A headphone amp. Next was a VPI Analog Drive System, a Puritan power conditioner, and an Aurender streamer.

The VPI Forever turntable was fitted with a Wand tonearm and an Ortofon 2m black cartridge. Notice the end of the carbon fiber tonearm and how the cartridge is attached.

The larger Genesis Foxtrot speakers in the larger rig were $17k and feature a pair of 8" woofers in isobaric configuration. The grills are not removable, which is why the drivers are not pictured. The cabinets are sealed to produce a tight bass and are made from bamboo which is very hard and also absorbs vibrations very well.

The tape deck on the left was one of the 10 new Revox B77 MKII Yello Edition Tape Recorders – limited to 10 pieces worldwide, so you can be sure they are all gone now. It was a package deal with a tape from the Swiss music duo, Yello, but you can surely still buy a new Mk II Revox. The second deck has a marketing problem with only a graphic logo and no name prominently displayed – a boo-boo for a new company regardless of how good and what value it is. It is the Analog Audio Design from France that I wrote about last year and it has been very well reviewed.

Atop the Lateral rack was a Wand turntable with a prototype Wand arm fitted with the outstanding HyperSonic X4 cartridge. Below it was a Genesis phono stage on a clear acrylic platform. Further down was a Heed preamp and a Puritan power conditioner. To the left of the rack on an interesting-looking amp stand was the Heed power amp.

The Hyper Sonic X4 moving coil phono cartridge ($18K) brought out detail and resolution in my Rickie Lee Jones LP that I had never heard before. It features a diamond cantilever with a microline stylus and multiple layers of coil windings. I wish this cartridge had been on the SAT turntable in the next room. Note the somewhat more conventional headshell on the prototype Wand tonearm. That should make mounting cartridges significantly easier and improve the desirability of both the excellent turntable and tonearm.

Potomac  Valve Amplification Company (VAC)
I had first wandered down to the floor of the Atrium and then up some stairs into the big Potomac room on Saturday and wrote about that visit in my introduction to Part 1 because it was such a spectacular experience. If you haven't read it, you must check it out here and scroll down to the photo of the Acora speakers in the darkened room shown above.

The room was co-hosted by VAC and The Audio Company, both from Florida. This year they featured Acora speakers from Toronto, Canada. Since they sometimes swap speakers on the last day I wanted to be sure and get a listen to whatever they happened to be playing on Saturday and then revisit the room on Sunday.

As I approached the Potomac room, on the large mezzanine to the left of the entrance, there was a rig that would have been outstanding but for the ambient noise of Atrium. It featured the eye-catching Acora Acoustics SRB two-way monitors mounted on the passive BedRock bass module with a 12" sandwich paper cone driver that mates perfectly with the SRB to form a full-range three-way speaker. This speaker earned a Best Rooms award at the Toronto show in October in a rig where it was driven by Gryphon amplification.

Since the speakers need to be bi-amp'ed, there was a VAC Signature amp on the top and bottom of the rack. The VAC Master Preamplifier, with its separate power supply and an Aurender streamer, filled up the rack. A LampizatOr Poseidon DAC with its tall tubes was on a platform next to the rack. I noticed it was upgraded with the LCD first seen on the entry-level Amber 4 DAC back in 2022. My inner party animal was tempted to crank up the volume, knowing how efficient the speakers are, to rock the entire Artium, but I didn't want to be banned from future shows.

As the room was sparsely populated on Sunday afternoon, I took the prime seat just as another journalist lined up the principals of the room for a photograph. Sensing the photo-op, I snapped my own photo of Val Cora (Acora Acoustics), Kevin Hayes (VAC), and Gordon Waters (The Audio Company), left to right.

My hunch was correct in that they had replaced the flagship VRC Reference ($218k, in standard colors) with the new MRB-1 two-way monitor I had heard in the back room at the Toronto show. Fitted with Accuton drivers and driven by the world-class rig they used with the VRC Reference, the music was breathtakingly close to the reference. Sure, it didn't go as deep, but it was more deep than shallow, and it came close to the "you are there" sound of the Reference – in the same huge room, no less!

Val developed the less-expensive rectangular MRC Series to bring the Acora sound to more people. From what I heard here and in Toronto, this series will send a shock wave across the industry in its $8k to $16k price range. Review samples are already out there, I'm told, so stay tuned. Unfortunately, I walked out of this room in such a daze that I didn't see the display of the other MRC models.

As exciting as the MRB-1 monitor was at the very high intersection of sound quality and value, the VRC Reference still stands out as a David among Goliaths at this show where much larger and more expensive speakers failed to move me, emotionally, as much as this speaker. Even when you take away the iconic signature of the Sunset Fire stone, I have no doubt the music would still move me to tears from time to time, if not more often.

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