Audio Troy Capital Audio Fest the good, the bad and the ugly!

I work for LTA (full disclosure), and based on the press sheet I saw, that Daedalus (Randolph room) number isn't wildly off. There was simply lots of gear (incl cables) in that system, so it adds up.

Is Devore you are talking about what was in Command AV room? The room that was billed as Luxman but had a few Luxman pieces and none to be heard?

I believe both the CL-1000 preamp and 300b amp were powering the Devores. It was hard to get a sense of how they sounded in that big cavern of a room through those speakers though.

Thanks for the report,
I’ll be waiting to read the rest.

JD

jsqt,

Thanks for clarification. It was my fault for forgetting that Luxman has these tube amplifiers. In my defense, they were far.

I hope it was just the room. I was quite underwhelmed in there. Probably personal preference?

I thought the Devore/Luxman room was underwhelming, I think it had to be the room.  The system was displayed in a ballroom.

VPI's new statement piece Vanquish was very interesting driven by Krell electronics, wired with Nordost.  I think the Kef Muon's did the system a slight disservice, was not a fan.  The room was challenging also - I wasn't impressed with the Blades room either which was disappointing since I've always wanted to hear them.

The VAC/Von Sweikert room was excellent, better sounding than last year.  But for 1.5mil, Yikes.  Just the furniture for the system was around 200K.  Great opportunity to listen.  Listening to Fleetwood Mac "The Chain" it was easy to imagine being in the studio with the band.

The CJ/Kharma room was another treat.  The Kharma's for me were the best speaker in the show - wish I could afford them.  The GAT and a new 36 watt power amp were driving them and they were simply outstanding.

Peter at Sound-Smith was putting out great analog tunes with his strain gauge system.  Tonally pure and organic.  He alternated between SG and Hyperion and both cartridges sounded excellent.

Callout to startup Verdant.  Beautiful stand mounted speakers and great sound!

Wanted to hear atmosphere/Classic Audio speakers but they were playing some sort of "space music" that was just terrible.

As usual lots of vinyl rigs.  Good to see Basis there.  My wife graced me with her presence (probably to keep an eye on me) and noticed every time a room was playing digital instead of vinyl.

Daedalus had 2 rooms and just did not do it for me.  Salk Sound was another speaker that sounded good.  Just did not get Magico, sounded sterile to me.

Overall I thought it was a good show.  CAF has morphed into a great event.