Capital AudioFest 2019

There's a cliché that says that New Yorkers are fond of wearing black. It's a true cliché. But fascination with the dark side isn’t restricted to New Yorkers. Texas’s Raven Audio manufactures sweet-looking tube-powered gear and loudspeakers, and the bulk of it, you guessed it, is black.

The noir-loving Raven Audio room included the new Nighthawk Mk3, a 20Wpc, class AB, ultra-linear tube integrated amplifier ($2995); the new Blackhawk Mk3 integrated amplifier ($3795); the Silhouette Mk2 Monoblock amplifiers ($25,995/pair); CeLest Tower Speakers ($3995); and Corvus Tower System ($12,995). Cables were Raven’s own Soniquil. The source was a Mytek product. I didn't catch which one. The sound of the room was wet and warm. Being a southern boy myself, it felt good to chat with a couple fellows whose accents were thicker than my own.