rlauferblog

Given the current turmoil in the world, I think it’s appropriate to start my review of the North American International Motorcycle Supershow 2025 with Mad Max themed bikes. Yes, Toecutter or Lord Humungus would feel at home on this one.

and for his crew…

Perhaps this is the Feral Kid’s ride?

For those who need to make a speedy getaway, some race bikes

Ok I don’t think that engine is stock lol. This was actually one of my favourite bikes of the show.

The Ducatis seem tame by comparison

Corse Panigale V2

Panigale V4

Multistrada V4S

950 S

I tried to capture the crazy finish on this Diaval but no luck

Streetfighter

They also had some classic Ducatis, such as this 848, on display in the Century of Motorcycles section

I liked the classic Norton 750 Commando

V-Max

Royal Enfield

What could be more classic than a Harley?

Especially the Fat Boy

Electric Harley (or as I call it, Hoover Davidson)

Not sure why this one was roped off

Peel Police bikes

Altered Sound showcasing Rockford Fosgate audio in some custom Harleys

We started with wild customs, let’s end with those too

some trikes even

Good to see my friends from Madhatter Industries

and Widows Sons

For my post show meal, I hit Zet’s as usual but this time I tried the gyro dinner for the first time. I am not sure they gave me enough though…

So that was a pretty good start to this year’s show circuit. I did 25 shows last year, we will see how this year goes lol.

RL

Time for a recap of 2024 highlights! It was a busy year as I attended and reviewed 25 shows/events! I am not sure how many pics I posted, but I know that I took over 5000 on my DSLR plus another 2000+ on my phone over the course of the year. My personal “highlights” pic gallery has about 600 pics, which is too much to re-post here (you can see them throughout my various reviews). Instead, here is a list of my favourites/the most interesting things that I saw in each category.

Guns: HK MP7, Glock 45 ETF spec, Chiappa Tmodel, Akdas Masterkey, Canuck Wrangler Blackout

Knives: Noveske Strider, Microtech Halo, Rob Simonich’s personal knife, Todd Bolce build-along, Nicolas Bayley/Farmboy Customs Metro 2033, Murray St-Amour stag-handle filet

Watches: Omega Ultradeep, Rolex Deepsea, IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar TOP GUN Lake Tahoe

Pens: Sailor 1911L Wicked Witch of the West, Fellhoelter TiBolt Mud Flap Lady

Audio: JBL 4329P, Epos ES-14N, Michell Gyro SE, Nagra Reference Turntable and streamer, Focal Utopia headphones/Naim Atom amp, Audiovector Trapeze

Cars: Pagani Huayra R and Zonda R, Bentley 1929 Blower, Singer, TVR Sagaris, Lamborghini Sterrato and Murcielago, Cybertruck, Ferrari GTO, F40, F50, and Enzo

Boats: Zodiac police boats, Nor-Tech 400 SuperSport, Donzi Classic 22, Hewescraft Alaskan

Motorcycles: MV Augusta Superleggara, Honda Africa Twin, Harley Fat Boy & CVO

Clothing: Retro Rifle, 221B tactical jeans, Silver Cedar Studio fur

Store visits: Urban Tactical 10 Year Anniversary, 416 Tactical, Prefair, Camouflage

Experiences: Aquino Gulf-War tank battle re-enactment, Banksy exhibit, axe throwing, finally trying APNVG panoramic night vision goggles

Celebrities: Mr. Nobody/The Tracker from John Wick 4, Richard Hammond, Mate Rimac, YouTube influencer Audiophile Junkie

Food: Lancaster Smokehouse, Camp31, Duff’s,  Zet’s, Zorro’s, Blessed Love Café, Bar Isabel, Shake Shack, Sushi Rock, Rolltation, 8 Mile, Dic Ann’s, barBURRITO, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Duke’s Refresher

Drink: Pappy Van Winkle, Blanton’s, Screwball, Teremana, Black Hole, Maple Cider

What are your highlights?

RL

My birthday celebration started right at midnight by watching the co-main event of UFC 310 at Urban House!

I was rooting for Shavkat Rakhmonov and he did end up winning.

For the main event, I had high hopes for Japanese star Kai Asakura but alas he lost to Pantoja

Thank you to the generous patron for the Jameson birthday shot

I popped over to say hi to my friends at Duke’s Refresher where I was treated to another great birthday shot, this time Sheep Dog Peanut Butter Whiskey mixed with Chambord. It really did taste like peanut butter and jelly!

