I just attended my first high-end audio show, Toronto Audiofest 2023, and it was amazing! By way of numbers, the show features 50+ listening rooms that span over 5 floors and exhibit over 200 brands of high-end audio. There are also industry reps on site and activities around the show.
When I first started researching the show, my initial plan was to go room-by-room on each floor and learn as much as possible as I still consider myself a newbie to hi-fi. As the show drew closer, I thought it might be a better idea to have specific objectives in mind. Specifically, find the speakers/equipment that are best suited to the type of music I listen to. This first part of my review is dedicated to my listening experiences while I cover static displays in the second part.
Simply put, I like BASS and lots of it! I listen to rap/hip-hop and dance music. Granted, a lot of hi-fi is more geared to Jazz, Classical etc. but still I wanted to see how a million dollars worth of equipment would handle Lil Wayne lol. And fortunately I got a chance to do exactly that! I am very grateful to the exhibitors who indulged my reference tracks of Trampoline by SHAED and A Milli by Lil Wayne (at least for headphones lol). I was also glad that a lot of exhibitors were using an “anything but Jazz” approach. Most of the videos I have watched from other similar shows around the world were heavily skewed to Jazz.
I started off with the Focal Grande Utopia. After all, it is pretty hard to beat a $350,000 speaker powered by a $350,000 amp so I thought it would make a great baseline (no pun intended).
for size comparison
monster NAIM Statement amp
Granted, the Grande Utopia isn’t really focused on providing chest-pounding BASS, rather it is designed to be as close as possible to a live performance. Toward that end, the opening song in the set was optimized with and composed to be played on the Grande Utopia by Vincent Belanger and he was on hand to introduce it!
What can I say other than it sounded as great as you would expect an $850,000 system to sound lol.
Btw, the rest of the Focal line was also on display.
Some were even set up for sound demos, again with NAIM electronics.
Focal also offers an incredible lineup of headphones (and NAIM does headphone amps!).
I went straight for the $6,500 Utopia set. I am sure those don’t play Lil Wayne too often lol. Once again, they lived up to their reputation with deep BASS and no distortion.
The Clear MG is used by professional recording artists worldwide
The Stella
Show specials
A lot of people say that it is really important to “try before you buy” with horn speakers because they sound different than conventional speakers. I never understood that as I think they sound great…and can produce BASS! The Acapella Audio Arts 780 Hyperspherical Horn Atlas is no exception.
Pre set-up
It’s 3 10” drivers ready to go from 25hz to 140khz, powered by Vinnie Rossi
again for size reference
closeups
sideview
price
closeups of the Vinnie Rossi BRAMA amps
They sounded amazing! Things are definitely off to a good start.
Next what turned out to be one of my favourites of the day, the Magnepan 3.7i mated to Hegel’s new H600 Integrated Amp. I had never heard Magnepans before and was impressed with the amount of BASS the design puts out. While it didn’t end being the strongest in that department, I really like their overall sound. I am sure the Hegel brought out the best in them (great company out of Oslo, Norway)
The Maggie 3.7i is billed as the company’s “first model in our floor-standing lineup to incorporate our famous ribbon tweeter along with quasi-ribbon bass and midrange drivers.”
Side view showing the thickness, or rather the thinness
Hegel’s H600 Integrated Amp is a “dual mono design” which is said to be as close as possible to the performance of two mono amps in a single box. It is paired with their Viking CD player here
Next in my first “squirrel” moment of the day, I was walking down the hallway and had to do a double-take when I passed by the Fyne Audio room. The booming BASS and great song, “Hey, Now” by London Grammar pulled me into the room. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the sound was actually coming from bookshelf speakers! Well, EPOS ES14N bookshelf speakers, to be precise. As the German company’s ad says, “Unglaublich” is right.
A head-to-head comparison was done against the Fyne Vintage setup and I dare say that I preferred the bookshelf speakers. And that’s the thing with hi-fi. I am sure an experienced audiophile would point out the specs between the two but we all hear differently.
