Toronto Audiofest 2021

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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!