Show Reports

Although Capital Audiofest showcased plenty of high-priced, high-end equipment this year, not all of the gear on demo at the show was in that range. One example: Room 826, which was hosted by Hi-Fi Lite, included at least a few U.S.-made components — such as those by the Delavan, Wisconsin-based manufacturer, SOTA, which stands for “State of the Art.”

The analog source in this room was a SOTA Escape turntable ($1,900, sans cartridge) along with the company’s own Eclipse Series electronics, which included a Condor power supply unit/speed controller along with their outboard Roadrunner motor tachometer ($450), for its three-phase motor — a rarity at that price point.

The belt-driven SOTA Escape table on demo was also equipped with a Rega RB330 tonearm (an available upgrade) to which an Audio-Technica AT-VMN45xML stylus ($329), a microlinear type with a Boron cantilever, was attached. In that room, Hi-Fi Life also had on-hand an Audio-Technica AT-VM745xML dual MM cartridge ($399) in a box, as seen near the end of this post.

Its signal was fed into a petite but (seemingly) well-built SOTA Pyxi phono preamp ($349) designed in partnership with engineer Wyn Palmer and Phoenix Engineering. According to SOTA, the Pyxi (seen below) was designed prioritizing balance between both channels — getting them to match closely by sourcing and deploying carefully selected parts for each side, including 1% resistors.

The system’s smallish scale belied its sonic size. The Alta Audio Geo Mark II stand-mounted speakers ($2,999/pr) sounded as big as towers, and they were mounted on Pangea DS400 speaker stands. Amplification from a Yamaha R-N1000A network receiver ($1,999) anchored the setup, and also provided digital playback. Musical impressions were full, yet quick and nimble.

What initially drew me into Room 826 was hearing “Take Me to the River” (Side Two, Track 4), from Talking Heads’ September 1984 LP Stop Making Sense on Sire, the ostensible live soundtrack to the concert film of the same name — always a treat. The track’s many layers — particularly the percussion — were reproduced with clear details intact, distinct. When “River” ended, I presented Hi-Fi Life’s Eric Lee with an apropos request: I wanted to hear Angelique Kidjo’s rendition of Talking Heads’ “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)” (Side A, Track 1) from her 2018-released, same-named, track-by-track re-creation of the group’s October 1980 Remain in Light album on the Kravenworks label.

On “Punches,” Kidjo’s vocals were reproduced vividly and sounded powerful and convincing in substance and scale backed by the quirky guitar droning effects and punchy percussion — the perfect complement to the Heads’ original version.

Part 8 is on the way!

If you want to check out Ken Micallef’s “Turntables of Capital Audiofest” video, go here.