Toronto Audiofest 2024

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Robert Schryer  |  Oct 28, 2024  | 
The Toronto Audiofest 2024 was a fun show, and by all signs, the audio hobby still beats with a vital, passionate heart.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 28, 2024  | 
At every Toronto Audiofest, EQ Audio Video hosts the same room and it's easily the biggest one at the show—it's the size of a palatial Austrian ballroom—which the retailer subdivides into several closed-off demos that play at different times. EQ Audio Video owner Ed O'Herlihy knows how to put demos together so they always sound impressive, and this year I got to hear two of the best systems, not only in the EQ room, but at the entire show.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 28, 2024  | 
Some products at audio shows create a buzz. They get people excited and raving about them in the venue’s corridors. One such product at this year’s show was the Elac Concentro S 503 standmount speaker.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 27, 2024  | 
Monitor Audio was displaying two systems. The first showcased a pair of the company's Studio 89 monitors ($2999/pair, + $799 for Studio 89 stands) and Anthra W12 subwoofer ($3700), fed by a 140Wpc, class-A/B Rotel RAS-5000 integrated amplifier ($3999), while cabling and the component rack, in systems 1 and 2, were by Audience and Norstone, respectively.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 27, 2024  | 
Another great-sounding room was the one hosted by retailer Vinyl Sound, a name that, as proprietor of the store, you have to live up to—you have to sell turntables!
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 27, 2024  | 
Ontario retailer Hearken Audio always showcases systems made up of exotic products usually from distant lands by brands unfamiliar to me that, together, don't fail to be musical standouts at shows.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 26, 2024  | 
You know how they say that after a while dog owners start looking like their pets? I doubt it's true, but on the premise that it is, I wonder if the same can be claimed about brand names or store names; example: if you opened the "Best Gear Ever " store, would you, even subconsciously, feel compelled to seek out and sell the best gear? Would you try to resemble the name, to live up to it?
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 26, 2024  | 
Another room exhibiting an EverSolo product was that of IsoAcoustics, which used a DMP-A8 streamer/DAP/DAC/preamplifier ($2700) to feed a pair of 350W PS Audio Stellar M700 monoblocks ($4500/each) and Aspen FR10 speakers ($13,999/pair)—two pairs, actually, one on regular spikes, the other on IsoAcoustics Gaia 2 isolation feet ($349.99/pack of 4), to allow for an A/B demonstration.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 26, 2024  | 
You want big-toned, vivid, seemingly effortlessly dispersed sound with a knack for delivering some of the most stable and incisively air-sculpted, but not fatiguing, imaging I've heard at the show?
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 25, 2024  | 
This was one of my favorite demos at the show. It sounded so well balanced, it seemed to deliver everything in the right proportions. Bold but not in-your-face; tonally ripe but not too warm; detailed but not stringent; effortless but weighty, and so on.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 25, 2024  | 
To me, Burmester equipment is the audio equivalent of Porsche cars—sleek-looking, expensive, and designed for high performance. And as my visit to the Burmester room proved, Burmester gear is fun and exciting to listen to, which is what I assume driving a Porsche is like. (Maybe one day, I'll let you know for sure.)
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 24, 2024  | 
The Marantz product that was under press embargo? A speaker! Actually, two speakers: the Marantz Horizon and its larger sibling, Marantz Grand Horizon. The speakers are intended for single-speaker wireless playback.
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 23, 2024  | 
Some systems are sleepers in the unassuming sense. They don't come in big parts, or take up a lot of space, or use a dozen components to pass the signal through. So you sit down to listen to them, expecting something good but forgettable, and boom!
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 23, 2024  | 
I saw a real live frilled lizard at the Audiofest! It was wide-spanning and awe-inspiring and finished in Santos Rosewood. And instead of spitting saliva, it projected music!
Robert Schryer  |  Oct 23, 2024  | 
The Kennedy Hi-Fi room was showing another product at the show that was creating a buzz: the Audiovector Trapeze loudspeaker ($25,000/pair), another product from Denmark, a country rich in high-end manufacturing. A 3-way floorstanding design, the Trapeze features a proprietary 12" high-power mid/bass driver, a 5" high-speed midrange, and an AMT (Air Motion Transformer) tweeter.

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