Now for some rest before the real celebrations begin….

I met Steve from Bad Llama Forge at the Great Lakes Custom Knife Show and later learned that he is one of the coaches at Bad Axe! He graciously invited me to visit and I thought my birthday would be a perfect time to try axe throwing for the first time!

Even better when accompanied by a real bad axe, Morgy!

My first few throws didn’t go so well as the axe bounced off the target without sticking. I soon realized that taking a step forward as I throw made a HUGE difference! I managed to hit five shots in the 5 ring and even a 6 in the bullseye!

Once they stick, they stick

A few more target pics for perspective

Meanwhile, Morgy was doing two-hand overhead throws

Note to self, do not piss her off

She got some in the 5 ring too

In fact, we both did so at the same time! This is not staged or AI, we really hit these simultaneously!

We set a target score of 100 to end the match and I was at  99 so needed to hit the one ring …

Success!

Thanks for throwing with me Morgy!

And now for some pics…the Queen of Blades

I felt like Crom from Conan the Barbarian

I clearly wore the right shirt for this

Once again, thanks so much to our host Steve from Bad Llama Forge and his lovely fiancée Mayu (holding one of his custom throwing axes)

After a brief wardrobe change, we had some time before dinner so back to Duke’s Refresher for a quick snack. Duke’s did an amazing job with the Christmas decorations

And the Jalapeno Popper Dip was amazing as usual! This is one of my favourite dishes and I have had it many times including with meat added as well as with some of the ultra hot sauces that I keep at home.

Now on to our dinner at Bar Isabel, number 44 on the list of Top 100 Restaurants in Canada!

We got a nice end table for some relative privacy in a packed place

Being a Spanish tapas-style resto, we ordered several appetizers to sample.

First the Boquerons En Vinagre, which had a very pronounced lemon flavour. Don’t get me wrong, I love lemon, just letting you know this is more lemon than vinegar.

Next the Hand Cut Jamón Ibérico, billed as “The best Jamón in the world.” It is like a cured meat or at least it has a more dry/solid texture than a greasy salami, if that makes sense. Again, very good.

Finally, what turned out to be imho the best dish of the evening, the Roast Veal Bone Marrow! They serve it unseasoned but do provide a green sauce as well as sea salt. I tried it every way and it was best with the sea salt. Just awesome and what a visual presentation!

On to our main dishes. I opted for a ¼ Octopus. It was great and I am not sure what the white sauce was but I liked it!

Morgy had the Grilled 10oz Picanha Steak and it was great too!

We also shared a side of Patatas Bravas. Note you can add Boquerones to these and I would probably do that next time.

Last but certainly not least, the Basque Cake with Hot Sherry Cream (incidentally a $1 from each cake is donated to charity). This was awesome! Morgy said it reminded her of a dessert her Grandmother used to make and it was her favourite dessert she has eaten this year.

You would think we were done here but on the way out I stopped at the bar to check out their selection. Lo and behold, Pappy Van Winkle 20-year! I have wanted to try this for a lonnnggggg time and hey, it’s my birthday! That is some good stuff!

All in all Bar Isabel was great! It certainly lives up to its reputation and I would definitely come back.

I had a great day and thanks to Morgy for making it more memorable!

RL

INTRODUCTION

Great to be back at Toronto Audiofest! As this is my third audio show, I want to try something a bit different for my review. Rather than covering each room, I will focus on specific components, starting with speakers and headphones, then turntables, and then electronics.

Why this approach? “Hear” me out lol. The combination of gear in each room is not necessarily borne out of optimization. In other words, they are not always the “best possible” combination of components. Rather, they can be different product lines sold by the same dealer or by the same brand.

In the context of an audio show, it makes perfect sense for Sonus Faber speakers to be powered by McIntosh amps as they are both owned by the same company. But in real life, just because I buy Sonus Faber speakers doesn’t mean I haaavvvveeee to buy McIntosh amps and vice versa. Sure, there are advantages to sticking with one brand such as confidence that all components will be compatible or unified aesthetics as you would get with a complete Nagra system. However, I prefer to mix and match.

So with that said, my first Audiofest review focused on speakers that produce the best BASS, my second focused on those that stirred my emotions, and my third will focus on building my “dream system.”

