Capital AudioFest 2025

I was heading back home to New York in my old Mercedes diesel on a Sunday evening, having just attended the annual Capital Audiofest near Washington, DC. Riding shotgun was fellow Stereophile scribbler Ken Micallef, and as we puttered along the straight, featureless lower half of the New Jersey Turnpike, we started to reminisce about our audio show experiences.

"You should come to CAF," Ken Micallef said. He has been saying this for what seems like decades. "It's cool, smaller and more manageable than AXPONA. You'll like it."

My fondness for Greg Roberts's Volti Audio loudspeakers has been documented in reviews of the company's Rival and Lucera speakers.

Victor Kung brought his overachieving Elekit and Sun Valley amplifiers to CAF. Herb Reichert was there to welcome him.

"Songer Audio is pleased to return to the 2025 Capital Audiofest this weekend, where we will present two exciting premieres," the press release stated. "The show marks the East Coast debut of our A3 single-ended 300B amplifier, a design that unites the timeless beauty of early high-fidelity engineering with modern technical refinement. The A3, in concert with our S1x field-coil loudspeakers, delivers an effortless and deeply engaging musical presentation—a culmination of our pursuit of uncompromising performance."

"Here, we believe in challenging the status quo," states the landing page on the La Dolce Audio website. "We believe in thinking differently to create new ways of accomplishing the musical experience. We believe everyone should enjoy the best musical experience in their own home."

Angie Lisi of American Sound Distribution always brings components that make my pulse race. Tube amps. Horn speakers. Turntables. What more could a music playback nerd ask for?