They say staring is impolite, but as I listened to the music from this system in the American Sound room, it was hard to keep my eye from wandering to gaze lustily at the assembled gear, including the Estelon Forza speakers in Black Pearl Gloss, ($195,000/pair), the class-A, 600Wpc Boulder 2160 power amplifier ($78,000), the VAC Statement preamplifier ($80,000), and the digital duo of the Wadax Reference server ($90,000) and Wadax Reference DAC ($190,000). That's a combined retail cost of $916,250 with the HRS stands and…
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(Prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.)
(All prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated)
In the mood for an under $20,000 audiophile-grade system? Excellent, because I found one in the room sponsored by Wired with Sound. There, I met owner James Drew, a chap I liked as soon as he’d offered me a beer (which, for the record, I politely declined). On display was a simple (but potent) little system comprising a pair of 3-way Definitive Technology Demand D15 speakers ($3999/pair), the 100Wpc class-D Marantz Model 30 integrated amplifier ($3999; see Herb Reichert's review, here), and 30N SACD-streamer ($3999), with…
(All prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.)
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 eminently musical. It was no different at this year’s Toronto show, where cellist extraordinaire and Audio Note UK rep Vincent Bélanger once again took up MC’ing duties to present a system comprised of the Audio Note K-LX speakers in Slate finish ($8995), a CDT one transport ($6195), and a 28Wpc, class-A, push-pull Cobra EL34 integrated amp (yum, right?). It had never…
(All prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.)
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. This time I also got to meet Exasound president George Klissarov, to chat about audio and listen to good music from a system using a Krell 150Wpc (the first 90 watts in class-A) K300i integrated amplifier (US$7500, US$8500 with DAC; see Jason Victor Serinus's review, here.), Gershman Acoustics’s Grande Avant Garde…
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.” Jeremy Bryan of MBL will demonstrate the MBL 101 X-Treme system and Amy Hansen from Nordost will be demonstrating their products on other MBL systems.
Giveaways, drinks, and a food truck.
Please RSVP to sales@3maaudio.com.
(Prices are in Canadian funds unless otherwise indicated.)
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.
The system comprises the 125Wpc Moon 600i v2 integrated amplifier and the Roon-ready 680D DAC. The package, including cabling, "starts at" $38,000, the price depending on—what? Finish? Cable choices? I'm not sure. Each unit’s side and front panels are finished in a "deluxe rose red color," and the top…
(All prices are in Canadian funds unless otherwise indicated.)
Who knew I’d meet Paul Simon—the Paul Simon, pop star, the shorter half of Simon and Garfunkel—at the Toronto Audiofest? I wasn't expecting to, but there he was, singing to me. I also met Satch, a/k/a Louis Armstrong. Both were in the room belonging to Acora Acoustics, builders of speakers made with natural granite enclosures.
Okay, those musicians weren’t really there, but you could have fooled me! Such was the system’s ability to convey the tone of instruments and the tiny inflections and breathing patterns that…
(All prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.)
Do your speakers that go low and tight in the bass? Here's a test: Use your system to stream the tracks "Bubbles" by Yosi Horikawa and "Make us Stronger" by Ghost Rider. I heard these two tracks at the Kennedy Hi-Fi room; they were making the rounds at the show, and for good reason: They contain kick-butt bass sections, they’re 3D-spacious, and the music and sound are actually good.
The sound they made coming out of the 200Wpc, class-D NAD Masters Series M33 BluOS streaming DAC integrated amplifier ($6999; see Kal…
(All prices are in Canadian funds unless otherwise specified.)
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’Herlihy—he assured me that the systems in the rooms were strictly stereo—I acquiesced. I’m glad I did.
The first system, which comprised a Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista CD player ($9000), a Nu-Vista…
(Prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.)
Olga Oreshyna is an artist who makes, as she calls it, "non-traditional art." She begins by collecting old wood, “with scratches, cracks, knots, and other imperfections that are similar to real life." She carves it into pieces, dries it, colors it with acrylic paint or stain, and “fits [it] to a specifically designated position” among other wood pieces to create a mosaic sculpture.
One day, a friend of Olga’s pointed out that her sculptures could double as acoustic panels, and that’s how her acoustic-panel business…