Final Words - Toronto Audiofest 2024
The Toronto Audiofest 2024 was a fun show, and by all signs, the audio hobby still beats with a vital, passionate heart.
Toronto Audiofest 2024
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EQ Audio Video: Musical Fidelity, Focal, Grado, Audience, Borresen, Ansuz, Axxess, Naim - Toronto Audiofest 2024
At every Toronto Audiofest, EQ Audio Video hosts the same room and it's easily the biggest one at the show—it's the size of a palatial Austrian ballroom—which the retailer subdivides into several closed-off demos that play at different times. EQ Audio Video owner Ed O'Herlihy knows how to put demos together so they always sound impressive, and this year I got to hear two of the best systems, not only in the EQ room, but at the entire show.
Altitudo Audio: Elac, Electrocompaniet, Audio Note, HRS - Toronto Audiofest 2024
Some products at audio shows create a buzz. They get people excited and raving about them in the venue’s corridors. One such product at this year’s show was the Elac Concentro S 503 standmount speaker.
Monitor Audio, Rotel, Audience, Norstone, Roon - Toronto Audiofest 2024
Monitor Audio was displaying two systems. The first showcased a pair of the company's Studio 89 monitors ($2999/pair, + $799 for Studio 89 stands) and Anthra W12 subwoofer ($3700), fed by a 140Wpc, class-A/B Rotel RAS-5000 integrated amplifier ($3999), while cabling and the component rack, in systems 1 and 2, were by Audience and Norstone, respectively.
Vinyl Sound: MoFi Electronics, Mastersound, Solidsteel, HiFi Rose, IsoTek, Cardas Audio - Toronto Audiofest 2024
Another great-sounding room was the one hosted by retailer Vinyl Sound, a name that, as proprietor of the store, you have to live up to—you have to sell turntables!
Hearken Audio: Senna Sound, Jean Nantais, SteinMusic, Supreme Analog, Aidas, Miyajima, Yeti Acoustics, HRS - Toronto Audiofest 2024
Ontario retailer Hearken Audio always showcases systems made up of exotic products usually from distant lands by brands unfamiliar to me that, together, don't fail to be musical standouts at shows.
Sonic Artistry: Kora, Diptyque, Grimm Audio, Massif, Seismion, Nordost - Toronto Audiofest 2024
You know how they say that after a while dog owners start looking like their pets? I doubt it's true, but on the premise that it is, I wonder if the same can be claimed about brand names or store names; example: if you opened the "Best Gear Ever " store, would you, even subconsciously, feel compelled to seek out and sell the best gear? Would you try to resemble the name, to live up to it?
IsoAcoustics, EverSolo, PS Audio, PS Audio, Kimber Kable - Toronto Audiofest 2024
Another room exhibiting an EverSolo product was that of IsoAcoustics, which used a DMP-A8 streamer/DAP/DAC/preamplifier ($2700) to feed a pair of 350W PS Audio Stellar M700 monoblocks ($4500/each) and Aspen FR10 speakers ($13,999/pair)—two pairs, actually, one on regular spikes, the other on IsoAcoustics Gaia 2 isolation feet ($349.99/pack of 4), to allow for an A/B demonstration.
Motet: PS Audio, Accuphase, Lumin, Kimber Kable, Quadraspire - Toronto Audiofest 2024
You want big-toned, vivid, seemingly effortlessly dispersed sound with a knack for delivering some of the most stable and incisively air-sculpted, but not fatiguing, imaging I've heard at the show?
SPL Audio, KEF, Stable 33.3, Luna Cables - Toronto Audiofest 2024
This was one of my favorite demos at the show. It sounded so well balanced, it seemed to deliver everything in the right proportions. Bold but not in-your-face; tonally ripe but not too warm; detailed but not stringent; effortless but weighty, and so on.