Forums https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1667186879 Message started by Kamran on 10/31/22 at 04:27:59

Title: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 10/31/22 at 04:27:59 https://youtu.be/K2a1Lfoa1Ec Nice summary by Thomas—17 min, he finally shows the Lii Audio room, which was apparently a show favorite.  Besides the OB speakers, the two amps on display were Thomas’ own push pull amp (The Galion) and the Decware Torii Jr. Btw, I bought a one day ticket for the Capital Audio Fest near D.C (on Nov 12).  It’s about 3 hours and change from my place and the hotel where the audio fest is happening is sold out.  Initially, I was thinking of staying overnight, but I may just come back the same day. If anyone is planning to be there, let’s meet up!

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by JBzen on 10/31/22 at 11:38:17 Hmmmm, ModWright is going to be there but not Lii. There is a friend in Fredericks that is waiting for some wood from Utah. Maybe, I can shoot down DC on Saturday and catch him on the return. ILYK

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 10/31/22 at 14:15:00 John, it would be awesome if you can make it!

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/11/22 at 19:55:02 Taking a day trip to Capital Audio Fest tomorrow.  Will report back on any interesting finds. @John: did you decide if you’re going to attend?

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by JBzen on 11/12/22 at 10:00:29 This slipped my mind Kamran. Going to work on my speaker connections today. Also have a cousin visiting this afternoon. Have a good day! Looking forward to your thoughts and experiences. Lend an ear to Dan Wright. John

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 02:02:46 Had a swell time at the Capital Audio Fest.  Will share some some room pics tomorrow. Too tired to think right now.  But for now, I will leave you with a celebrity sighting.  First at Decfest, and now at Capital Audio fest, I could swear Steve is stalking me.  Jokes aside, it was a chance encounter, and we met with a warm embrace, recalled our respective Decfest experience and shared notes on which rooms to check out at the show.  Then I asked him to take a selfie for the forum members to enjoy.  Unfortunately (for me), we were facing the sun,, so I could barely keep my eyes open.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Same Old DD on 11/13/22 at 04:09:24 Kamran, if you are the man in green, then what you have depicted is a classic short loop lighting of a facial close up portrait. It is one of the most desirable glamour shot type of lighting schemes that we as photographers do for our best, most desirable and appealing subjects. Unfortunately, it also looks as if you have had a falling out with your pillow of late and you need some rest, pal. ;D (take the joke) Anyway, looking forward to some more pics and such from your travels!!

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by JBzen on 11/13/22 at 10:52:34 I remember that guy! We had some good conversations at Decfest! Steve, Steve, and Steve hello all [smiley=beer.gif] John

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by JBzen on 11/13/22 at 11:16:00 Sneek peak of what was accomplished yesterday while you were at the show, Kamran. Don't want to hijack this thread so more to come on a different thread under the DIY topic. Need to change speaker connectors on the SE84 and do some listening before posting. John

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 17:37:07 Same Old DD—-guilty as charged! Probably running on 6 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours.  That and stupidly staring in to the sun while taking the pic—wish I had my shades. John: Thanks for sharing your speaker connection engineering pics—fascinating! Before I share some rooms pics, wanted to share some overall thoughts. I was there for about 5 hours and there were too many rooms to cover.  This meant: 1) I had to quickly choose which rooms to go to (by reading up who was in there and or what gear they were using).  In other words, since I didn’t go to every single room, there is a good chance that I may have missed out on a gem or two. 2) Of the rooms I did enter, I couldn’t linger for long. So a couple of minutes (or less) and then move to another room and traverse 3 different levels.  It was a bit exhausting—especially for someone struggling with lack of sleep and 3 hours of driving under his belt.  By the time, I met up with the Steve (see pic above), I was already 3 hrs in to the show.  Therefore, take my impressions with a grain of salt—it was quite literally a ‘first’ impression upon entering the room—unlike the careful 2 day evaluation at Decfest. 3) A solid 90% of the rooms I entered or drawn in to, were using tubes.  This was fascinating and a bit of a self reflection about my preferences.  SS doesn’t really cut it for me anymore on a subliminal level I guess.  Time and time again, I was drawn to the tonality of the music where tubes were in the chain.  Obviously, there are going to be exceptions, but few and far between.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 18:00:23 One of the biggest and the swankiest room at the Capital AudioFest was the one using VAC gear— Valve Amplication Company. I’ll be honest—wasn’t too familiar with the brand, but they had these monstrous push/pull KT88 amps in glass enclosures in a crazy bi-amped monoblocks (quadroblocks?) configuration.  They were using a Kronos TT as a demo and Nordost cables.  It was literally the first room I had entered and we were already off to the races! Don’t recall what speakers they were using, but the music reproduction wasn’t mind bending as you’d expect with this setup.  I was also wondering about heat dissipation with the tubes enclosed like that? duplicate filter

