Among Toronto's abiding successes, an audio show hasn't been one of them. While the city hosted the annual TAVES, established in 2011 as primarily an audio show, the event's attempt to transform itself over the…
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With its abundance of high rises and freeways, Toronto has the feel of a big, bustling metropolis. It is Canada's most populated city, North America's fourth after Mexico City, New York, and Los Angeles. It is also the country's business epicenter and the only Canadian city to have an MLB team and an NBA one, the latter the Toronto Raptors, the league's 2019 championship winners.
Making their North American debut in the Rotel/Monitor Audio room were Rotel's P5 preamp, with built-in 32- bit/768kHz DAC ($CAD5299), and 1080Wpc M8 mono amps ($CAD18,000/pair). Speakers were Monitor Audio Gold 300s, said to employ technology trickled down from the company's flagship Platinum ll model.
The source consisted of the Roksan 20 Plus turntable ($CAD5300) with Sara unipivot tonearm ($CAD3600) and Shiraz cartridge ($CAD5300). Roksan's Caspian VSC S2 speed control/phono stage completed the package. Though lacking in ultimate scale and bloom, the sound of the system was…
My journalistic objectivity be darned! The Goerner Audio/Grandinote room produced the sort of sound that melts my heart, ravishes my senses, and reminds me of why great hi-fi is worth the money.
Was I in a hotel room? Couldn't tell, because the sound coming from a pair of Grandinote Mach 9 speakers with carbon fiber enclosures ($CAD50,000/pair), a Grandinote 37Wpc Shinai integrated amp ($CAD20,000), and a Grandinote Volta music server ($CAD14,000), with cabling by Nordost, completely obliterated the walls around me. I was somewhere else. But I think what surprised me most about…
The first thing I did at the Toronto Audiofest—after eating breakfast and attending some business meetings—was visit the Zesto Audio room, where I was hosted by Zesto Audio President and designer George Counnas. I was eager to hear the just-announced Leto Ultra vacuum tube preamplifier ($9995 US), which features—wait for it—tone controls.
For a while, tone controls had a bad rep in the hi-fi world. We were supposed to prefer minimalist, purist designs—and there is something to be said for simple. But, let's face it: I miss tone controls. I think a lot of people do. They're useful. The…
More great sound was had in retailer Audio Eden's room, where they were showcasing a system fronted by SME's Synergy all-in-one record player, which includes the SME model 12 turntable, SME lV arm with internal Crystal Cable wiring, an Ortofon Windfeld Ti MC cartridge, and a built-in phono stage made by Nagra ($CAD28,000 total cost)—but no kitchen sink.
I hate to say the price of the SME ensemble seems fair, but in hi-fi, where there are so many dubious places on which to plunk down 30 grand, the SME strikes me as a sure investment in musical pleasure. The Synergy was demoed with…
Having never before seen a pair of Klipsch La Scalas ($CAD15,000/pair) in person, I was pleasantly surprised by their appearance when I saw them in the Kennedy HiFi room. Looking stately, dare I say
noble even, with their wide baffles and hardwood enclosures, the Klipsches were coupled to a system that included a Simaudio Moon 393 preamp ($CAD6800), a Moon 330 120Wpc power amp ($CAD4400), and a Pro-Ject 2Xperience turntable ($CAD1700 with arm and cartridge). Though the sound I heard lacked some refinement and air, it possessed great drive and a goodly amount of fun factor.
Looking for a simple, sweet-sounding system that's sure to elicit pride of ownership? If so, I'd like to suggest the one I encountered in the room hosted by retailer Vinyl Sound. It starts with a Ken Micallef fave, the Kuzma Stabi S turntable with Stogi arm ($CAD6400 for both), and an Ortofon Cadenza Blue cartridge ($CAD2000).
Add to this an Aesthetix Rhea phono stage ($CAD6500), a pair of Harbeth 30.1 speakers ($CAD4800–$CAD5200), and a PrimaLuna Evo 400 integrated amp ($CAD6750) capable of 70Wpc in Ultralinear mode or 38Wpc in triode mode. Then throw in an assortment of…
After spending time in the Zesto room, I wandered into the other rooms hosted by Canadian audio importer/distributor Tri-Cell.
First up was the room featuring Harbeth 30.2 40th Anniversary loudspeakers on Beech Black Tontraeger stands, with turntable, phono preamp, and DAC from Brinkmann (the Taurus, Edison MkII, and Nyquist, respectively). Vinyl was playing and those small speakers were making a big sound.
Also in the system were the Goldnote DS-10 streamer, the Aesthetix Mimas integrated amplifier, racks by HRS and cabling by Cardas.
A working musician: singer and flautist Caroline St. Louis (above).
Toronto Audiofest co-organizer Sarah Tremblay (above).
Isabeau Corriveau (above) was tireless on harp.
Wynn Audio's Wynn Wong (above) with products from Tidal, Thales, and EMT.
Yamaha's A-S3000 integrated amplifier ($CAD8000).
The Wadax Atlantis transport ($US45,000) measures its own vibrations.
Like last year, James Tanner (above) presented an all-Bryston system featuring the T-Rex, which consists of an inverted pair of Bryston's…
Should you ground your loudspeakers? With most speakers it's a moot point, since there's no practical way to ground the internal metal parts. A few companies—Tannoy comes to mind—have in the past sold speakers with a grounding pin, claiming reduction of distortion and RF interference.
Audiovector, of Denmark, has returned to the practice grounding their loudspeakers, providing a grounding pin on their Avantgarde Arreté–series loudspeakers, which can be wired to earth ground via a special grounding terminal on the carbon-fiber panel. (The cable costs extra.) The big Arretés were in the…