I generally avoid home theater rooms at an audio show because typically—and reasonably—they’ve been set up mainly with the cinematic experience in mind rather than the musical one. So I hesitated before entering the two adjoining EQ Audio Video rooms because they had screens. But with a little prodding from company owner Ed O’Hearly—he assured me that the systems in the rooms were strictly stereo—I acquiesced. I’m glad I did.

Do your speakers that go low and tight in the bass?

Who knew I’d meet Paul Simon—the Paul Simon, pop star, the shorter half of Simon and Garfunkel—at the Toronto Audiofest?

It's not often that I come across a piece of gear at an audio show that I pine to own. The Simaudio Moon 40th Anniversary Limited Edition system is in that category, but I'd better hurry: Production is limited to 40 systems.

Please join 3mA Audio in Houston, Texas for a fun “Spooktacular Audio Show” on Saturday, October 30th starting at 4pm “until the last person leaves.”

In a near-repeat of my visit to the Gershman Acoustics room at 2019’s Toronto Audiofest, I got the chance to meet up with the Toronto-based company’s Ofra and Eli Gershman and also Krell COO Walter Schofield.

Whether at the Toronto Audiofest or the Montreal one, Audio Note UK always has a room set up that is simple to string together, not very expensive, and imminently musical. It was no different at this year’s Toronto show.

In the mood for an under $20,000 audiophile-grade system? Excellent, because I found one in the room sponsored by Wired with Sound.

They say staring is impolite, but as I listened to the music from this system in the American Sound of Canada room, it was hard to keep my eye from wandering to gaze lustily at the assembled gear.

Okay, so what next?

BIG speakers, namely the 3-way PMC Fenestria ($90,000), which loomed tall in the second Motet room. Upstream components included an Accuphase A75 amplifier ($25,600), Accuphase C2850 preamplifier ($25,000), Lumin U1 streamer ($10,000), and—get this—an iFi Diablo DAC that retails for $1200!