Gestalt Audio held two rooms at CAF, each holding the kind of esoteric equipment I would love to get my grimy, ink-stained hands on.

West Seneca, New York’s Vinyl Sound Hi-Fi Audio Systems assembled an unusual rig of German analog gear, Japanese electronics, and classic Scottish loudspeakers. Is this the United Nations of hi-fi?

We've still got a few more posts to go from last month's Capital Audiofest, here's the first of the final batch:

I ain't no digital techie. Big headphones and me? Never gonna happen. But these guys from Warwick Acoustics, Martin Roberts and Orazio Pollaci, they've got a certain je ne sais quoi. We were knocking back drinks in the packed Hilton bar, and they were so damn charming, I ended up in their room. What a night. What a blast.

It's important for readers to remember that I've spent my adult life as an artist and mechanic. Making things. Working as a tradesperson during the day then at an easel or workbench at night.

When I finished high school, all I wanted to do was work in a fancy, well-equipped shop building drag race engines. Engine building was something I had already shown a talent for, but my parents insisted I go to college. Unfortunately, my high school grade point average was so low I was turned down by every college I applied to. Consequently, my parents forced me to attend Wright Junior College in Chicago, a place where teachers rolled joints for their students. And I got straight A's. Those easy A's got me into Western Illinois University, a small state college in a tiny rural town called Macomb near the Mississippi River. My mother was so proud, she told everybody she knew that her son was accepted into "university," but she could never remember which one.

Newcomer Eastern Bay Sound brought its new “Farm-to-Table” speakers to CAF2024.