Capital Audiofest 2011 -- with pics

Socrates7

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Jul 21, 2011
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parttimeaudiophile.com
First post!

I just stumbled upon this forum (I'm slow, I know) and saw some great posts about recent shows. Some sported tons of pics (awesome!), and so I thought I'd re-post some of my own impressions of a recent show and some of the photos I took.

A couple of weeks ago, the second annual Capital Audiofest wrapped up. This year, the venue was the Crowne Plaza in Gaithersburg, MD -- and unlike some hotels I've seen audio shows shoe-horned into, the rooms there felt almost spacious. Perhaps in part because of that, the overall sound quality was better than I expected. I certainly had fun -- and the visitors I got to see and hang with all seemed like they were having a great time, too.

One of the recurring themes I overheard at the show, other than how crappy the audio sales market is these days, had to do with the apparently sudden proliferation of local audio shows. There was quite a few freely floated opinions, as well as lamentation, on both sides. Burdensome for the vendors and dilution of value of any given show, versus "more is better" marketing paired with hopes about finding something to replace the perceived decline in value of print advertising.

Personally, I think that the CAF, like the other local shows, really gives us consumers the best opportunity to see, hear and touch gear in a way that no single dealer visit can come close to. As such, I love them. I have no idea whether the shows are really doing all that much for the industry or for sales, but I suppose time will tell. I hope they do.

Anyway, I did manage to take a ton of pics that I thought folks might enjoy -- even if I didn't manage to hit as many rooms as I might have liked. Que sera, sera.

Hope you enjoy.

Captial Audiofest, Take 1
McIntosh Labs
Border Patrol and Living Voice
Tidal Audio, dCS, Argento
Sonist and Mapleshade
mbl and United Home Audio
Transmission Audio, Klimo, MA Recordings
Wilson, D'Agostino, Meridian
Joseph Audio, Manley Labs, Cardas, Bel Canto, VPI
Horning, Tron, TW Acustic
Integra Home Theater and Cathedral
 

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