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It’s entirely impossible not to begin a download of the 2015 Capital Audiofest (CAF) without mentioning the infectious enthusiasm of the event’s organizer, Gary Gill. I began my journey through the halls of the DC metro area’s premier audio event by chatting with Gary, noting an excited twinkle in his eye and an undeniable grin, accompanied by a hint of pre-show anticipation. Perhaps it was the new – spacious – digs at the Rockville Hilton, or just relief that the show was underway, but Gill was jazzed. And his vibe definitely echoed through the halls and audio rooms throughout the seven hours I spent soaking-in all that the show had to offer.
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If you haven’t had the good fortune to attend the Capital Audiofest, then you're most certainly missing out on one of the friendlier events around. This year’s venue was simply spectacular, offering an easy-to-navigate layout, classy user-friendly signage, and a staff that was eager to aid and assist. Of course, this all goes without giving a nod to the gear, which was well represented by a mountain of high-end options.
When I entered the Hilton there was an air of early show quietness backed by the sweet whispers of sonically tuned music softly echoing throughout the lobby (my kind of setting). Gill’s staff was busily preparing for an expected attendance of 2,000 enthusiasts…most of which invaded during Saturday and Sunday hours. The show's layout inhabited an endless array of larger conference rooms and tastefully altered guestrooms. You’ll read zero complaints about the setting from me (notably better than its previous location in Silver Spring, Maryland).
Rather than present a room-by-room rundown of the show, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few of my favorite finds with another edition of “Best of Show” awards. It might seem like a difficult task to find favorites amongst room after room of technically sound gear costing thousands upon thousands of dollars, but it’s not. Each of the award winners, in my opinion, was fairly easy to identify. As the old saying goes: “I could do it with my eyes shut.” And since we’re talking audio that probably isn’t too far from the truth. So, without further delay, here are the 2015 Capital Audiofest “Best of Show” awards.
Edison Award: Fyssion’s Prototype Audio Chair
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North Carolina based Fyssion arrived at CAF with a haul of speaker models in tow, including their unique tripod mounted Profound Round and members of their Omega line. Fyssion’s designs sport an incredibly unique flair, and based on demo sessions they have the sound to back-up their looks. This award, however, isn’t about their currently available speaker lines. When I first entered Fyssion’s room one object immediately caught my eye: a prototype audio chair.
As you can see in the photo, the audio chair is a fairly self-explanatory design. With four 3-inch drivers (two behind the head and two on the armrests) and an integrated tactile transducer, it’s a compact surround sound experience loaded on a comfortable chair.
It turns out that Fyssion isn’t just about making great sounding speakers; they’re also fascinated by looking for ways to integrate audio into a variety of unique applications. While I’m not at liberty to discuss their pipeline ideas, I can say that they have some great ideas percolating amongst their brain trust.
The audio chair is fairly advanced in its development phase, but its end-of-line form factor will probably look different than what was shown at CAF. However, the overall design (and the incorporation of Tang-Bang W3 drivers) is close to the finish. I was given an opportunity to experience the chair using dynamic demo material from a Transformers movie. The armrest drivers create a very nice soundstage that has just enough spatial presence to allow for noticeable pans and an image that hovers head level. In addition, the armrest drivers rumble the chair for a hint of tactile immersion (the onboard transducer was not activated during the demo). The two rear channels did their job without being annoying, although my preference would have been for slightly higher volume levels. Obviously rear channel volume would be easy for a user to tweak.
The chair is billed as the answer to surround sound without shaking the house, disturbing the family, or strapping-on a headset. I think it has great possibilities for answering all three arenas and look forward to experiencing a final design.
Must Have Gear: DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0
![]()
Tucked away on the third floor, I found a slick room filled with several pieces of fantastic gear. Luckily, I entered the scene during a lively demo session of Klangwerk’s active Ella speakers and a nifty $1,000 room correction device made by DSPeaker. The Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core unit applies an audibly effective correction algorithm to two channel systems and the results are absolutely phenomenal.
The unit itself is rather small (9 ¼ x 2 x 5-inch), but it packs a serious punch. Its front side features a highly functional color user interface screen and a microphone port, while the rear has 2 RCA and 2 XLR inputs (with matching outputs), Toslink, a USB port, and a datalink. Like any EQ package, the Anti-Mode measures the room response with a frequency sweep and then applies corrections. Users have the ability to save several sound profiles while accessing a variety of adjustment settings on the fly.
During the demo session, there was no question about the Anti-Mode’s impact on the sound stage. Its operation literally made imaging bloom to life with a sharpened intensity and depth. I left a believer and can confirm that Anti-Mode should be a serious contender for enthusiasts looking for a two-channel correction option.
