Toronto Audiofest 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! They wallop you in the face with wave after wave of dense, weighty, colorful, harmonically saturated sound that forces you to catch your breath as you try to reconcile what you're hearing with what your assumptions were.

That's what happened to me in distributor Wynn Audio's room, although I should've known better. While I hadn't previously heard this specific grouping of components, I had heard the brands on display, all exported from Denmark by Audio Group Denmark, at previous shows and was left impressed by the experience each time.

Showcased here
were a pair of Børresen Acoustics C1 standmount speakers ($22,500/pair, incl. stands), an Aavik Acoustics U-188 integrated amplifier ($30,000), and a variety of Ansuz Acoustics products, from a PowerSwitch A3 power/Ethernet distribution switch ($5400) to cables and footers, while the component rack was by Critical Mass Systems.

When the music hit, the speakers all but disappeared, drowned in a musically packed soundstage that flooded the room way off to the sides and fully across the space between me and the hi-fi. Vocals were focused and voluptuous, piano tones had deep hues and endless sustains, and when it was all over, I left my chair and thought to myself, "I won't forget this one."