Capital Audio Fest 2016

I will say the thing that impressed me most at this show, more so than any single thing I heard, was the passion of so many of the vendors there. So many of these guys seem to really put their heart and sole into realizing their visions and making the best products they possibly can all for the love of music. There were so many technological works of art. I'll take one of each please.  Hats off to them all.

I met a friend yesterday who had the same experience at this show with respect to a couple of rooms.  We both noted that the analogue setup in the room with the Brinkman table/cartridge was defective; it sounded out of phase.  I asked the vendor about this and he acknowledged that somewhere in transit, it appears that the cartridge went bad (not wired out of phase).  Still, they continued to demonstrate with a weird sounding phono setup when their digital setup sounded pretty good to me.  My friend noted the same problem but did not discuss it with the vendor.  He said that another room had the speakers wired out of phase and others in the room complimented the "wide" soundstage and really liked the sound that way.  More evidence that there is a WIDE range of opinion on what constitutes good sound.

We both noted that the analogue setup in the room with the Brinkman table/cartridge was defective; it sounded out of phase. I asked the vendor about this and he acknowledged that somewhere in transit, it appears that the cartridge went bad (not wired out of phase).

We had a turntable that was supposed to be shown fail to keep speed; a very generous Fern & Roby had a spare and lent us theirs, and we also used a modified tube-output CD player that the cable vendor happened to bring. This is the second show we've had last minute substitutions in sources. For audio shows: test a million times and always bring a backup! 

The story about the Brinkman demo is absolutely right.  When I entered the room, there was an empty seat in the front row on the center line of the speakers.  As I started to sit down, it was immediately evident that the sound was out-of-phase.  There was a hollowness in the entire bass range and a hollowness in the center image despite full-range sounds coming from each speaker.  There were only a few people in the room so I felt at liberty to say out loud to the room host that the speakers were out-of-phase.  He said they weren't but rather there was some sort of problem with the phono cartridge.  All I know is that I have been setting up stereo speakers for many years and I am quite familiar with and sensitive to the effects of an out-of-phase setup.  What I heard that day was definitely out-of-phase stereo speakers, and the sound was so strange, so disorienting, that I would have had a headache in minutes if I had stayed.  So I left.  It was most unfortunate since I was looking forward to hearing the Brinkman table.

Now it is possible the cartridge wires were connected out of phase rather than the speaker wires.  That would have the same effect.  But regardless of where the error occurred, somebody should have had enough sense to correct it before a public demonstration.

As I assisted Doug White on Saturday in The Voice That Is room showing Tidal & Brinkmann, please let me shed a bit more light.

On Friday, after a comment was made, Doug acknowledged there was a problem that sounded like a simple out-of-phase wire swap and spent some time during the day troubleshooting in between visitors to the room. After Friday’s show ended more evaluation led to the decision to demo digital only on Saturday until he could clearly identify the issue. At that point all indicators pointed to a likely problem with the cartridge. Friday night was filled with meetings so, other than confirming the connectivity, the analog was untouched knowing he could focus and would have my help on Saturday.

On Saturday, we played digital throughout the day amid many smiling faces and enthusiastic head nods. A number of folks commented about the great bass from the TIDAL Piano and wondered about the contribution of the subwoofer which wasn’t turned on. We later moved the woofer to a table top to clarify the point. Later that morning a reviewer asked to play his LPs. Doug explained the analog issue and, at his repeated request, we reluctantly agreed to play some for him anyway. In hindsight, that might have misled others that walked in at that point. We returned to digital playback only for the remainder of the day. Not used to gremlins, Doug agonized over the trouble and, late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, he had the chance to “test a million more times” finding the issue. As it turned out, the tonearm mounting had slipped during the relocation of the turntable from table to the rack resulting in a cartridge alignment/overhang problem. What appeared to sound like out-of-phase wiring, was actually an alignment problem (Van Den Hul stylus type). Admittedly, Doug stated he should have checked again despite the long day Thursday as digital was used in overall setup in not just one but two rooms. Lesson learned. Don’t do the show’s turntable setup after a 18 hour day. Get a good night’s sleep! Bringing a backup would be ideal but isn’t always feasible.

Sunday morning’s show opening was with the analog setup back and spinning at 100%. The same reviewer returned at 10:15 to hear a number of his LPs and shared his enthusiasm at the sound. Some attendees re-visited and analog was featured throughout the day.

Yes, it’s true that stuff happens during show setups and exhibitors go to great lengths to debug the issues as quickly as possible. Very often the best sound is experienced on Sunday because exhibitors work on their rooms constantly. Doug mentioned that he appreciated the attendee mentioning it to him, regrets his less than ideal experience, and extends an invitation for him to visit the Studio to experience the setup correctly - hopefully in the near future.

We appreciate all the kind words from visitors to Capital Audio Fest, the TVTI room and the Bricasti/TVTI room next door. We look forward to seeing you at the next show. Cheers,
Spencer