Welcome to the reveal of my Fab Five, the five most accomplished, most musically engaging systems that I encountered at this year’s Capital Audiofest. Have you ever wondered criteria I use to make these selections? Well, it comes down to a symbiosis of many attributes. I listen for faithful replication of instrumental tonality, is it presented with vibrance, color, and texture? I listen for the level of authentic dynamism that a system can recreate, how well can it convey subtle nuance and shading in the most tranquil of passages, and by contrast, how faithfully is it able to portray realistic scale and dimension on the most energetic.