Okay, so what’s the first thing you notice when you walk into a listening room at an audio show? And, what do you immediately judge a system by from that very first look? For most, I’ll bet the answer to both of these questions is the speakers. Here are just a few of the many we saw at Capital Audiofest 2019.
DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/Reference Loudspeakers
As I mentioned in my post on the DeVore room, these DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/Reference speakers have been in development for some time. I first heard they were coming when John DeVore visited my house in 2014 while I was reviewing the Orangutan O/96 speakers. John, these were worth the wait!
Avantgarde DUO Loudspeakers
These big beautiful red horns were from Avantgarde Acoustics of Germany. A pair of these wouldn’t fit in my listening room at home, but I always enjoy seeing them and listening to them at an audio show.
YG Acoustics Carmel 2 Loudspeakers
We spent some time listening to these YG Acoustics Carmel 2 speakers in the GTT Audio room. I’m happy to say that I’m looking forward to getting a pair of YG speakers in for review soon.
EMIA Stacked QUAD Electrostatic Loudspeakers
Confession time here, these EMIA Stacked QUAD Electrostatic speakers take me back to my early days as an audiophile. When Becky and I were dating, I had a pair of stacked quads in my bachelor pad, and she married me anyway. Thanks, Dave Slagal for bringing back memories! These sounded great!
SALK 9.5 Loudspeakers
On the Salk Sound website, they say, “A great speaker should not only move you sonically, it should also move you visually.” These Salk 9.5 speakers do both in abundance.
Gershman Acoustics Grand Studio II Loudspeakers
We really wanted to spend some time in the Gershman Acoustics listening room at this show since Becky had just interviewed Ofra Gershman for our “Women in Audio” series. The sound of these Grand Studio II loudspeakers show the love and dedication they put into their brand. Watch for our review of the Gershman Studio II speakers later this month.
Credo Audio Switzerland Cinema LTM Loudspeakers
These speakers were a surprise. I have never been a fan of speakers with long lines of tweeters and drivers, but the Credo Audio Switzerland speakers as I mentioned in my show post on the AudioShield LLC room had good tone, great transparency, incredible scale, and an immersive soundstage.
Acapella Audio Arts Campanile 2 Loudspeakers
Neli and Mike Davis of Audio Federation were still busy setting up their room when we took this picture of these beautiful Acapella Audio Arts Campanile 2 loudspeakers. The sound of these big horns is really quite special. We are looking forward to visiting them in their home soon as Becky will be interviewing Neli for the “Women in Audio” series.
KEF Muon 2 Loudspeakers
Not many of us have the room or the budget for these KEF Muon 2 loudspeakers. We had to look and listen when we saw these in a listening room. They are a limited-edition design and are the statement reference speaker in the KEF line.
MC Audiotech Forty-10 Loudspeakers
This is an unusual look for a speaker. These Paul Paddock-designed loudspeakers from MC Audiotech use 10 of “the latest generation” of bending wave drivers and cover everything above 100 Hz.
Magico M2 Loudspeakers
These Magico M2 speakers from Magico Audio were certainly worthy of a listen. Built with some of the same principles and materials used to make fighter jets, all I know is that these speakers are very listenable.
SoundKaos Go 2 Loudspeakers
Leave it to David Cope of Old Forge Studio to come up with great-sounding products from little-known companies. These canoe-shaped speakers and the smaller speakers in the background are from a Swiss company, Sound/Kaos Audio. And, they sounded really good in this system. In fact, we had to stop by to listen more than once.
