Capital Audiofest

Capital Audiofest CAF is Washington DC/ Mid Atlantic region’s favorite high-end electronics and vinyl show. We present great music on great audio equipment ranging from modestly priced to the exotic.
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CAF is the Washington DC region’s only high-end electronics show. We present great music on great audio equipment ranging from modestly priced to the exotic, even some DIY gear. Last year we had over 40 rooms of prestigious audio manufacturers and had many vinyl/CD retailers with over 1800 visitors. We also have a full schedule of seminars and presentations. CANMANIA is BACK! CanMania will be the East Coast's premier headphone and personal audio show as part of the long-running Capital Audiofest. CanMania brings together manufacturers, vendors, headphone and personal audio enthusiasts, and the audio industry press. CanMania will be back in 2016 in a larger space.

Operating as usual

Good old days!
12/27/2020

Good old days!

Recreating our Capital Audiofest 2019 combo of the Legacy Studio HD speakers and the Rogue Audio Sphinx amplifier for a customer demo.

Garcia's
12/23/2020

Garcia's

Remembering the musical genius of Frank Zappa, born today in 1940. He may be gone, but he sure hasn’t been forgotten.

My Indian Motorcycle mentor.
11/26/2020

My Indian Motorcycle mentor.

Photo by Robert Cox, album cover from Bill Clark’s painting

On the weekend that would have been the 2020 Capital Audiofest, we miss you all dearly! Please everyone stay healthy so ...
10/31/2020
Home | Capital Audio Fest Washington DC

On the weekend that would have been the 2020 Capital Audiofest, we miss you all dearly! Please everyone stay healthy so that we see you at the 2021 CAF! https://www.capitalaudiofest.com

By the way please look out for the 2021 Pacific Audiofest too.

Welcome to the homepage of the 2021 Capital Audio Festival in Washington D.C.

Jazz and Music Lovers - help! Posted in full://When Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah led his septet at the Blue Note in mid...
09/08/2020
Jazz Lives in Clubs. The Pandemic Is Threatening Its Future.

Jazz and Music Lovers - help! Posted in full:
//When Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah led his septet at the Blue Note in mid-March, the headlines about coronavirus were growing more urgent by the day. But Mr. Adjuah, a New Orleans-born trumpeter with a cutting-edge style, had no idea that those performances would be his last shows — or the Blue Note’s — for the foreseeable future.

“You know, wash your damn hands,” he told the crowd, as can be heard on “Axiom,” a new live album culled from that weeklong residency. “But we’re not running.”

The concert world as a whole is in crisis, but perhaps no genre is as vulnerable as jazz, which depends on a fragile ecosystem of performance venues. In pre-pandemic New York, the genre’s creative and commercial center, young players still converged to hone their craft and veterans held court in prestigious rooms like the Village Vanguard and the Blue Note. It’s an economic and creative network that has sustained the genre for decades.

But after suffering nearly six months of lost business, New York jazz venues have begun sounding the alarm that without significant government relief, they might not last much longer. Even with support, some proprietors said, the virus may have rendered their business model extinct.

One such room is the Iridium, a subterranean 170-seater near Times Square that was the longtime home of the guitar legend Les Paul. “There’s a better than 50-50 chance that the Iridium doesn’t reopen,” said Ken Sturm, one of its owners. “Small clubs like us are not going to exist anymore,” he added.

Most clubs have begun hosting livestreamed performances without in-person audiences, providing some opportunity for musicians to return to work. But without the ability to practice their art in a tightly packed room — breathing the same musty air as their audiences and feeling their response in real time — musicians say they have lost access to the jazz world’s most fertile terrain.

“It’s always been my laboratory,” the renowned saxophonist Charles Lloyd said in an interview. “We need these venues, and it breaks my heart.”

Mr. Lloyd, 82, played with giants like Chico Hamilton and Cannonball Adderley while living in New York in the early 1960s, on his way to becoming a million-selling crossover star in his own right. “You can bounce stuff off the audience,” he said. “That experience is invaluable. You can’t put a number or anything like that on it.”

In interviews, jazz musicians young and old expressed worry for the health of the genre, and their own careers, if the venue network in New York winds up decimated.

Donny McCaslin, a saxophonist and bandleader, came to the city 30 years ago and worked the club trenches for years, learning on his feet and making a living gig by gig. That dexterity was part of what led him to be hired for “Blackstar,” the final album by David Bowie, who saw Mr. McCaslin perform at the tiny 55 Bar in the West Village one night in 2014.