Portfolio Booster: GT Audio Works’ GTA 2.5
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During my visit to AXPONA 2015 my ears were set on fire by an incredible $140,000 system featuring MartinLogan’s gorgeous Neolith speakers. My show follow-up piece described the speaker’s abilities as “…alive and shockingly large…perfectly balanced and transparent…dynamic and delicious.” And despite being almost 6 months removed from hearing them, the flavor that the Neoliths left on my palate hasn’t faded one bit.
Enter New Jersey based GT Audio Works and its new GTA 2.5 speaker. Like the Neoliths they stand tall (75-inches) and feature a flat-front panel/large base design. The panel houses a high-energy neodymium magnet ribbon tweeter and a full-range planar magnetic driver, while the base is anchored by two internally powered (400W) 10-inch woofers. Like the Neoliths, the GTA 2.5s create an incredibly tall and deep sound stage that is especially notable for its amazing height. Oh, it was delicious to the ears – a sound stage to die for. The demo material I heard was exacting and sharp with wonderfully warm and present bass, making for a perfect blend of highs and lows. What I can’t shake is how the GTA 2.5s kindled my memories of the Neoliths. Of course, I write this without any intention of stealing thunder from the GTAs because they deliver incredible sonic beauty for about $8,000 (show special; $9,000 MSRP).
Owner and speaker builder Greg Takesh is able to deliver such incredible sound by keeping GT Audio Works a modest one-man operation. Every purchase is built to order by his own hands in his home-based shop. Therefore, his overhead and operating costs are kept low as compared to larger manufacturers. The benefit is incredible sound with a cost savings passed-on to the customer. If I were on a hunt for audiophile-grade speakers, you’d better believe I’d have a demo-visit at Greg’s home on my shortlist. The GTA 2.5s left a lasting impression on me…and I’d love to experience more.
Top-to-Bottom Beauty: Daedalus Audio’s Poseidon V.2
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Spend five minutes with Daedalus Audio’s founder Lou Hinkley, and you’ll be a believer in the Washingtonian’s gear. In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skilled architect and craftsman – take one look at the company’s speakers and you’ll completely understand the use of the name. To put it simply, Daedalus Audio’s speaker cabinets are natural-crafted works of art. Each one is hand made, unique, and flat-out gorgeous.
At first glance, I noticed the Poseidon’s dovetail joinery and grain-revealing hand finished surfaces. But, upon further inspection, intricate details in the cabinets ¾-inch maple surfaced, such as a subtly carved bump-out slightly above the speaker’s top 8-inch driver, an angled baffle (to eliminate standing waves), and the beautifully planed radiuses on all of the edges. And the knuckle-wrap test? Forget about it, superiorly solid! Hinkley says the exterior is only the start, as the Poseidon V.2s also feature internal bracing that is equal to the task.
Looks aside, the Poseidon V.2s are sonically masterful. Believe it…they sound as good as they look. Utilizing an MTTM design with tweeters that are slightly offset (to create a wide dispersion of high frequencies), the Poseidons deal in spades. The dual 8-inch woofers don’t disappoint, completing a package of sound that is perfectly balanced from top to bottom. At my request, Hinkley played a Norah Jones track that melted me in my chair. Imaging and breadth of soundstage were absolutely outstanding, putting the Poseidon V.2s in rarified air.
Total Wow Sound: Classic Audio Loudspeakers’ Hartsfield
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Let’s get this out of the way: Classic Audio Loudspeaker’s Hartsfield speakers (pictured left) aren't cheap. If you were to make a move on a pair right now, then you’d be facing a bill north of $36,000 (the show price was a slightly cooled $32K).
So what does $36-large fetch, you ask? For starters, it brings to life a design that was first introduced over five decades ago by the James B. Lansing Sound Company. We’re talking aesthetics that are definitely from a different era – and that's a good thing, because the speaker looks both stately and wickedly unique. It also brings you girth, as the speaker is just about as hefty as it’s price tag, weighing-in at 400 lbs. (46H x 45W x 25D, roughly). Then there’s the sound, as in sound stage, and that’s the true money shot delivered by the Hartsfield.
Spread some 30-feet apart for the demo session, the Hartsfield duo created a jaw-dropping soundstage, laced with exacting detail to levels that could quench the most wildest of desires. We’re talking airy highs…tight and impressively deep bass…a beautiful midrange marriage…a ridiculously wide sweet spot…and the ability to take just about any genre of music and make it sound oh-so-right. Of course, the Hartsfield duo had the advantage of inhabiting one of the larger – if not the largest – demo rooms at Capital Audiofest, which made me wonder if the room played to the speaker’s advantage. The answer to that is yes, but John Wolff of CAL tells me they’d sound just as good in a smaller setting. I have to admit, I’m a skeptic, but I believe him.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard his Hartsfield speakers strut their stuff, and I certainly hope it isn’t the last. To say they were my favorite sound at CAF might not be a huge stretch, although choosing the Hartsfield over the offerings I’ve detailed from Daedalus Audio and GT Audio Works would be mission impossible. All three of these manufacturers have elite products that I’d happily invite into my home.
