Feedback from Capital Audiofest 2013

Thanks to Gary Gill and his team for putting on a great show. This years CAF was a big improvement on last years event and was a superb show in all respects.
The new venue is terrific, its location is perfect and attendance was considerably up compared to last year. The Room acoustics in Room 515 were some of the best I have had at a show.
As usual, Gary Gill made the event run super smoothly

Some links to check out. I will post more as they come on line.

http://enjoythemusic.com/capitol_audiofest_2013/part3/

http://www.audionervosa.com/index.php?topic=4592.15

http://www.head-fi.org/t/676194/2013-capital-audio-fest

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/07/26/caf-2013-borderpatrol-and-living-voice/

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/07/27/caf-2013-volti-audio/

http://www.stereophile.com/content/capital-audiofest-day-three

http://www.stereophile.com/content/capital-audiofest-wrap

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1304462593&openflup&5&4#5

Pictures Courtesy of CAF’s Paul Elliott

System used:

BorderPatrol S20 EXD dual mono parallel single-ended amplifier,
BorderPatrol Control Unit pre-amp,
BorderPatrol DAC,
Living Voice Avatar OBx-R,
Tent Labs CD Transport

Finally, there is something I must admit to. I never took a photo of what I thought was the best sounding room in the whole show – Volti Audio + Border Patrol. I guess I just got carried away and never thought to take off the lens cap and snap a picture. Fortunately, Stereophile has a nice picture. You can find it here (scroll down to near the bottom of the article): http://www.stereophile.com/content/capital-audiofest-day-two-part-two

On Friday, the Aluras were playing; Sunday it was the Vittoras. Both were excellent. I went into the room not really knowing what to expect. I mean, I’ve heard that horns add a distracting coloration to the sound (think singing through cupped hands). But if you want concert-level SPL from flea powered amps, well, there’s really no other option. Greg Roberts, Volti’s owner, delivers though. The Aluras gigantic bass reflex cabinet can output such alarmingly high levels of the subterranean frequencies that you feel it in your gut. And this is good quality bass that integrates seamlessly with the midrange and tweeter horns. The soundstage is huge and with their balanced presentation – nary a hint of horn coloration – it really feels like you’re at a live show or in the concert hall. When I asked Greg what was driving the Aluras, he mentioned that the Wells Innamorata in the rack wasn’t sounding quite up to snuff, possibly something awry in the circuitry and the 18 W Border Patrol single ended tube amp was providing the amplification. Simply unbelievable and awe-inspiring.