Inside CAF 2025 Luxury Hi-Fi Show Part 1 — Capital Audiofest's Top Floors With 84 Rooms
New trends you need to know about, the latest audio gear, and not to be missed rooms!
Capital Audiofest 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker

Harmonia Distribution
Harmonia Distribution is a West Coast distributor with numerous popular brands. The music was quite good, from what I could hear above the numerous loud conversations going on. Prima Luna tube amps were driving mid-line Fyne Audio speakers (Fyne Audio F302 loudspeakers review), a brand I've loved since it was created.

The Fyne speaker featured the more affordable super tweeter from Fyne.

The inner room of the suite held a more upscale rig with Fyne speakers with their more exclusive super tweeter. Here, Prima Luna higher line amps were driving the efficient Fyne speakers, along with yet another Grimm MU2 server with DAC. The young host in the room was trying to balance time between these two rigs, and I couldn't wait around for the pendulum to swing back to this rig.

This was the first time I've seen the rack in this room. It was very attractive with the curved carbon fiber connectors fitted with a variety of vertical height posts. The softer lines and the two-tone finish are a welcome breath of fresh air in the high end. I also noticed the copper Cardas power strip on the floor beside rack.

I was somewhat disturbed by the authentic battle axes on top of the rack, but I didn't want to ask the host about them for fear of those dreaded words: "What's in your wallet?"

AudioShield Distribution
AudioShield hosts one of the largest rooms and typically shows a huge floorstanding speaker from Credo. The presentation never quite wins me over, but here at Capital Audiofest 2025 high-end audio show they went small with a small floorstander that was appropriate for the size of the room and came across very well with great transparency, resolution, and tone.

The electronics were from EMM Labs. Note the assortment of CDs on hand—a rarity at most audio shows today. Be sure to read Enjoy the Music.com's exclusive EMM Labs DV2 integrated DAC review. The CDs were to demonstrate the EMM Labs TXi transport, further evidence that the interest in playing physical CDs again is growing. Personally, I've never given them up.

The loudspeaker was unusual in that it featured a rough-cut façade that probably aided in the dispersion of sound off the front baffle. I could see this treatment in both contemporary and rustic settings, including rooms finished in a country or informal colonial décor (though in a darker finish.) The small size will be a welcome factor for many, yet I was convinced by what I heard that this speaker is capable of filling larger rooms, too. I was very impressed with this speaker.

The Kimber Kables used here were not distributed by AudioShield. Of course you should read our Kimber Kable Naked Interconnects review to learn more about this legendary audio company.

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