Image Credits: Todd Anderson
If you haven’t had the good fortune to attend the Capital Audiofest, then you're most certainly missing out on one of the friendlier events around. This year’s venue was simply spectacular, offering an easy-to-navigate layout, classy user-friendly signage, and a staff that was eager to aid and assist. Of course, this all goes without giving a nod to the gear, which was well represented by a mountain of high-end options.
When I entered the Hilton there was an air of early show quietness backed by the sweet whispers of sonically tuned music softly echoing throughout the lobby (my kind of setting). Gill’s staff was busily preparing for an expected attendance of 2,000 enthusiasts…most of which invaded during Saturday and Sunday hours. The show's layout inhabited an endless array of larger conference rooms and tastefully altered guestrooms. You’ll read zero complaints about the setting from me (notably better than its previous location in Silver Spring, Maryland).
Rather than present a room-by-room rundown of the show, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few of my favorite finds with another edition of “Best of Show” awards. It might seem like a difficult task to find favorites amongst room after room of technically sound gear costing thousands upon thousands of dollars, but it’s not. Each of the award winners, in my opinion, was fairly easy to identify. As the old saying goes: “I could do it with my eyes shut.” And since we’re talking audio that probably isn’t too far from the truth. So, without further delay, here are the 2015 Capital Audiofest “Best of Show” awards.
Edison Award: Fyssion’s Prototype Audio Chair
North Carolina based Fyssion arrived at CAF with a haul of speaker models in tow, including their unique tripod mounted Profound Round and members of their Omega line. Fyssion’s designs sport an incredibly unique flair, and based on demo sessions they have the sound to back-up their looks. This award, however, isn’t about their currently available speaker lines. When I first entered Fyssion’s room one object immediately caught my eye: a prototype audio chair.
As you can see in the photo, the audio chair is a fairly self-explanatory design. With four 3-inch drivers (two behind the head and two on the armrests) and an integrated tactile transducer, it’s a compact surround sound experience loaded on a comfortable chair.
It turns out that Fyssion isn’t just about making great sounding speakers; they’re also fascinated by looking for ways to integrate audio into a variety of unique applications. While I’m not at liberty to discuss their pipeline ideas, I can say that they have some great ideas percolating amongst their brain trust.
The audio chair is fairly advanced in its development phase, but its end-of-line form factor will probably look different than what was shown at CAF. However, the overall design (and the incorporation of Tang-Bang W3 drivers) is close to the finish. I was given an opportunity to experience the chair using dynamic demo material from a Transformers movie. The armrest drivers create a very nice soundstage that has just enough spatial presence to allow for noticeable pans and an image that hovers head level. In addition, the armrest drivers rumble the chair for a hint of tactile immersion (the onboard transducer was not activated during the demo). The two rear channels did their job without being annoying, although my preference would have been for slightly higher volume levels. Obviously rear channel volume would be easy for a user to tweak.
The chair is billed as the answer to surround sound without shaking the house, disturbing the family, or strapping-on a headset. I think it has great possibilities for answering all three arenas and look forward to experiencing a final design.
Must Have Gear: DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0
Tucked away on the third floor, I found a slick room filled with several pieces of fantastic gear. Luckily, I entered the scene during a lively demo session of Klangwerk’s active Ella speakers and a nifty $1,000 room correction device made by DSPeaker. The Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core unit applies an audibly effective correction algorithm to two channel systems and the results are absolutely phenomenal.
The unit itself is rather small (9 ¼ x 2 x 5-inch), but it packs a serious punch. Its front side features a highly functional color user interface screen and a microphone port, while the rear has 2 RCA and 2 XLR inputs (with matching outputs), Toslink, a USB port, and a datalink. Like any EQ package, the Anti-Mode measures the room response with a frequency sweep and then applies corrections. Users have the ability to save several sound profiles while accessing a variety of adjustment settings on the fly.
During the demo session, there was no question about the Anti-Mode’s impact on the sound stage. Its operation literally made imaging bloom to life with a sharpened intensity and depth. I left a believer and can confirm that Anti-Mode should be a serious contender for enthusiasts looking for a two-channel correction option.
Portfolio Booster: GT Audio Works’ GTA 2.5
During my visit to AXPONA 2015 my ears were set on fire by an incredible $140,000 system featuring MartinLogan’s gorgeous Neolith speakers. My show follow-up piece described the speaker’s abilities as “…alive and shockingly large…perfectly balanced and transparent…dynamic and delicious.” And despite being almost 6 months removed from hearing them, the flavor that the Neoliths left on my palate hasn’t faded one bit.
