The 2023 Capital Audiofest Is Underway

Like sweet to an audiophile child, Capital Audiofest 2023 is formally in full blast mode, a phantasmagorical thrill trip for listeners of all ages, and this age. The venue as in 2022 is the Hilton Twinbrook Rockville, Maryland.

Led as all the time by proprietor/organizer, vintage-oriented audiophile, and former building foreman Gary Gill, Capital Audiofest 2023 has seen a 33% improve in bookings, to 120 rooms and 40 cubicles, in comparison with final 12 months’s 90 and 30. Gill says the variety of worldwide distributors and producers represented has elevated as effectively. The worth of admission stay the identical as final 12 months: $10 for a day, $30 for a three-day move. Kids and college students are free. And as immediately is Veterans’ Day (or, technically, Veteran’s Day Substitute, for the reason that eleventh falls on a Saturday this 12 months), there is a low cost for navy veterans.

The Capital Audiofest is clearly thriving. Why? "I take a look at it in a pair alternative ways," Gill advised me in a short interview. "I’ve been fairly persistent. I did CAF after I had a daytime job, then I finished working in the course of the day. Now I simply give attention to this.

"I believe folks have discovered the present," he continued. "And all people loves the vibe. Like final night time, we had an excellent completely happy hour. All these totally different folks, like minded souls [who] love music and equipment and all that, get collectively, have a good time. People love the surroundings."

The enthusiasm is mirrored in badge gross sales, which have doubled from final 12 months, from 250 to 600.

Added to the same old lineup of technically oriented seminar audio system, Gill has added music specialists like Resonance Records and Jazz Detective producer Zev Feldman, a significant participant in Record Store Day.

"Zev was in my storage searching by way of records final summer season, and we struck up a dialog. I mentioned, ‘do you need to come to Capital Audiofest?’ Zev can be talking with The Listening Chair’s Howard Kneller about his fruitful associations with Blue Note Records, Universal Music Group, and extra."

Another motive CAF might have virtually doubled in dimension and scope? The enthusiasm and hands-on method of Gill himself, who arrives early and stays late. "And I’m not an organization," Gill added wryly. Which is true. Let the video games start!

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November 10, 2023 at 10:02PM