Back in the fall of 2008 I attend an audio show in Trondheim, Norway where I presented two turntable set-up seminars. The show organizers procured for me a Tri-Planar tonearm mounted on a turntable, the brand of which I forget.

I've chosen to limit coverage to Cap Fest analog gear, but there was plenty of good sound at the show and plenty of awful sound too. I'll skip the awful and the great, making an exception for the Odyssey Audio room. The gentleman responsible, Klaus Bunge, is an industry veteran I've known for decades. He helped establish in America, the high price, high performance Symphonic Line brand.

The "cult of tonearm" grows, particularly with but not limited to wooden arms. I'd heard of but never seen in person one of James Grant's tonearms (Analog Instruments Limited.

Highwater Sound's Jeff Catalano, TW Acustic's American importer debuted a new triple motor module (circa $4500) for the Raven AC turntable similar in concept to the motor system in the company's flagship Black Knight 'table.

Robyatt Audio debuted the new retro-looking Miyajima Labs EC 5 all-tube line/phono preamp featuring two independently loadable transformer-based MC inputs, one MM input and five line inputs.

College Point, NY (Queens, L.I.) based Miracle Audio demoed its Phonatic phono preamp priced from $4500 for the MM version to $6200 for the "xr" version featuring 70dB gain, an enhanced power supply, Vishay Z-foil R's and Clarity MR caps.

Richmond, VA-based Luminous Audio demoed its soon to be introduced Arion phono preamp.

In the Magnolia Ballroom at Capital Audiofest 2013, along with a great selection of used vinyl, Bob Ratcliff, the inventor of the Ultrasonic V-8 ultrasonic record cleaning machine demonstrated how it works. The device consists of a square stainless steel vat filled with heated distilled water, some isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of Photoflo, which acts as a surfactant into which is placed an ultrasonic element associated with a 7 micron filtered circulation pump.

I wasn't expecting to find anything as new and significant at a small mid-summer show as VPI's new Classic Companion Turntable, but there it was.

Veteran manufacturers and rookie enthusiasts fueled increased industry participation at the fourth annual Capital Audio Fest held this past weekend, July 26th-28th at the the Silver Spring, Maryland Sheraton Hotel.