“Part of the beauty of the local music scene here was that you would be stepping into these different environments night after night, and having to negotiate the different music,” Mr. McCaslin, 54, said in an interview. Early in his career, he said, a typical week might mean a big band show at one club followed by blues at another.

For younger musicians, Mr. McCaslin added, losing that system would be “devastating — it’s a breakdown of one of the most vital parts of how they develop.”

Jazz clubs are among the more than 2,000 constituents of the newly formed National Independent Venue Association, which has been lobbying Congress to be included in its next coronavirus relief bill. Progress has been slow, as the venues jockey for Washington’s attention alongside restaurants, movie theaters and the thousands of other businesses that have suffered.

Among the organization’s members is the Village Vanguard, which opened in 1935 and draws tourists from around the world to its narrow, wedged basement on Seventh Avenue South. Its vast legacy includes landmark live albums by John Coltrane, Bill Evans and Sonny Rollins. But that may not be enough to weather a year or more without business, said its owner, Deborah Gordon.

“History gives you a nice mantle,” Ms. Gordon said. “But history doesn’t protect you.”

The venue association gained an important ally last month in Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, who agreed to be a co-sponsor of the Save Our Stages Act, a $10 billion bill that would authorize grants to independent venues, promoters and other parties in the live music business. At a news conference outside Baby’s All Right, a rock and dance club in Brooklyn, Mr. Schumer said that allocating relief for venues “shouldn’t be that hard.”

In the meantime, jazz’s nationwide network has already begun to crumble. In Washington, a number of clubs have closed since the start of the pandemic, including Twins Jazz, which had been the last full-on jazz club on the city’s historic U Street corridor.

Venues operating under a nonprofit model have found alternative means of support during the pandemic, and in some ways they have had more room to be creative. “There are a lot of grants available to nonprofits for Covid that were not available to for-profit venues,” said Rio Sakairi, the artistic director of the Jazz Gallery, a nonprofit in the Flatiron district.

Livestreaming, which became ubiquitous in pop soon after the pandemic hit, has been gradually embraced in jazz — with nonprofits taking the lead. Shortly after lockdown began, the Jazz Gallery began using Zoom for what it called Happy Hour Hangs and Lockdown Sessions, where audiences could talk to musicians and listen to recordings from the safety of their own homes.

Smalls, known for its late-night jam sessions, and recently incorporated as a nonprofit, was the first New York jazz club to livestream from its stage amid quarantine. That was on June 1, and soon numerous other clubs — among them the Vanguard, Birdland and the Jazz Gallery — followed suit; the Blue Note will join the bandwagon this month.

At best, venue proprietors said, the streams may pay for themselves and give some work to musicians eager to play — but they are less a long-term plan than a gesture of perseverance.

“We wouldn’t be doing streaming if we didn’t have any hope,” Ms. Gordon said of the Vanguard.

For musicians, the evaporation of live performance has been both a financial hazard and a creative frustration. Melissa Aldana, a 31-year-old saxophonist, said in an interview that in July she left her rent-stabilized apartment on the Upper East Side — “the nicest place ever, the greatest deal” — for Prospect Lefferts Gardens in Brooklyn, to be closer to friends and fellow musicians during quarantine. Now she hosts socially distanced jam sessions at her home once a week, and plays with a group in Prospect Park.

“What I’m missing is just, like, having the experience to play with musicians and connect,” Ms. Aldana said. Before she moved to Brooklyn, in the dark days of spring, Ms. Aldana leaned heavily on the Jazz Gallery’s Happy Hours: “That really kept me going a couple months, just having that human contact when I wasn’t able to see anybody.”

Looking ahead, the vibraphonist Joel Ross expressed a mix of anxiety and hope for the future. Mr. Ross, 25, established himself in the New York jazz world over the last few years through constant gigging. Like most, he saw his busy performance calendar dry up once the pandemic hit, and he began collecting unemployment. The larger jazz scene, he said, “is on life support.”

But Mr. Ross also noted the optimism that has come with livestreams, outdoor performances and other adaptations that have kept musicians busy. Some events, he said, have paid as much or more than a regular gig.

“People are always going to want to see the music,” Mr. Ross said. “Whether the venues survive themselves, the music is going to press on.”//

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/arts/music/jazz-clubs-coronavirus.html?