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 18:16:10 This room featured an interesting speaker with a half OB half box design—The NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3.  Only the design was interesting.  Haven’t seen drivers that had an extreme level of excursion like these without even being pushed too hard.  That sound though…meh.  No goosebumps here but I thought it would be an interesting one to share from a design perspective.  Can’t recall what gear they were using to amplify.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by 4krow on 11/13/22 at 18:20:50 John, I really appreciate what you have done with the connection right at the driver. That is a lot of work to get right. I have done something similar in the past with a driver, but it wasn't as elegant as this. Is there a way to make sure that the binding posts keep their compression/tightness?

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 18:30:52 Next on the share list is a speaker company that I think most attendees didn’t really know about much, but damn.  Their Borg speaker was really amazing. With a 10.25’’ woofer and an Air Motion Tweeter, it was filling up the huge room like nobody’s business (and without breaking a sweat).  Didn’t get to hear their smaller bookshelf speaker (Kim) though I heard it comes with the stand attached—as in, you can’t de-attach it and use your own.  Probably one of two examples, where SS amps were being used in the chain I actually liked the overall music reproduction.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 18:47:46 Ah, this was one was special. VPI TT, Audio Research Pre and Amp and Mac Room Correction in the chain connected to Tannoys.  Great sounding room. That said, I had a love hate relationship with the speakers.  On slower sounding passages, they sounded exquisite, whereas on fast pacing elements, the drivers didn’t seem to keep up.  Again, this is a quick and dirty impression. Not necessarily a big fan of the antique look, but some folks will really dig it.   However, the most WTF moment of the entire show was when one of the VPI guys picked up a noisy ass record on purpose (the sleeve was marked with the word ‘Noisy’) and put it on.  Ok, then…getting my ears ready to accept pops and crackles with reckless abandon but nothing? What the heck?  And then the dude flipped a switch on this device right underneath the TT (called a Suger Cube?) which apparently removes noise from records and then all we heard was all the noise isolated.  As in the music was muted and the noise was de-muted.  Dude, was like—this is what you aren’t hearing.   Jaw on the floor.   I looked it up. It’s made by a company called SweetVinyl and looks like they are sold out for most of their units.  Here’s the link: https://sweetvinyl.com/ If you’re invested in your TT setup, I’d seriously check this out.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 18:52:10 Ok, I need to take a break for now.  Will share some more room pics later.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by jec3504 on 11/13/22 at 19:34:34

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 21:27:14 Next up is a major disappointment.  I was looking forward to checking out the Pure Audio Project OB speakers.  Considering Guttenberg changed his reference from Cornwalls to these, coupled with my own current obsession with OB, I thought these were going to be the undisputed star of the show. They were not. There were two different rooms that had these puppies—the big Quintet version as well as the smaller Duet15 version that Steve has.  All I can say that in both rooms, these were driven by SS gear. The Quintets were driven by PS Audio gear, while the Duet 15’s were driven by Pass Labs, Denafrip’s Flagship Terminator and another WTF moment…wait for it….a Mac Mini as the streaemer.  Seriously? You’re going to pair pass labs and a Terminator with a Mac mini as a source?? Maybe that’s the reason I didn’t like these speakers—the particular chain of SS gear and noisy sources.  Who knows? random org roll dice