Enter New Jersey based GT Audio Works and its new GTA 2.5 speaker. Like the Neoliths they stand tall (75-inches) and feature a flat-front panel/large base design. The panel houses a high-energy neodymium magnet ribbon tweeter and a full-range planar magnetic driver, while the base is anchored by two internally powered (400W) 10-inch woofers. Like the Neoliths, the GTA 2.5s create an incredibly tall and deep sound stage that is especially notable for its amazing height. Oh, it was delicious to the ears – a sound stage to die for. The demo material I heard was exacting and sharp with wonderfully warm and present bass, making for a perfect blend of highs and lows. What I can’t shake is how the GTA 2.5s kindled my memories of the Neoliths. Of course, I write this without any intention of stealing thunder from the GTAs because they deliver incredible sonic beauty for about $8,000 (show special; $9,000 MSRP).
Owner and speaker builder Greg Takesh is able to deliver such incredible sound by keeping GT Audio Works a modest one-man operation. Every purchase is built to order by his own hands in his home-based shop. Therefore, his overhead and operating costs are kept low as compared to larger manufacturers. The benefit is incredible sound with a cost savings passed-on to the customer. If I were on a hunt for audiophile-grade speakers, you’d better believe I’d have a demo-visit at Greg’s home on my shortlist. The GTA 2.5s left a lasting impression on me…and I’d love to experience more.
Top-to-Bottom Beauty: Daedalus Audio’s Poseidon V.2
Spend five minutes with Daedalus Audio’s founder Lou Hinkley, and you’ll be a believer in the Washingtonian’s gear. In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skilled architect and craftsman – take one look at the company’s speakers and you’ll completely understand the use of the name. To put it simply, Daedalus Audio’s speaker cabinets are natural-crafted works of art. Each one is hand made, unique, and flat-out gorgeous.
At first glance, I noticed the Poseidon’s dovetail joinery and grain-revealing hand finished surfaces. But, upon further inspection, intricate details in the cabinets ¾-inch maple surfaced, such as a subtly carved bump-out slightly above the speaker’s top 8-inch driver, an angled baffle (to eliminate standing waves), and the beautifully planed radiuses on all of the edges. And the knuckle-wrap test? Forget about it, superiorly solid! Hinkley says the exterior is only the start, as the Poseidon V.2s also feature internal bracing that is equal to the task.
Looks aside, the Poseidon V.2s are sonically masterful. Believe it…they sound as good as they look. Utilizing an MTTM design with tweeters that are slightly offset (to create a wide dispersion of high frequencies), the Poseidons deal in spades. The dual 8-inch woofers don’t disappoint, completing a package of sound that is perfectly balanced from top to bottom. At my request, Hinkley played a Norah Jones track that melted me in my chair. Imaging and breadth of soundstage were absolutely outstanding, putting the Poseidon V.2s in rarified air.
Total Wow Sound: Classic Audio Loudspeakers’ Hartsfield
Let’s get this out of the way: Classic Audio Loudspeaker’s Hartsfield speakers (pictured left) aren't cheap. If you were to make a move on a pair right now, then you’d be facing a bill north of $36,000 (the show price was a slightly cooled $32K).
So what does $36-large fetch, you ask? For starters, it brings to life a design that was first introduced over five decades ago by the James B. Lansing Sound Company. We’re talking aesthetics that are definitely from a different era – and that's a good thing, because the speaker looks both stately and wickedly unique. It also brings you girth, as the speaker is just about as hefty as it’s price tag, weighing-in at 400 lbs. (46H x 45W x 25D, roughly). Then there’s the sound, as in sound stage, and that’s the true money shot delivered by the Hartsfield.
Spread some 30-feet apart for the demo session, the Hartsfield duo created a jaw-dropping soundstage, laced with exacting detail to levels that could quench the most wildest of desires. We’re talking airy highs…tight and impressively deep bass…a beautiful midrange marriage…a ridiculously wide sweet spot…and the ability to take just about any genre of music and make it sound oh-so-right. Of course, the Hartsfield duo had the advantage of inhabiting one of the larger – if not the largest – demo rooms at Capital Audiofest, which made me wonder if the room played to the speaker’s advantage. The answer to that is yes, but John Wolff of CAL tells me they’d sound just as good in a smaller setting. I have to admit, I’m a skeptic, but I believe him.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard his Hartsfield speakers strut their stuff, and I certainly hope it isn’t the last. To say they were my favorite sound at CAF might not be a huge stretch, although choosing the Hartsfield over the offerings I’ve detailed from Daedalus Audio and GT Audio Works would be mission impossible. All three of these manufacturers have elite products that I’d happily invite into my home.
Image Credits: Todd Anderson
