[mix4fix]

The CAF is locked in for August 28-30, 2015 at the Hilton Hotel in Rockville, MD.

[DTB300]

Nice....Parking garage at Metro one block away (Twinbrook Metro).   Plenty of lunch places right near by - walking distance.

[Big Red Machine]

There are 11 Hiltons in the area.  Can you be more specific?

[Phil A]

There are 11 Hiltons in the area.  Can you be more specific?

Believe it is the Rockville Hilton (I think the post for the CAF is on Twitter).  I looked at rooms last week and will probably book it in a week or two.

[Phil A]

https://twitter.com/capaudiofest

On the above link it gives the hotel site about half a page down

[Phil A]

It is also here - https://www.facebook.com/CapitalAudiofest

[Big Red Machine]

I don't twit or facecrack.  I'll find it.

[HAL]

http://www.rockvillehotel.com/

[dB Cooper]

There are 11 Hiltons in the area.  Can you be more specific?

It'll be the one with all the noise coming out of it 

[charmerci]

It'll be the one with all the noise coming out of it 

..... at Metro one block away (Twinbrook Metro). 

[pelliott321]

Rockville Hilton at Twinbrook
1750 Rockville pike

I am working with Gary on bringing the web site upto date
Www.capitalaudiofest.com

We will be looking for a few volunteers this year
Announcements about this will come later

[pelliott321]

NEWS



 

[dB Cooper]

"figurehead"?

Anyway, i hope the show does well. Seemed like attendance was down last year. Hope the extra marketing muscle helps.

[pelliott321]

Yes I think that was an unfortunately very poor choice of words.  I talked with Gary and he is more a paid consultant. He (and myself) will play an active part in this years show.
What happens past this year is up in the air at this time

[dB Cooper]

The work involved in pulling something like this off must be insane... Kudos to Gary (don't know if he hangs out here) for building this show over the last several years. Appreciate his efforts. Hope the show does well. Like I say, it felt somewhat 'off' this last year.

I'm pretty much a widow shopper but have enjoyed 'nerding out' on the goodies every year.

[pelliott321]

Most of the problems last year was due to the new hotel management that was brought in just before the show and just did not know what to expect and how to deal with the way the show works.  The vendors were pissed off the way they were treated from the moment they checked in and started to set up. This started an Avalanche of problems that just never recovered. Plus there were major power problems all over the place. Some outlets were supplying less than 100 volts.  Some rooms really suffered from this and didnot start sounding good until Sunday

[dB Cooper]

Well, I have griped about this before, so bear with me if you've heard this before, but...

I don't need to have a room lit like an operating room, but the 'haunted house' lighting favored by many rooms goes too far. There were rooms where I literally almost couldn't see the equipment. I like to see fit & finish. Almost tripped over wiring in one room before my eyes adjusted. Soft lighting=good, only light in room low-watt spot directly on the equipment=not so good.

I would also like to see some more representation of the entry level range. This hobby is going to die if the public at large thinks they have to spend $1K just on the power cord to get satisfying reproduction of music in their home. They don't. While some owners of megabucks systems turn up their noses at moderately priced stuff, tarring it with the broad brush of 'mid-fi', some of it is pretty good, as anybody who approached (say) the Odyssey room with an open mind would attest.

[pelliott321]

I agree with you about the lighting thing. I thought a couple of the rooms were like tombs. As the shows photographer I just laughed (to myself) and moved on.  But I must say sometimes I turn the lights down in my own sound room to allow me to concentrate more on the music. So what to say, vendors choice, if you do not like it, just move on.
Today I went to Comand Performace AV (see photos on CAF web site, tomorrow afternoon) open house. Three rooms, well lit nice chairs, very good sound, but speakers $6k to $9k and associated equipment of similar costs. I enjoy seeing and hearing this expensive equipment knowing I can could not afford the connectors on the cables. The high end is seems to be more about big bucks and egos than listening to music, but that's what we got.  The costs envolved in demoing at a show seems to drive vendors to show high profit items. I too would like to see under $2k systems being shown just to compare to high end. Actually there was the Vanatoo active speaker with built in DAC for $500 with just a laptop front in that sounded pretty good. They sold numerous sets at the show.

[dB Cooper]

The Vanatoo gear gave a very good account of itself. Another moderately priced standout was 'The Clue' mini monitor. Salk always 'punches above its weight', as does the AVA gear they usually have driving it. And there is the previously mentioned Odyssey. 'High end' ( a term I loathe) doesn't have to mean 'deep end', and this point needs to get out to the public. Most everybody enjoys good sounding music, but when many of the systems on display rival the cost of a nice home in some parts of the country, something is amiss.

[jarcher]

I agree with you about the lighting thing. I thought a couple of the rooms were like tombs. As the shows photographer I just laughed (to myself) and moved on.  But I must say sometimes I turn the lights down in my own sound room to allow me to concentrate more on the music. So what to say, vendors choice, if you do not like it, just move on.
Today I went to Comand Performace AV (see photos on CAF web site, tomorrow afternoon) open house. Three rooms, well lit nice chairs, very good sound, but speakers $6k to $9k and associated equipment of similar costs. I enjoy seeing and hearing this expensive equipment knowing I can could not afford the connectors on the cables. The high end is seems to be more about big bucks and egos than listening to music, but that's what we got.  The costs envolved in demoing at a show seems to drive vendors to show high profit items. I too would like to see under $2k systems being shown just to compare to high end. Actually there was the Vanatoo active speaker with built in DAC for $500 with just a laptop front in that sounded pretty good. They sold numerous sets at the show.

Actually CPAV has 4 rooms, and in one of those rooms nothing is more than $2,500 and most products are less than $1,600 (including three different new speakers, not to speak of a lot demo and trade in gear that's a lot less).

Many of those items were featured at CPAV's room last CAF, including $1000 speakers and components from TEAC that were all $550 - $900 - making possible a $2k system -  about as budget friendly and mainstream as you're going to get from an independent mainstream hi fi dealer.

Today's event was specifically focusing on Devore speakers, in particular the upcoming Gibbon X, presented by John Devore himself, which start at $3700, which is reasonable considering they are all hand made by a small US manufacturer.