The second time I got so drawn in, I ended up finding my BASS champ, at least for “punchy” BASS. I was in the next room when I heard a thunderous pounding and had to run over to see what it was. Lo-and-behold the Monitor Audio Hyphn. Each tower contains two sets of 8” BASS drivers facing each other in an isobaric design (Monitor refers to this as “force cancelling”). I remember this back from subwoofers in my car audio days and clearly the concept has evolved since then and the results are astonishing. THIS is the sound I am used to and looking for.
All powered by Rotel MICHI R8
Great job by the crew
If the Hyphn was the punchiest and gave me the sound that I wanted, the Acora Acoustics VRC was the “rumbliest” and gave me the sound that I didn’t know that I needed!
Each Acora VRC speaker, made of granite, features 2 12” BASS drivers and weighs 550LBS…oh and a pair costs $295,000. Definitely my favourite of the show and probably the best loudspeaker I have ever heard.
Of course it didn’t hurt that the VRC was paired with Dan D’Agostino and Audio Research, two of my favourites. The full list of D’Agostino includes: Momentum HD Pre-Amp ($58,650), Momentum M400 MxV Monoblock Amps ($115,850), Momentum Phono Stage ($44,850).
Check out the remote on the D’Agostino
Audio Research Reference Phono 10 Phono Stage…love their products!
Oh right, and let’s not forget the SAT XDI Record Player System, which costs an astonishing $415,000!!! (plus another $57,000 for the pick-up arm!)
So yes, literally well over $1 million when you include all the components and wiring. But worth it.
Bliss Acoustics room was probably the best “Audiofest experience” and is indicative of why I love attending tradeshows.
First of all, they had a lot of things that I wanted to see and many “surprises.” Such as Nagra electronics
Even the J. Sikora Reference turntable on display had a Nagra cartridge
speaking of Nagra and turntables, I bought their Reference 70th Year Anniversary Collection Album at the show
and I met the gentleman who put it together! I have seen Rene in Youtube vids of other shows (like Munich) and it was great to meet him in person.
In addition to Nagra, Bliss Acoustics had The Gryphon Audio electronics and I was not expecting that! Gryphon was not on the exhibitor brand list but I was sure happy to see them represented at the show.
Another surprise, Western Electric! The hybrid amp was really cool.
I also had the opportunity to audition the AudioNec Evo speakers, which sounded great.
and check out their Nordost audio cables (the only ones I noticed at the show)
The Bliss Acoustics team was super friendly and accommodating, thanks again!
BTW, I should mention that I think the fact their room was well lit made a difference. Most were quite dark and had backlighting that is not conducive to photography.
Before I conclude my loudspeaker listening experiences and move to headphones, I’d like to give recognition for “best BASS bang for your buck” to Emotiva. Their T2 speakers sound great but the fact that they sound so good for under $1000 is quite remarkable.
Emotiva also has a modular system for their electronics that allows for 32 variations. They also sell direct to further keep costs down.
Alright, moving on to headphones, let’s start with one of the coolest things at the show, the Denon PerL with Masimo Adaptive Acoustic Technology. Basically the earbuds perform a hearing test on you and then personalize the sound experience to your hearing! The Pro version also has active noise cancellation.
I did the hearing test and it showed that I have great response to BASS frequencies…hahaha we know it is accurate!
In addition to the personalized experience, I like how you don’t even notice they are there.
More great Denon on display
And more great headphones from Masimo, including the Bowers & Wilkins McLaren edition
Grado Labs has been making high-end dynamic open-back headphones since 1953.
I went straight for the Statement series GS3000x
Very clean sound.
I also liked the Prestige Series SR325E
Audio Technica makes great headphones for gaming, broadcasting/streaming, and even audiophile listening, such as the ATH-ADX5000 with AT-HA5050H Hybrid Headphone Amplifier.
Audio Technica also re-released their Sound Burger, portable record player!
I capped off the day at Audiofest Prohibition Night: Whiskey and Music Pairing. We sampled 6 different Whiskey while having private access to the two main sound rooms. That Taiwan Bourbon was amazing!
That’s a wrap for Part 1 of my review. Check the link below for Part 2.
RL
Links to both parts below
rlauferblog 
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