A couple of caveats before we dive in—I once again have to apologize for not getting into every room, even rooms I had every intention of experiencing.
In addition, we all understand that listening to hifis at hifi shows is not the same as listening in the peace and quiet, ideally, of our homes (or Barns). Other people, noise, small crappy rooms, big crappy rooms, and the challenge of playing music that is at once interesting and not off putting that sounds good all adds up to less than ideal conditions for evaluating gear.
Nevertheless, we do it and I actually enjoy it up to a point. And seeing that listening to music on the hifi in all manner of places for some 50 years in my case helps set the stage for the awareness that this is what it is—listening in less than ideal conditions.
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” — Soren Kierkegaard
Robyatt Audio
Robin Wyatt from Robyatt Audio typically ends up on my list of Favorite Rooms and I would sum up one reason why—never boring. CAF 2025 introduced me, and I imagine many, to the Simco ONE horn speakers and they brought some big sound with real delicacy and plenty of power punch to one side of a large room with Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” from the Peaky Blinders soundtrack brought to life in room. The drivers are from the pro audio world combining a 12” woofer which is mounted to on a powder coated aluminum baffle and 1.4” horn-loaded compression driver with a titanium diaphragm.
The 95 dB (2.83V, 1m) Simco ONE got their power from a pair of Miyajima OTL amplifiers in mono mode, delivering 8 Watts per side which was more than enough power to keep things not boring along with the nice mid-century vibe.
The system:
Simco Audio Simco ONE Loudspeakers: $15,950/pair
Miyajima Wo-1 Preamplifier: $21,750
Miyajima 2020 OTL Amplifier: $17,500/ea. / Mono Block Pair: $31,500
Miyajima MC-2 Tube Head Amp: $7950
Miyajima Destiny Stereo Cartridge: $7750
Miyajima Infinity Mono Cartridge: $3550
Bokrand DZT SAK Tonearm: $6750
VPI “In the Can” DD Turntable: $15,500
Metal Mat’s Gun Metal Platter Mat: $1650
Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition Gen 2 Streamer/DAC: $1299
Wax Rax LP Console: $1650
All Cables by Finley Audio
Command Performance AV (Joseph Audio / Doshi Audio)
Like peanut butter and bananas. Good and good for ‘ya. Joseph Audio and Doshi Audio are common partners at hifi shows near and far and CAF 2025 brought them together again in a room sponsored by Command Performance AV for this oh-so-smooth, crystal clear, and effortless system that was long on refinement with big bass big enough for at least one show goer to ask…that question (there wasn’t one).
The Doshi Evolution Stereo Amplifier not only looks the part of pure, clean, power but it delivers the same from its hybrid design combining a solid state JFET-based differential amplifier section driving an EL-34/6CA7-based output for 65 Watts (into 5 Ohms). During my first visit, I went back again with a few friends, Nick Doshi was grooving to some Yes, a band I remember through a veil of smoke, followed by Return to Forever where Al Di Meola hit more notes per millisecond than a woodpecker on crystal meth. Nevertheless I rated the sound as engaging+.
The System
Joseph Audio Pulsar2 Graphene Bookshek Speakers: $9999/pair
Doshi Audio Evolution Stereo Amplifier: $25,995
Doshi Audio Evolution Preamplifier: $23,995
Doshi Audio Evolution Phono Preamplifier: $23,995
Innuos STREAM3 w/optional Pheonix DAC board: $12,600
J.Sikora ASPIRE Turntable w/ASPIRE CV 9 Carbon Fiber Tonearm: $10,995
Aidas Malachite Silver MC cartridge: $7295
Cables from Cardas Audio Clear Series
Gestalt Audio
Nashville, TN. dealer Gestalt Audio had one of my favorite rooms, a distinction with a difference when it comes to favorite systems—a system is all about sound where a room is about that plus vibe.
As I hope you can see, the gear on display as well as the setup, minimal decor, and low lighting are all welcome touches that add to the experience of listening to music. I’d call it relaxed.
Relaxed is also one way I’d describe the sound in the Gesalt Audio room, filled with fascinating looking and sounding gear from Cinnamon Audio with but amplification which came courtesy of the UK’s SWIX Audio Design. I was treated to “Won’t Get Fooled Again” from a solo Pete Townshend on acoustic guitar, part of the 1981 benefit show and album from The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball. Sure, there are qualities that come with open baffle speakers but here those qualities joined a host of others than surpassed ‘openness’ including delicacy, high energy, and plenty of rich tonal rightness.
