And now for the show's first world premiereThe Baetis Audio Reference 4 music server ($12,000), which is chockfull of features and compatible with every streaming service available, as well as being a Roon endpoint.
The Tri-Art room, the first I visited, started me off on a good foot. It consisted of a presentation given by owner Steve Ginsberg and his colleague Jim Leveille, and it was fascinating. Tri-Art, if you recall from previous show reports, is the audio company that makes a series of electronics and open-baffle speakers whose enclosures, plus "jelly bean" acoustic treatments, are made out of solid bamboo. Steve loves bamboo as a material for its tonal qualities and also because bamboo is so rigid and impervious to splintering, you can mill it like you would metal, with a CNC machine. I also think bamboo has a wholesome, organic, warm aesthetic that's mother-earth sculpture-like.
Hi everyone. This is Rob Schryer reporting live from Toronto's Westin Airport Hotel. In case you haven't heard, it's at this venue that the Toronto Audiofest is taking place from October 21 to 23 with 89 exhibit rooms from purveyors of audio all vying to charm our pants off.
During my 30-odd years inhabiting New York City's Greenwich Village, I've seen many things come and go. Today's Village buzzes, blasts, and bellows in every direction, change itself the only constant.