Capital AudioFest 2024

Bending Wave’s Elliot Goldman and Tone Imports’ Jonathan Halpern brought a change of pace to the Jackson Suite, with not one or two but eight US debuts for the rowdy Capital Audiofest (CAF) crowd.

That new gear smell included the Göbel Divin Comtesse Loudspeakers ($60,000/pair), new Wadax Studio Player ($39,800), and a baker’s dozen of new Shunyata cables, including Theta interconnects ($1370/2m pair), Denali power distributor ($6000), Typhon T30 power conditioner ($6500), T30 umbilical cable ($2000), T30 power cable ($2000), Alpha X NR power cable ($2850), and Theta speaker cables ($2150/3m pair).

Remaining Jackson Suite components included the mighty Riviera Audio Labs APL-01 SE Preamplifier ($51,995), Riviera Audio Labs AFM-100 SE mono amplifiers ($82,800/pair), and various Norman Varney/AV Room Service accessories including EVP Platforms ($599), large EVPs for amplifiers ($239), and small EVPs for source components ($119). I’ve tried every pod, puck, pointer, and cone for resonance control—these EVPs work as advertised!

The overall sound in the room surpassed previous years, with a velvety, dynamic aroma that wafted out into the hallway and all the way to the Hilton bar.