I’m tempted to write in my report on the Charisma room that the sound of its demo was full of charisma! It wouldn’t be a lie, but I know it would sound forced and insincere, wordplay meant to be clever but that would ultimately sound lazy and induce a cringe-reflex in the reader.

If the name Audio Eden conjures mental images of an unspoiled, verdant music paradise where your troubles don’t exist, then Ontario retailer Audio Eden’s room lived up to its name.

Masimo, Masimo . . . What’s there to say about Masimo—the company that owns Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, Denon, Classé, among other notable brands—at this juncture that’s new? This: The California-based company is hosting three rooms at the Toronto Audiofest, one I have yet to visit, the second I visited but can’t talk about because its star product is under a press embargo until next Tuesday, so you’ll have to wait. And the third? I visited and was left impressed by its sound.

Toronto, here I come! Land of the CN Tower, Canada's Wonderland, the Blue Jays, Drake's NBA-sized basketball court in his mansion, and, of course, the Toronto Audiofest, where hundreds of audio brands representing the latest, greatest audio gear and accessories are displayed for our amusement.

Bluebird Music, a distributor of high-performance audio products, has announced the release of the Weiss DAC501 MK2 and DAC502 MK2 for the U.S. and Canadian markets. Both models are built by Weiss Engineering and represent the latest in the company’s nearly four-decade pursuit of high-fidelity sound reproduction.

Active speakers make sense. The amplifiers, crossovers, and drivers are designed as a unit, so the design isn't compromised by the need to interface with components with unknown electrical or acoustical characteristics (except for the room, and that can't be helped). Concurrent design and testing of the various pieces can result in an integrated, through-designed system. Plus, the elegant simplicity that active speakers bring to a system just appeals to me.

Like many audiophiles, I've found myself intrigued by the variety of approaches that are taken to achieve the same goals: point source, line source, panels, horns. Whenever I've heard horns paired with a flea-powered amp, the dynamics have always impressed. I've consistently heard a jump factor that makes music feel remarkably alive. The combination of these two traits, though—horns plus active—is quite rare.