Capital Audiofest: Up Close and Personal, Part Two

In Part One of our Capital Audiofest 2022 coverage (Issue 180), I touched upon the family nature of the specialty audio business. And I’ve found it interesting how the industry seems to skip generations. Our sons have little interest in audio, despite having grown up with great gear. What they didn’t skip over was my wife’s and my love of music without reservation. Our home has always been full of any and all genres of music and they picked up on that diversity. But it’s not unusual for kids to not appreciate their parents’ interests, although all of us are into the fabulous L.A. Dodgers, Phillipe, cats, dogs, and tech. That said, Thomas loves his pair of Audioengine A5+ powered speakers, while our younger son Jonathan adores his Oppo PM-3 closed-back planar magnetic headphones, so perhaps all isn’t lost.

When the vinyl revival started to happen, my oldest son Thomas was on the hunt for fun, cool records. But, funnily enough he wasn’t as concerned about having a turntable. Recent statistics bear this out. According to Billboard magazine, vinyl represented $43.5 million in sales in 2022, yet only 50 percent of vinyl buyers owned a record player. There are various theories for this, ranging from a hipster love of all things retro, to a tangible response to the invisibility of the digital age, in which music, as well as much of our lives, takes place with no physical footprint. So, what could be more basic than a wafer of plastic, with a true analogous signal with wavy lines or something cool-looking on it. I do find it odd that folks would spend that much money on sometimes-overpriced LPs, and not be able to play them. But maybe I’m strange that way. And it is gratifying to have a large piece of artwork that you can hold in your hand, which is satisfying in a way that a Roon GUI isn’t.

Fortunately, some of the most dedicated vinyl enthusiasts are young, hip, passionate, and buy turntables. It’s one reason for the success of companies like Music Hall, Pro-Ject, Audio-Technica, Victrola and many others, all of whom have commendable and good-sounding gear at attractive pricing. Even IKEA has gotten in the act, although their OBEGRÄNSAD record player has gotten negative reviews. (At CES 2023, we saw a lovely new JBL turntable, that clocks in at very competitive $400 with a decent Audio-Technica cartridge. So even large companies are responding.) Affordable digital gear from manufacturers like Schiit, Geshelli Labs, Fosi Audio, Aiyima, Topping, S.M.S.L, LOXJIE Audio, and the Emotiva BasX line is also making huge inroads, especially since advances in technology and build quality mean that some really inexpensive gear sounds pretty musical.

Naturally, life is a balancing act, full of compromises, but as evidenced by the superb reviews that Andrew Jones’ inexpensive speakers for ELAC have garnered, users can have a really serious musical experience for even just a few hundred dollars’ worth of gear. Certainly, the trashing that Class D amplifiers used to receive is no longer valid. At Capital Audiofest 2022 we heard some great Class-D amps, and the availability of low-cost, low-distortion, high-power chips from Texas Instruments and amplifier modules from ICEpower and others has driven down the cost of musical horsepower.

I liken it to the early days of sports cars, where enthusiasts could purchase wonderful entry-level models, leaving the fancier and more expensive cars to those who could afford them. Based on what I’ve seen at Capital Audiofest, CanJam, and more recently, CES 2023, I think we are in the golden age of audio, since $200 for a headphone amp and some headphones can get you some impressive sound. Maybe not comparable to a $25,000 system, but capable of real enjoyment. I tend to think of it as a trickle-down audio equivalent of trickle-down economics, whereas unlike trickle-down economics, the audio version actually works and benefits consumers.

That’s just one of the reasons why I totally enjoy the irreverent energy of the audio scene, especially as evidenced by the headphones community, whose love of independent inventors, irreverent reviewers and personalities, and enthusiastic listeners powers the whole gang. There were lots of visitors to Capital Audiofest with that vibe. The cool thing is that they were happy to listen to a $250,000 system, as well as one costing a few hundred bucks. And one of the largest rooms, with stunning equipment, was also among my least favorite. To be honest, the room was just too big. I’ve eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the world, and the best of them had a small intimate feel to them despite their actual size. They made you feel welcome. On the other hand, at the recent New York Audio Show, Greg Takesh (of GT Audio Works) had the largest room, and it sounded great. At Capitol Audiofest, he had a smaller, standard sized room, and it sounded great also. He told me that he actually dug the smaller room since it was more intimate. With room size bigger isn’t always better. It’s important to match the speakers to the room.

I say this because many of my favorite rooms weren’t necessarily large, but were welcoming. I enjoy spending time with Boris Meltsner of Amped America and Roy Hall of Music Hall, lovely to spend time with because I think both can be hilariously fun straight shooters. I’ve been talking with Roy Hall for years about reviewing one of his turntables, but it hasn’t happened. But having a wee dram of Scotch with him is enough.

I had a great time hanging out with Steve Jain in the Fidelity Imports room. Later we were joined by Hideki Kato of Soulnote Audio, whose gorgeous gear from Japan was contributing to the lovely sounds in the room. I’ve long been a fan of Michal Jurewicz of Mytek Audio, whose Brooklyn DAC+ is a component that I thought couldn’t be much improved upon, although his latest version has managed to do just that. It was a treat to listen to his newest creations, which sounded fantastic combined with JMLab speakers and other gear. Mytek also has an entirely revised product line due in part to a separation from the original factory that manufactured their products, and a new distributor. The new components sport a number of improvements and refinements, so while the shakeup might have been difficult, the resulting new products reveal enhancements across the board.

Well-run audio shows have something for everybody, and the 2022 Capital Audiofest proved it once again. Here are more photos, and we’ll have even more next issue.