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 22:31:24 Ok, time for my favorite room.  As I was entering, even without laying eyes on the gear, I was smitten.  So I sat down for a longer time compared to other rooms (but not long enough).  Here’s the chain: Border Patrol SE-I R2R-Chip Non Over Sampling (NOS) DAC with tube/solid-state hybrid choke input filter power supply featuring an EZ80 tube rectifier. Border Patrol SE20 Parallel Single Ended 300b amp with 4 WE tubes giving off 18 wpc of Class A goodness.  This is approx. $25K, making Dennis’ $8000 PSE price point, the deal of the century! Innous Zenith MkIII Streamer—I have been eying this brand closely.  Interestingly, the dudes at Border Patrol Labs weren’t big fans of using it as a Roon core, which is one of it’s selling points.  They feel that it degrades the sound quality and makes it laggy.  Much better to keep the roon server seperate and just it as a renderer.  That said, they weren’t using the Innous’s in house app to stream. Innous USB Reclocker. Two Monster (in size) Power Linear Supplies—one feeding the DAC and one the amp.  All wired up in partnership with Triode Wire Lab cables. Voltii ‘Rival’ Speakers.  This is an Italian brand and my knee jerk reaction was like, wow they look like a clone of Klipsh Forte IV’s.  I think they are of higher efficiency and sounded sublime (3x the price of Forte IV).  With the Border Patrol stuff in the chain, it seemed like a match made in heaven.  Here is a link: https://voltiaudio.com/rival-2/ The system sounded magical to my ears.  I didn’t want to leave and was thinking of returning but never made it back.  The room was very unassuming and didn’t have a lot of ppl milling around, so I was second guessing myself while on my drive back.  I shouldn’t have.  They had the very same setup at AXPONA in Chicago earlier this year and received tremendous praise from well known reviewers.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 23:39:26 Ok, another incredible sounding room. This was a pleasant surprise and perfect timing I guess, since Mofi was there with Andrew Jones’ latest creation, the SourcePoint 10.  Andrew was at the show, but wasn’t in the room when I sat down for the demo.  Here’s the chain: Mofi SourcePoint 10 speaker Rose Hifi RS 150b Streamer Rose Hifi RA 180 Class D GAN FET (as opposed to the typical Silicon FET) Integrated amp—apparently GaN FET solves some of the linearity problems with a typical Class D circuit. IsoTek V5 Aquarius Power Line Conditioner Just as I sat down, the song they queued up was the one that blew us away on Sarah at Decfest using the T6 speakers—Sarah Bareilles’ cover of Yellow Brick Road (Live from Atlanta).  It sounded really good, though missing some of the intimacy and romance supplied by the 300b tubes. The Hifi Rose streamer is without a doubt, one of the most gorgeous streamers I’ve seen and don’t get me started on the beauty of it’s 200 wpc integrated amplifier.  It showed off it’s chops on the very next Deadmau 5 bass heavy track and I was leaving the room and I stopped DEAD IN MY TRACKS. Wow! Considering these speakers are 91 db efficient, I just wonder how much more killer they will sound paired with a SET or push/pull tube amp? A serious contender, this.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/13/22 at 23:58:06 Ok one more for tonight—and perhaps one or two more tomorrow. This is another example of a speaker manufacturer that a lot of people weren’t familiar with—Rosso Florentino—an Italian brand. For my money, they were the most gorgeous looking box speakers at the show or at least out of all the rooms I visited.  Every inch of them was just exquisite.  And the sound? Immaculate.  Dude was playing a demo CD with with lows and highs and I (and others) were like holy shit.  The imaging on these puppies was laser sharp and the resolution crystal clear.  The third and last example of SS gear in the chain (though I didn’t recognize any of it besides the Lumin streamer) which actually sounded more than decent. link 01