The entire concert industry is struggling as the Covid-19 shutdown continues. But a genre rooted in live performance and in-the-moment dynamics is in particular peril.

PAF and CAF!
08/24/2020
Venue | Pacific Audio Fest

PAF and CAF!

     With over 800 sleeping rooms, spacious exhibit rooms, two ballrooms and a killer 14th floor restaurant and bar offering 360 degree views of Seattle and Mt Rainier the Doubletree hilton is a perfect home for the Pacific Audio Fest. Located minutes from Sea-Tac airport and the SeaTac Airport ...

07/06/2020
Gary Gill Interview

Gary Gill Interview

Gary Gill of Capital Audiofest discusses the reasoning behind the decision

Bob Corritore
06/30/2020

Bob Corritore

Muddy Waters! Photo J.P. Lenoir.

Good memories.
04/24/2020

Good memories.

Capital Audio Fest 2019 room 319. Solid Steel rack, TAD Evolution D1100 DAC, Rogue Audio Integrated, VPI Prime Signature Rosewood, Alpha 3 SX server. Audience frontRow Cables connected this system, and Capitasl was the debut of Audience's Hidden Treasure SATA cables, connecting the music drives in the Wolf. the performance boost was YUGE, a beautiful boost, the best boosts!
Audience

We miss you guys!
04/17/2020

We miss you guys!

Capital Audio Fest 2019 Arion Audio room. VPI HW-40 with Van Den Hul Crimson Stradivarius Cartridge, Alpha 3 SX server driving the T+A SDV 3100 HV Reference DAC playing DSD1024! 3GB per track!

Audience
01/10/2020

Audience

#tbt to this top secret briefcase at Capital Audiofest. Want to know what it’s all about? You’ll have to stay tuned!

Legacy Audio
01/07/2020

Legacy Audio

The Legacy Audio Studio HD speakers earned the "Best of Show" distinction from Eric Franklink Shook/ Part-Time Audiophile at Capital Audiofest 2019. Now Listen Here paired them with the Rogue Audio Sphinx v3.
https://legacyaudio.com/products/view/studio-hd/

Congratulations to Legacy Audio!
01/06/2020

Congratulations to Legacy Audio!

The Legacy Audio Studio HD speakers earned the "Best of Show" distinction from Eric Franklink Shook/ Part-Time Audiophile at Capital Audiofest 2019. Now Listen Here paired them with the Rogue Audio Sphinx v3.
https://legacyaudio.com/products/view/studio-hd/

Distinctive Stereo
12/29/2019

Distinctive Stereo

There is a lot of exciting news at Distinctive Stereo.

As some of you may know, at CAF we sold the Rosewood pair of the Genesis Advanced Technologies, Inc. Maestro speakers, that were also used at our 2-day event with Gary Koh of Genesis, Mat Weisfeld of VPI Industries , and Merrill Wettasinghe of Merrill Audio Advanced Technology Labs, LLC. We now have a pair of Genesis Maestros in gorgeous Ebony, set up and making beautiful music. We are running a New year’s special on Genesis products, so please contact us about auditions and pricing.

Part-Time Audiophile
12/17/2019
Part-Time Audiophile

Part-Time Audiophile

WASHINGTON DC (PTA) — The aim of the ongoing Under Forty Dinner is to welcome those attending audio shows who feel they accurately represent the Under-Forty-Crowd (be that literally or spiritually), and gather them together with other like minded audiophiles and industry people. The idea being. that having us together in one place, for one evening, we can let our youth shine, along with the sharing of our generation’s thoughts on the hobby, the industry, and the future of hi-fi. [ 813 more words ]
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2019/12/07/under-forty-dinner-late-night-listening-party-with-vpi-industries-the-voice-that-is-fern-roby-and-tenacious-sound-caf-2019/

Part-Time Audiophile
12/17/2019
Part-Time Audiophile

Part-Time Audiophile

WASHINGTON DC (PTA) -- Capital Audiofest 2019 had quite a few challenges to meet this year. Seemingly overnight the show doubled in size. Exhibitor count was nearly ninety rooms by the start of the show. Attendee traffic would include that of the Capital Audiofest, but now also the demands of a full-scale Vinyl Record Show. With so many new challenges one had to ask themselves, could Gary Gill, Chris Yuin, and the rest of the Capital Audiofest team rise to the occasion? [ 1,843 more word ]
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2019/12/07/erics-best-of-show-capital-audiofest-wrap-up-caf-2019/

Linear Tube Audio
12/17/2019
Linear Tube Audio

Linear Tube Audio

We aimed to raise the profile of headphones and personal audio at Capital Audiofest this year, and this event wrap up from InnerFidelity proves we did just that.

