Capital AudioFest 2024

So there I was, in the parking lot of the Rockville Hilton, cigar smoke curling into the crisp autumn air, grilling Gary Gill about his brainchild, Capital Audio Fest (CAF). This East Coast audio extravaganza has grown into a monster, bursting at the seams of its Rockville venue.

“I’m up to around 125 rooms,” Gill explained, as Romeo y Julieta smoke rings circled into the autumn sunset. “I’m maxed out, totally maxed out. Our shipper, RG Logistics, has a ton more work than he did last year. I’m practically putting vendors into closets to fill the demand for space.”

To meet demand and exploit space, Gill has started a new practice that nails show attendees as soon as they enter the Hilton.

“I’ve started static displays,” Gill exclaimed. “Last year, Mat Weisfeld of VPI delivered a special turntable designed for the White House. That gave me the idea to do a static display with VPI at CAF, putting that same VPI model upfront in the lobby. This year, that space is filled by new speakers from Volti Audio, Kroma, Maco, and Von Schweikert. It really adds to the lobby expectation. And people get exposure. Some vendors say, ‘wow, this is the best value I've ever had at an audio show’.”

Tabulating a rough count of 420 vendors from the CAF program guide, new players to the show include Benny Audio (Germany), Thuono Audio (Italy), G.I.P. Laboratory (Japan), Elite Audio/Visual Distribution (Glendale, CA), JS Audio (Bethesda, Maryland) and SVS.

Gill, a man who juggles multiple audio events, including the Southwest Audio Fest in partnership with Lou Hinkley of Daedalus Audio, and the Pacific Audio Fest, was as frazzled as I was. Fueled by caffeine and the occasional stogie, he was a whirlwind of activity, juggling vendor lists and show logistics.

“I didn't sleep much last night,” Gill mentioned. “I think I got three, four hours. My wife just literally just pulled me aside. She says, ‘You gotta calm down,’ because even though I’ve done these shows for all these years, I still get nervous. It's stressful because I have a line of people asking me questions. I do lose my marbles, at times, and I try not to get irritable. I mean, it happens, right? My background is in construction management, tons of testosterone. It's like chest pounding. So now I gotta take a deep breath and be in control.”

The usual suspects – the print and online journalists – were swarming Gill, peppering him with questions. But this year, the social media troops had descended, too. The CAF media contingent has ballooned from 40 to a staggering 65, turning the event into a veritable feeding frenzy.

To truly chill out, of course, Gill fires up not smokes, but his hi-fi setup at his home. His rig includes Popori Acoustics electrostatic loudspeakers, a custom 10Wpc push-pull stereo amplifier by David Berning, a LTA microZOTL preamplifier, LTA Aero DAC, DS Audio DS 003 System with a DS Audio cartridge, a Fern & Roby Montrose turntable, and a 16” Tru-Glider tonearm.

And how many records in Gill’s collection?

“Twenty-thousand?” Like I would know. “I was up to 30 or 40,000 at one time, but I got rid of a bunch. I traded 6000 worth of LPs for some gear. I have lots of ECM, Americana, jazz…”

Gill leaps up to put out a fire. Nearby, not smoking a cigar, Valerio Cora, founder and CEO of Acora Acoustics Corporation, added his CAF 2024 thoughts.

“I think it's going to be a fantastic show,” Cora said. “There's more rooms than there ever have been. There's a lot of excitement.”

Cora is introducing his new MRC Series speaker line at CAF, which includes four different models at competitive price points. Three speaker models were playing (not all at once) Thursday night, powered by VAC amplification, and all was right in the audiophile world.

It’s CAF 2024. And away we go.