The system:
Cinnamon Audio Cassia open-baffle loudspeakers: $54,995/pair
Cinnamon Malabar VLF subwoofer: $15,995
SW1X MPA V Special Mono Power Amplifiers: $37,836
SW1X PRE V Signature Preamplifier: $83,041
Cinnamon Galle Phono Stage: $32,995
Cinnamon Galle SUT: $8,250
PrimaryControl Kinea II Turntable: $24,995
PrimaryControl FCL Tonearm: $34,995
Fuuga MC Cartridge: $10,995)
YG Acoustics / JMF Audio
From my review of the HQS 6002 Amplifier and PRS 1.5 Preamplifier (review), distributed in the US by Audio Skies along with Ideon; “In terms of speaker pairings used here, if I owned the YG Sonja 3.3 I’d opt for the JMF HQS 7001 or the HQA 9001 monoblocks because the big YGs will enjoy the extra drive.”
You can look at this system from CAF 2025 as that logic played out in reverse with the JMF combo I reviewed driving the smaller YG Acoustics Sonja 3.2 in a stunning kind of blue.
Digital duties came courtesy of Ideon’s Absolute DAC ε meta while the Ideon Σigma Wave USB audio isolator and 3R Master Time Black Star reclocker hiding on the bottom shelf behind the JMF HQS 6002 amp.
I spent some real time in this room, listening and then for a presentation followed by more listening, including “Nature’s Child”, a favorite (and really lovely) track I played in a few rooms from S.G. Goodman and Bonnie “Prince” Billy and there was a purity at play here, a kind of clear, cool clarity that nonetheless dug deep into the stunning interplay of these two distinct voices.
The System
YG Sonja 3.2 Loudspeakers: $99,000/pair
JMF Audio HQS 6002 Amplifier: $45,000
JMF Audio PRS 1.5 Preamplifier: $39,000
Ideon Absolute DAC ε meta: $49,900
Ideon Σigma Wave USB Audio Isolator: $7899
Ideon 3R Master Time Black Star Reclocker: $5099
GTT Audio
NJ-based Dealer/Distributor GTT Audio featured the new Vivid Audio G3 Cu speakers paired with electronics from Germany’s Audionet, a combination of companies and their gear I got to hear in Barn via the GIYA G3 Series 2 (review) and Humbolt Integrated amp (review). The new Vivid cu bring a number of updates to the older GIYA speakers I reviewed with some technology trickled down from Vivid’s flagship Moya M1 loudspeakers including “copper-capped upper and lower midrange drivers”.
The sound in this room through the new G3 Cu reminded me of:
“My main takeaway after spending weeks listening through the Vivid GIYA G3 formed itself into two words in my mind when thinking about conveying the gist of that experience—unimpeachable magic.
Unimpeachable magic, again. I ran into a GIYA G3 Series 2 owner in the hallway who was shared, in a very excited manner, how he was buying the new “cu” version after some CAF 2025 listening time because “They’re just better!” I love enthusiasm.
The system:
Vivid Audio Giya G3 Cu Loudspeakers: $54,940 in bespoke color
Master Fidelity NADAC C Master Clock and the NADAC D DAC: $50,500
Audionet Mach preamplifier: $37,060
Audionet Schrödinger Mono Power Amplifiers: $71,050/pair
Dejitter It Ethernet Switch X: $3,500
Dejitter It WiFi X WiFi Adapter: $850
Dejitter It NUC-X: $8,000
Cable form Kunola-Sosna
The Listening Room (Dyiptych)
I’ve got a thing for panels and I’ve enjoyed every time I’ve sat in front of one pair or another from Frances Diptyque Audio. For CAF 2025, Maryland-based dealer The Listening Room, who had a total of 5 rooms!, paired the Diptyque DP115 speakers with a Kora TA 480 Stereo Amplifier using the preamp in the Grimm MU2. Side note—I reviewed and very much enjoyed the Kora TB140 Integrated Amplifier I reviewed 5 years ago so I’m thrilled to learn that Fidelity Imports has added their fine products to their stable.
Clearly, the Michel Gyro SE also looks lovely in black, mine is silver, here paired with Michel’s T8 Tonearm and a Hana SL MK II MC Cartridge with the Grimm PW/1 Phono stage in play. Compared to many a system, this one is on the simple side but was certainly long on engagement with music energizing the room the way panels can do, which is to say with all-enveloping waves of energized air.
The system:
Diptyque DP160 MKII Loudspeakers: $29,999/pair
Kora TA 480 Class AB Stereo Amplifier: $19,999
Grimm MU2: $20,600
Michel Gyro SE w/T8 Tonearm: $5299
Hana SL MK II MC Cartridge: $850
Grimm PW/1 Phono Preamplifier: $5800
Cables from Via Blue
The Listening Room (Magnepan)
The Listening Room strikes again, here following the dictum sometimes bigger is better with a pair of Magnepan’s 4-panel 30.7x Planar Magnetic Speakers. Keen observers and regular readers may recognize the Audia Flight gear as it’s the exact combo I recently reviewed and one thing I can tell you about this system in this big room is—plenty. Plenty of big music with big bass filled this space with wave after wave of music-energized oomph! Impressive. You can check in with my recent review of the Maggie 20.7x for more on what these do (that may surprise you).