Thanks to all the headphone enthusiasts and newbies alike who stopped by the LTA Headphone Lounge.

🙏🎧🤘

MrSpeakers STAX ZMF Headphones Focal BorderPatrol Audio Electronics Meze Audio LampizatOr LampizatOr North America ANTICABLES Qobuz - USA Kitsune HiFi IBasso Audio

The Audio Beatnik
12/17/2019

The Audio Beatnik

Duke's not sure, but Jack was excited to get a pair of Quad ESL's in from Robyatt Audio. We heard these at the Capital Audiofest, and they will be playing in our listening room soon. Watch for a review in the future! Robyatt Audio, Capital Audiofest

12/17/2019
Linear Tube Audio

Linear Tube Audio

Check out the AVShowrooms interview with Spatial Audio, LampizatOr North America, and Linear Tube Audio at Capital Audiofest 2019 and hear all about the $10,000 system that had people saying, "Best Sound at Show."

Capital AudioFest 2019: Wrap Up and Final Thoughts
12/08/2019
Capital AudioFest 2019: Wrap Up and Final Thoughts

Capital AudioFest 2019: Wrap Up and Final Thoughts

Capital AudioFest this year was an interesting bag. I did not expect to find as many new and prototype headphones as I did at such a relatively small show. In that regard the show really lived up to it’s slogan as the ‘Premiere East Coast Audio Show.’

Now Listen Here
12/07/2019
Now Listen Here

Now Listen Here

Here's what Part-Time Audiophile had to say about our Egglestonworks speakers at Capital Audiofest. We have the Nico EVO and Emma EVO speakers available for demo.

Part-Time Audiophile
12/07/2019
Part-Time Audiophile

Part-Time Audiophile

WASHINGTON DC (PTA) -- American Sound Distribution was debuting electronics from WADAX, along with Avantgarde Acoustic loudspeakers, and Phasemation amplification. The Story American Sound Distribution debuted the WADAX (of Spain) Atlantis line of digital components to North America. The four flagship components that make up the Atlantis series comprise of a Transport, Server and DAC. Each of the components represents a cost-no-object approach to design. [ 443 more words ]
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2019/12/06/american-sound-distribution-presents-wadax-avantgarde-phasemation-caf-2019/

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1750 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD
20852

Opening Hours

Friday 10:00 - 18:00
Saturday 10:00 - 17:00
Sunday 10:00 - 16:00

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+17038395684

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Comments

We wish you all the best for this week-end!
If any of the CAF exhibitors need a Qobuz account, let me know.
Never been to an audio show before, so really looking forward to this! Mostly listening for the new front stage of my WIP home theater. Also looking for some decent in walls for the surround. What’s the best plan of attack to get thy re most out of the event? Anything the vets want to impart art on a rookie?
The VPI HW-40 Direct Drive Turntable with 12” Fatboy tonearm and Audio Technica ART-1000 Cartridge. This setup will be in my room at the Capital Audiofest and on display at Hi-Fi Sales Company showroom.
Lamm Industries will be presented for the first time in DC
Hi everyone. I have a question to ask, and maybe someone here can help. If so, I appreciate the help; if not, I had to try. Here it is: I have a friend who is largely deaf. (Due to years and years of excessively loud, unshielded noise).. So several of us are pitching in on a great set of headphones to facilitate him enjoying music like he used to... (If anyone has a recommendation on a solid set of headphones, that’d be great too) So, I was thinking...as much as he’s enjoyed live music in his younger years, I wondered if there was a kind of stopgap between blasting live sound (which he can’t do, due to others who live in the home), and being encased in the cups of his soon to be new phones? Something along the lines of a device that thumps to the rhythm of the music while the sound plays in the headphones, so he could sit it on his leg or his chest, and really give him the feel of a live music experience (or at least as close as we can get him)? Thanks for any help you can give. It’s greatly appreciated. (In case it matters, we were thinking corded headphones; something about the umbilical cord quality of being attached to the music...just so great) Thanks Much ~rcp
Enjoying the audio!