2016 Capital Audiofest

pelliott321 · « **on:** 2 Jan 2016, 08:28 pm »

This years dates are July 8-10
Same venue, The Hilton at Twinbrook metro stop, Rockville MD
Looking to make this the best show yet!

pelliott321 · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Jan 2016, 08:31 pm »

Web site:
http://www.capitalaudiofest.com/

dB Cooper · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Jan 2016, 12:52 pm »

Looking forward to it. Not crazy about the venue but planning to be there. I hope they revisit the idea of the headphone ballroom this year. Seems foolish to walk away from the one segment of high end audio that is actually growing.

pelliott321 · « **Reply #3 on:** 3 Jan 2016, 03:42 pm »

The headphone community were in London during last years CAF. One of the reasons for the date change as well as feedback from the majority of the vendors who wanted the earlier date.
We have a couple of HeadFi guys running the headphone segment this coming year so hopefully that part of the community will be back in a big way.
As far as the venue goes, we got high marks from the media and participants about the great sounding rooms last year. We are going to make the traffic flow better by utilizing the second floor (lobby is actually the 3rd floor) rooms instead of the 4th floor which admittedly difficult to get to.
The hotel will be going through a lot of renovations during the first part of 2016, which should be done by the time of CAF2016. Mostly cosmetics to sleeping and meeting rooms. There will be a couple of more meeting rooms, new restaurant, etc.

JimJ · « **Reply #4 on:** 3 Jan 2016, 04:21 pm »

No headphones last year? Well, that makes me feel better about not going :-p

I should be able to Airbnb it for a few nights this year, I've been meaning to make a summer Nova/DC trip now that I don't live up there anymore.

pelliott321 · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Jan 2016, 07:17 pm »

The local HeadFi group did a meet on Sunday. Looked like about fifty guys showed up and many set up their systems to share and compare.

Hope you can make it.
The Hotel is right on the Red line in Rockville. TwinBrook Station

KLH007 · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Jan 2016, 09:03 pm »

Paul, I felt the Twinbrook Hilton was/is a good venue, I noticed that most of the small rooms generated excellent sound, and the larger rooms accommodated bigger systems with great success. Parking was easy and it was no problem finding all the rooms. In general, I thought this show had the best ratio of good sounding rooms to disappointing ones, a real success. I'm looking forward to the 2016 CAF and reporting on it for EnjoyTheMusic.com.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Jan 2016, 09:15 pm »

Quote from: pelliott321 on 3 Jan 2016, 03:42 pm

The headphone community We are going to make the traffic flow better by utilizing the second floor (lobby is actually the 3rd floor) rooms instead of the 4th floor which admittedly difficult to get to.

That will help a lot. That was my main beef. And if any vendors see this thread, I hope I can talk them out of going with the 'haunted house' lighting style. There was less of that last year than the year before though.

pelliott321 · « **Reply #8 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 12:19 am »

I agree about the dark rooms, as the show (among other things) photographer it drives me crazy.
On the other hand how often do you turn down the lights to listen.
Maybe we can start a thread on the improvement in sound with low lighting lol

dB Cooper · « **Reply #9 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 02:12 am »

It does seem like my hearing 'dials up' with subdued lighting. But subdued is one thing- sepulchral is something else. I have been in rooms where I literally had trouble seeing the equipment and on one occasion almost tripped over some garden-hose-sized speaker cables before my eyes adjusted to the light. That's taking it a little too far.

pelliott321 · « **Reply #10 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 10:43 am »

Agreed

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #11 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 12:49 pm »

Funny, I had no complaints about the lighting. I guess there must have been some dark rooms, but I just can't recall any issues with that. Perhaps I didn't go in if it was dark, dunno.

Yes, the Canfest or Canmania or whatever they're called were in London at the time of last year's show, the local crowd filled in nicely on Sunday. Hopefully it can be like the previous year where we had both. As a headphone junkie that makes all the difference for me.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #12 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 03:33 pm »

The 'Haunted House' lighting was a lot more prevalent at the Sheraton for whatever reason. But there were a few rooms...

I think it's important to have high visibility for headphone audio at these kind of events. Many of today's young people don't really care about SQ as long as it's really loud and has lotsa bass, and therefore aren't interested in setting up a 'traditional' component system at all (the current novelty market for vinyl notwithstanding). They'll never buy a thousand-dollar power cable, but they just might drop some fairly serious money on a pair of cans. Your audio dollar goes MUCH farther with headphones, and the popularity of portable audio has exploded the headphone market- headphones are the #6 product category in consumer electronics products, behind #1 smartphones, #2 tablets, #3 TV's (TV sets being only #3 surprised me a bit), #4 computers, and #5 automotive. Component audio isn't even a blip. So it seems like headphones are an important ice breaker for the audio hobby. That and more C&C choices and less emphasis on megabuck 'tweaks' will get more people interested in quality music reproduction at home.

[end rant]

Anyhoo, looking forward to a great Audiofest!

pelliott321 · « **Reply #13 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 04:26 pm »

I was out at RMAF and the headphone vendors were out in full force. They filled the one ballroom and Marjorie had to put the overflow in the Atrium. Both areas were active all weekend long.
Personally I am not big on headphones since I have a dedicated sound room, but understand it is a big part of the industry.

rollo · « **Reply #14 on:** 4 Jan 2016, 06:11 pm »

As a demonstrator at CAF the lighting in the rooms is taken away when the furniture is moved out. No clg lights. A big expense and elec. issue for sonics if addtional lights are brought in. It stinks for everyone. We used extra lights however affected sound so they went south.
get a better flash

charles

dB Cooper · « **Reply #15 on:** 5 Jan 2016, 10:51 pm »

If having a lamp on in the room degrades the sound at a show, it would presumably do the same at home, and I'm not receptive to the idea of a system I have to sit in a darkened room to listen to. I actually have been tempted to bring one of these to a show (and still might, just for sh*ts n' grins) -

Anyway, before I cause thread derailment, I do hope the headphone segment is better represented this year. Here are some of the mfrs I'd like to see at CAF: Ohm Acoustics, Magnepan, U-Turn, Von Schweikert (rumored to be possible), Van Alstine (Come back, Frank!), Polk... Who else do people want to see exhibit there?

*Scotty* · « **Reply #16 on:** 5 Jan 2016, 11:56 pm »

That's actually a great idea. There are clip on lights that fit underneath the bill of your ball-cap, a stealth installation if you will. I may have bring mine this year for those using stygian darkness to enhance something.
I prefer the cold light of day to look and listen to unfamiliar gear.
If I need darkness I have eyelids for that.
Scotty

pelliott321 · « **Reply #17 on:** 6 Jan 2016, 02:42 pm »

Scotty:
Were you one of the volunteers last year?
If you were thanks you were a big help, hope you enjoyed the experience

*Scotty* · « **Reply #18 on:** 6 Jan 2016, 04:39 pm »

Yep. I will probably volunteer again this year.
Scotty

pelliott321 · « **Reply #19 on:** 14 Feb 2016, 04:04 pm »

CanMania will be back in 2016
website updated
http://www.capitalaudiofest.com/p3081.html

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2016 Capital Audiofest