The system:
Magnepan 30.7x Planar Magnetic Speakers: $55,000/pair
Audia Flight Strumento no.8 Mono Power Amplifier: $39,999/pair
Audia Flight Strumento no.1 evo PreAmplifier: $29,999
Audia Flight FLS20 SACD Player: $21,999
Audia Flight FL Phono: $6999
Aurender N50 Music Server: $38,500
Aurender MC10 Master Clock: $17,600
Aurender NH-10 Network Hub: $4300
Wilson Benesch GMT ONE System: $contact The Listening Room for pricing
Cables from Via blue
Ø Audio
It’s pronounced “Urr” kinda like the pirate “Arr” but the viking version. I relished my time with the Ø Audio Verdnade (review) about which I wrote, “Soon after I asked the Ø Audio Verdande to play music I realized they are, at heart, delicate and powerful creatures capable of single-driver intimacy coupled with full range reach while exhibiting the speed and lightning fast dynamics you’d expect from a horn-loaded loudspeaker.”
For CAF 2025, the smaller but equally engaging Ø Audio Icon 12 that sport a similar driver compliment to their bigger brother with a hornloaded 3.4” Carbon fiber driver married to a 12″ ultra-linear long stroke extended range woofer paired with a stunning looking stack of Boulder electronics with dCS Rossini APEX DAC/Master Clock cherry on top. The same sonic qualities I shared about the Verdande, delicate and powerful creatures capable of single-driver intimacy coupled with full range reach while exhibiting the speed and lightning fast dynamics you’d expect from a horn-loaded loudspeaker, were on display here just not in Barn-sized scale.
The system:
Ø Audio Icon 12 Floorstanding Loudspeaker: $25,000/pair
Boulder 1151 Mono Power Amplifier: $23,500/each
Boulder 1110 Preamplifier: $24,000
dCS Rossini APEX Player: $38,600
dCS Rossini Master Clock: $12,100
Cables from AudioQuest
Alma Music & Audio (Qln)
Whenever I walk into a room featuring speakers from Qln I expect easy. From my review of the QLN Prestige 9, “In many ways including their rich, rewarding, and inviting sound combined with their refined quiet elegant appearance allow for complete and easy entry into deep communication with any music you ask them to play.”
In another room from dealer Alma Music & Audio filled with gear imported by Well Pleased AV, I got to meet the new Qln Prestige Three Gen 2 that come with new first-order crossovers, upgraded cabinets using dual layer Qboard, and a few other odds and ends driven by the recently reviewed Qualiton 300B integrated amp with a new Merason DAC up front.
This is another room where I had control over an iPad as remote and, you guessed it, S.G. Goodman and Bonnie “Prince” Billy sounded out loud and clear on “Nature’s Child” while illustrating that this system fronted by the Qln speakers also had that lovely refined quiet elegance that’s as easy to fall into as a freshly made bed.
The system:
Qln Prestige Three Gen 2 Speakers: $12,500/pair
Audio Hungary Qualiton 300B Integrated Amplifier: $11,000
Merason DAC2: $12,500
XACT S1 EVI Music Server: $18,600
XACT N1 Netowrk Switch: $7400
GigaWatt PC-4 EVO Power Conditioner: $16,000
Finite Ellmente Pagode Signature Rack: $4750
Nemesis Acoustic Panels: $799/ea
Cables from Kubala-Sosna, AB-Tech Ren (Ethernet), and XACT (USB)
Now Listen Here
Ahhhh. Ayre and Vandersteen. Sonic slippers in the best possible way and as a former Ayre AX-5 Twenty integrated amp owner I know it knows how to do liquid and lovely solid state style and when paired with the Vandersteen Quatro CT Evo speakers made “Nature’s Child”, yup again, all silky, lovely and humanly present in one of two room from dealer Now Listen Here.
As I mentioned in the Notable New Products picks, this D-1 DAC from Imersiv has tickled my interest and in my all too brief time listening my fancy as well.
The system:
Vandersteen Quatro CT Evo speakers: $23,900/pair
Ayre Acoustics AX-5 Twenty Integrated Amp: $18,000
imersiv D-1 DAC: $12,000
Pure Fidelity Harmony turntable: $9,395 (as showns with upgraded tonearm & finish $12,045)
Ayre Acoustics PX-8 MM/MC phono preamp: $6,500 (with DS Audio optical input $9000)
DS Audio 003 cartridge: $$2750
Innuos STREAM3: $8000
AudioQuest Niagara 5000: $6900
Cables from AudioQuest