[Yay! More shows!]

“The 2012 Capital Audiofest is set for July 13-15 in the Washington DC
area, and will again be at Crown Plaza Hotel but with more of
everything so will be bigger and better. More quality playback
equipment, listening rooms, display table space, retailers, audio and
video manufacturers and live music. Last year we had approximately
1000 attendees exploring 30 rooms which isnt bad for a two year old
show! This year we plan to have 50-60 rooms along with more of everything. .
If you have not read the rave reviews by Stereophile’s own John
Atkinson, then please go to the CAF website www.capitalaudiofest.com
and link to Stereophile and other great commentary found on the
internet. Please contact me if you are interested in rate and room
information so you can reserve now.www.capitalaudiofest.com.”

The little Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne speakers were driven by darTZeel amplifier and preamp with the source being a laptop using the Playback Designs CD / SACD player as the DAC.

I am not familiar with the #2500 speaker market - but did think this sounded better than it did at RMAF 2011, but perhaps that was because it was not being played as loud.

This room was oriented along the long wall, very rare at this show.

The Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne speaker

The Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne speaker

The Playback Designs CD / SACD player being driven by a laptop

The Playback Designs CD / SACD player

The darTZeel NHB 18NS preamplifier

The darTZeel NHB 108 Model One amplifier

The darTZeel NHB 108 Model One amplifier

An Ampex Reel-to-reel tape deck

A final shot of the Ampex Reel-to-reel tape deck

Studio Electric were showing their speakers and electronics with Benchmark Audio sources. Studio Electric goes for a smooth, melodic sound with decent resolution that is firmly in the Enjoyable category.

A photo from the almost-sweet spot.

The Studio Electric ‘Monitor’ speaker

The Studio Electric T3 speaker

The Studio Electric EA4 amplifier

The Studio Electric ‘Electrodyne’

The Benchmark Audio ADC1 USB DAC

The Benchmark Audio DAC 1 HDR

The Benchmark Audio DAC1 HDR

The speaker in the Antelope room

The speaker in the Antelope room

The Antelope Eclipse 384 DAC

The Antelope Zodiac Gold preamplifier and Voltikus power supply

The laptop used in the Antelope room as a source

The door to this room was locked - but it looks like - after 4 days of almost non-stop walking from room to room - those recliners would be mighty nice to take a load off the feet for awhile.

Electro Design is from Korea and makes speakers and Analog Voice components

The Analog Voice BS-812A speaker

The Analog Voice BS-812A speaker

The Analog Voice ALLDAC and DT monoblock amplifier

The Analog Voice ALLDAC and DT monoblock amplifier

The interesting poster Electro Voice brought about their product lines

Sanders was showing their Sanders model 11 electrostatic speakers and amplifiers

The Sanders model 11 speaker

The Sanders Magtech amplifier with open chassis

The Sanders Magtech amplifier with open chassis from above

The stack: Sanders amplifiers and their preamp

As you can see, a lot of the cool lookin’ stuff is over here at THE Show. The ESS Labs speaker feature their Great Heil drivers for most of the upper mid and tweeter frequencies.

I couldn’t find out the name of some of these ESS Labs speakers, but definitely an interesting design.

The ESS Labs LD-10 loudspeaker

The ESS Labs AMT Limited Edition speaker

Another view of the main ESS Labs speaker in this room

A few shots of the ESS Labs LD-10 loudspeaker

The LD-10 ESS Labs speaker

A closeup of the driver in the larger ESS Labs speaker

They were using an Oppo DVD player here

The CI Audio PLC-1 MKII Remote Passive Linestage preamplifier

The CI Audio D-200 MK II amplifier

The Plinius 8150 preamplifier

A few shots of the various sizes of the ESS Labs ‘Great Heil’ speaker drivers

Another high res shot of the ESS Labs Great Heil drivers

On static display, yet another new ESS Labs speaker

Episode Audio makes on-wall speakers and a couple different freestanding loudspeakers speakers like these.

Clement Perry of Stereotimes was having a good time …as always

Episode Audio loudspeakers

Episode Audio Kobra on the left, Episode-V on the right.

An Episode-V loudspeaker

Episode Audio loudspeakers

Another interesting speaker from Episode Audio, the Kobra

The interesting drivers and driver configuration of an Episode Audio Episode-V loudspeaker

The interesting drivers and driver configuration of the Episode Audio Kobra loudspeaker

They were using a Yamaha RX V1400 DVD CD player

They were also using an Onkyo amp / preamp combination

An Episode Audio on-wall speaker

Static display of some Episode Audio speaker drivers

Von Gaylord was demonstrating their new ‘Return of the Legend’ speakers which sit on their ‘VG-1 Plus’ woofers driven by their ‘Uni Earth’ amplifiers.

I remember the original ‘The Legend’ speakers getting good write-ups in the forums when they were played loud but not LOUD [which also sometimes happened at those shows]. Funny, this show was a very quiet show this year - in all the rooms.

The Von Gaylord speaker

The Von Gaylord ‘Return of the Legend and VG-1 Plus’ speaker

The Von Gaylord ‘Return of the Legend and VG-1 Plus’ speaker

The Von Gaylord ‘Return of the Legend and VG-1 Plus’ speaker

The Von Gaylord ‘Uni Earth’ amplifier

The Von Gaylord ‘Uni Earth’ amplifier

The Von Gaylord ‘Uni Earth’ amplifier

The Von Gaylord ‘Uni’ preamplifier

A Marantz CD-80 CD player with the logo blacked out [why do some rooms do this? have no idea.]