Roadtrip to CAS 5 in San Francisco

Not even a month has gone by since I packed up and flew out to the nation’s capitol for Gary Gill’s Capitol Audio Fest. Now it’s time to load up the car with equipment, a collection of Ultra HD-Audio discs, Charlie (the new Border Collie), and my wife and head to the bay area for Constantine Soo’s California Audio Show. This is the fifth time that he has presented his Northern California show. The event starts on Friday of this week and takes place at the Westin SFO in Millbrae, CA, which is just south of the airport.

Like the DC show, the CAS is much smaller than AXPONA and the RMAF but it draws attendees from all over the city by the bay AND you can manage to visit every room in a single day. It’s an easy decision for my wife and I because we’re only 5 hours away (although she tells me it’s another 2 hours because of the frequent puppy stops required) and our daughter lives in the city. I like the show because the people that show up span a wider demographic than most of the shows I attend and they seem to already know about high-resolution audio. My pitch is therefore more to the point.

I find it encouraging that men and women of all ages take time out of their weekend to listen to expensive audio systems, attend seminars, check out headphones, and stop by the marketplace to discover new music…in 5.1 surround and high-resolution. Last year, I was fortunate to have my sales tables located just across from the registration tables, making our visibility very high. The only downside was the constant music playing from the SONOS system just a few yards away…playing the same tracks over and over again (how many times can you listen to “Kiss From A Rose by Seal?). Music playback is supposed to be limited to demo rooms…I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Constantine asked me to present a couple of seminars during the course of the three-day event. I’m always happy to oblige and plan on giving my “2014: Is This The Year of High-Resolution Audio” and “Definitions, Downloads, Devices and A New Direction” presentations on Saturday and Sunday (please check the schedule on the website for the latest updates).

CAS5 is following the lead of many of the other audio trade shows and including a dedicated room to headphones, headphone amplifiers and high-end portable devices. I heard from my friends at Oppo that they are planning to attend CAS5 and will be bringing their headphones and the amazing HA-1 headphone DAC and preamplifier. Oppo doesn’t routinely participate in trade shows…this is a rare opportunity to meet with them.

For those interested in vinyl LPs, the website is claiming that the largest collection of vinyl records ever assembled in a hotel setting will be part of the show. I expect there will be lots of turntables and audiophile accessories on display in the 30 plus rooms that have signed up for the show. Looking at the list of “CAS5 Prize Giveaways”, I’m sure you’re going to want to enter to win the 1.5 meter Thales Line Cable precision interconnects worth $2200 or an $150 Carbon CD Damper…so get a ticket asap.

I located a box of 100 copies of our old Intel-era High-Resolution Audio Experience Sampler and plan to give those away free to the first 100 attendees that stop by the booth. So if you’re anywhere near San Francisco this coming weekend, please stop by and say hello, get a free sampler, and pick up some of our award-winning discs.