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by JBzen on 11/14/22 at 11:25:46 That VAC system reminds me of the IBM computer back in the 60s ;D The problem with these audio shows is too much on display with not enough time to listen. Some set up in a haphazard way. Some vendors like to display good looking equipment without ever considering how it sounds. Audio Armageddon. Some of those speakers look like ⚰.  Dracula might like to open one up for a good day sleep. All kidding aside thanks for sharing Kamran. 4Krow, I find that working the group of wires back and forth as tightening the compression nut, rest, then repeat until there is no movement on the tip ends of the wire seems to lock-in the group sufficiently. Fortunately the Lii Crystals have heavy duty terminal mounts that can take the strain created when doing the above. The only problem is the terminals on the Crystals tend to cut in the wire with the thin rim nut. The PE pair that I installed on the SE84 eliminates this problem with a pad inside the nut that stays stationary as the nut is turned. John

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/15/22 at 00:57:37 And the award for the sexiest tube amp of the show goes to Voxativ-T805 SET Integrated using 805 output tubes.  Approx. $35K.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by kulafu on 11/15/22 at 01:31:07 I was there on Saturday and all i can say is that I am glad I got my Decware stuff, the T6s, and Caintucks as part of my collection.  I got more bang for the buck compared to the prices I saw at CAF.   Bob

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Dr3wman on 11/15/22 at 01:44:19 I’ve always been curious as to how realistic the experiences in these rooms are, both bad and good. Awkward rooms, potentially poorly treated or minimally treated. I’m surprised that high end manufacturers would want to display their products in this environment. I know this is the only way for most people to audition equipment these days, and that is a shame.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/15/22 at 02:13:49 Missed opportunity Kulafu—I was there Saturday as well and would have loved to connect. Dr3wman: True. It is what it is.  Not ideal, but it gives fans to check out gear they mostly only hear about and or learn about online.  That said, most rooms were carpeted so at least they had that going for them.  In fact, the funniest thing about the rooms was they were actually hotel rooms, which were stripped off all furniture, sans the headboard. Some folks covered it up, while some didn’t give a shit.  Here’s a picture for illustration: This weird suction cup of a speaker is a German brand AER with a full range driver. It’s called Jazz.  Didn’t stay in the room long enough to form an opinion one way or another.

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by BlackBess on 11/15/22 at 23:33:39 Kamran: Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the MoFi SP10’s. They seem to be reaching saturation on YouTube. Also on today’s flavor of the day (or is it yesterday’s) OB speakers. Cindy liked your “bargain of the century “ comment but when I showed her the pics on the Sarah thread & expressed my feelings on the appearance, she showed me this; I “hadn’t “ seen it before.   ;D   BTW, not my usual style but I’m really getting into “ Belafonte returns to Carnage Hall” at the moment. Maybe it’s “tube magic “ Ralph how to adjust website for screen resolution

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/16/22 at 01:47:48 BlackBess—glad you and Cindy enjoyed it!  Irrespective of the not so ideal conditions, I still had a lot of fun.  What I also heard is that CAP is a lot less corporate compared to say, an event like AXPONA—for what it’s worth. Speaking of Mofi and SourcePoint 10 speakers—their room sounded just fine so I can’t necessarily generalize that all rooms sounded bad. To their credit, some folks brought their own panels to tame the room. Btw, If you haven’t checked the following SourcePoint 10 demo clip, it’s worth checking out.  I also figured out today that this demo was conducted on a tube amp, whereas the demo I witnessed was on SS gear. https://youtu.be/CU67rJ33eZw Kamran

Title: Re: Toronto Audio Fest to Capital Audio Fest Post by Kamran on 11/20/22 at 23:53:28 Zeos’ reaction on the Mofi SourcePoint 10 sound demo: https://youtu.be/_5rLRECb-Mk For those of you not familiar with Zeos—let’s just say that he is very expressive and colorful — so watch discreetly if you have children around or if you don’t care for folks using expletives with reckless abandon. People may not like him but you can’t argue with his entertainment factor nor his subscriber count for the matter. Funny thing is that both of us were caught off guard, not only with the in person demo but with the tube amp in the Audiophile Junkie’s YouTube clip, since we both experienced the demo on 200 wpc SS gear.

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