CAF 2012 came and went, like all shows, in a proverbial blur. A mountain of preparation goes into each show and culminates in three days of intense scrutiny by audiophiles and press. Everyone’s opinion is valid and most feel happy to give it, favourable ùŒ ùŒ€; h£ˆùŒ@ùŒ@@ùŒ no exception.
It is extremely gratifying to have so many people making so many positive comments: ‘Best Sound at the Show’, ‘I can’t believe its only 8 Watts/channel’, ‘where’s the sub woofer’, ‘I could listen to this all day’, ‘it sounds so natural and effortless’, ‘great tone’ were just some of the comments to be heard together with ‘what are you doing that’s different from last year, because it’s much better’. I’m always working on ways to improve the sound even if they are usually ‘under the hood’ and not immediately obvious.
BorderPatrol has shown at CAF for three straight years and it’s a great compliment that people keep coming back to listen and can remember the sound from previous years. And it is always nice to see people spending ‘real time’ in the room, rather than the customary 5 min’s, and also returning several times.

BorderPatrol-Living Voice video from CAF by AV Showrooms

Making a great sound in a hotel room can be a bit of a crap shoot. The quality of the power from the wall varies at different times of the day, and from day to day, and room acoustics can be unpredictable. I prefer not to use room treatments because most people do not have them at home, so I don’t think it is representative of what they should expect. My 1st year at CAF, at the Glenview Mansions, I was in a room that was at least three times bigger than the usual hotel room, and had almost no sound deadening, but still managed to get a good overall sound despite the resonance and echoes. The 2nd year, on the third floor of the Crowne Plaza, in what was a much more normal sized room with a lot more sound deadening, I was plagued by a terrible bass boom/drone that persisted despite changing the orientation of the room. I still got many complimentary comments, but I was not happy. BorderPatrol amps are renowned for tight, controlled bass compared to other tube amps so it was somewhat embarrassing to have a boomy, overhung sound. This year, on the 2nd floor, in what was essentially an almost identical room, same size, same layout, the bass was perfectly fine, and although there were a few acoustic issues I was mostly happy with overall sound. Greg Roberts in the Volti Audio room had exactly the opposite experience with a dreadful bass resonance this year that he did not have last year, and he was in the very same room! I suspect he’s still trying to work that one out.

I rarely use the 8W/channel single-ended BorderPatrol amps at shows. I prefer to have the extra headroom that the 20W parallel single-end and push-pulls give even if loudness is not an issue. In a show environment, you never know when one of the neighbouring rooms is going to ‘rock out’ or how many people might suddenly come in, and in July, background noise from the AC is a frequent problem. It is useful to have the extra power to raise the sound above the background noise. This year, curiosity got the better of me (I was keen to try out the Sophia Royal Princess and I only had one pair) so on Friday afternoon I replaced the P20 EXD push-pull dual mono with an SE300B EXD stereo. It sounded great, so I left it in and used it all of Saturday and Sunday morning! Saturday had the most visitors and I was concerned that with only 8W, 94dB efficient speakers and a room often full of people it might struggle. I need not have worried. It sounded strong, clean, delicate and refined and the comments from the room visitors suggested the visitors were enjoying it just as much as I was. By Sunday lunchtime, the sound had flattened out and was no longer as taught and energetic as on Saturday, so I re-installed the P20. I was told by a couple of Rockville residents that the wall supply quality usually takes a dive on Sunday afternoons so maybe that was the reason.

All in all, I was very pleased with the sound at CAF and particularly the response from the visitors.
Thanks to everyone that made it to the BorderPatrol room at this years CAF.
Thanks to the reviewers and audiophiles who posted on-line.
Thanks to Gary Gill and his team of organisers for putting on a great show again. CAF continues to be better organised each year with more exhibitors and a more diverse range of equipment on show. It’s amazing how far the show has come in just three years and whilst attendance may have been slightly down compared to last year, there are a few reasons that might account for it, not least the current economic uncertainty and the storm that knocked out power for many in the MD/VA/DC area just a couple of weeks before the show.
Thanks to all the BorderPatrol clients in the MD/VA/DC area for coming out and showing their support.
Thanks again to Greg Roberts of Volti Audio for using the BorderPatrol S20 power amp. His room was also getting many complimentary comments. I hope to continue the BorderPatrol-Volti connection at future shows.

See you next year or at RMAF.

Systems used.

Friday AM:
BorderPatrol S20 EXD power amplifier with Sophia Electric Carbon Princess 300B tubes.
BorderPatrol Control Unit EXT1 pre-amp
Living Voice Auditorium Avatar OBX-RW loudspeakers.
BorderPatrol DAC (prototype)
Tent Labs CD transport.

Friday PM, Saturday and Sunday AM:
BorderPatrol SE300B EXD power amplifier with Sophia Electric Royal Princess 300B tubes.
BorderPatrol Control Unit EXT1 pre-amp
Living Voice Auditorium Avatar OBX-RW loudspeakers.
BorderPatrol DAC (prototype)
Tent Labs CD transport.

Sunday PM:
BorderPatrol P20 EXD power amplifier with Sophia Electric Carbon Princess 300B tubes.
BorderPatrol Control Unit EXT1 pre-amp
Living Voice Auditorium Avatar OBX-RW loudspeakers.
BorderPatrol DAC (prototype)
Tent Labs CD transport.

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