Before I get to the audio gear, a couple of quick pics. I started my last review with a pic of a classic Breguet. This time, something a bit more exotic, an MB&F Horological Machine courtesy of Adrian from Audio Excellence! This watch features his classic speedometer-style display on the side of the case and a dial showing the movement with spinning, and I mean spinning rotor.

It was great to chat about the state of hi-fi with an industry icon like Adrian, who got an Achievement Award at last year’s TAF.

Also great to run into famed cellist Vincent Belanger again.

LOUDSPEAKERS

A well-known YouTuber, Jay’s Audio Lab, made a very interesting point about speakers that I wanted to put to the test. To paraphrase, he prefers tall speakers because they can project sound to a higher level and this is more in line with listening to live music up on a stage while you are sitting in the front row in the pit in front of the orchestra. In other words, the music is coming from “above” you. I think he is on to something here.

Conversely, that may be why all my favourite speakers so far have been shorter in height with big bass drivers down low. For example, the Acora VRC (so far my absolute favourite) has two 12” drivers per speaker that rumble the ground similar to the dance clubs I used to visit or even like the subs I had in my car. By contrast, the Audio-Nec Evo 3 that I heard at Montreal Audiofest 2024 has one 12” woofer at the base and a second one about 6’ high, throwing bass from a height that I am not used to.

Of course, the Acora VRC and high-end speakers like that aren’t designed to “compete” with PA type systems that you would find in dance clubs or rock concerts and are much more dynamic in range, aesthetically pleasing, artistically crafted etc. etc. It would be silly to directly compare a 550lb. granite piece of beauty and all its engineering to a black square that gets thrown around on stage lol.

My point was more about the fact that the way you are used to listening to music can be a factor in which speaker is right for you. The bottom line is that we don’t just have a taste in genres of music, we also develop a taste in the way we listen to or experience music (as an aside, I recently had a conversation about how to get newer generations who grew up listening to music on Apple earbuds into high-end audio but I digress).

So with all that said, let’s start with Acora! No VRC this year but we were treated to the SRB and accompanying BedRock bass module.

The SRB is constructed of 2cm solid slabs of Black Granite/Quartzite and features a beryllium tweeter.

The BedRock features a 12” rear firing woofer that plays all the way down to 18HZ!

Some samples of their incredible sound from two different cameras

I also got a sneak peek of prototypes of Acora’s upcoming new speaker line made in marble. Sorry no pics of these.

Next over to Focal to see their new powered speaker, the Diva Utopia! The active bassreflex speaker has built in Naim electronics with Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology that surpasses CD standards at 192kHz/24bits, can be controlled via the Focal & Naim app, a remote control, and voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Siri. The package comes in at under $60k.

A bit bolder in style than the classic Focal offerings with its felt OEKO-TEX skin and red accents on the tweeter

A quick sound demo

As I mentioned in my Montreal Audiofest Review, the Magico S3 is the best of all speakers that I have heard at projecting sound around the room. Another listen confirms this.

That having been said, to my ear the Audivector QR 7 SE was very close to that Magico sound.

Especially with Nordost on the line

I was more interested in Audiovector’s Trapeze Reimagined, a modern take on their classic 1979 design.   The Trapeze features a proprietary 12-inch high-power mid/bass driver with an 8” internal isobaric driver behind it. They lived up to my expectations and sounded great! In fact, I spent quite a bit of time in this room listening to a few songs through them.

I will be adding a sound video soon (exceeded my daily limit)

I keep hearing amazing things about Elac but had never heard them so I made it a point not to miss them at this show. Glad I did as they are another brand that lived up to/exceeded expectations!

The Concentro S 503 Bookshelf Speakers can be optimized for your room by using three exchangeable Directivity Control Rings (DCRs) to adjust midrange directivity. Per their website, the rings range from more Direct (often preferred for nearfield) to more Diffuse (often preferred for farther listening positions). They sounded amazing and it is hard to believe so much sound is coming out of such a small speaker. I think they were $12k.

Sound check video

Imagine pairing the Elac with this SVS sub that was on display lol

As much as I liked the Elac, the EPOS ES-14N could still be the champ of bookshelf speakers. As you may recall from my review of last year’s show, I had a squirrel moment where their powerful bass drew me into the room to hear the tail end of Hey Now. This year I made a dedicated stop to listen to Hey Now from start to finish and again compare them against other speakers in the line such as the ES-7N, which recently won an award for best speaker in the 1500-2500 British Pound price range.

ES-14N vid

ES-7N vid

As well as against the Fyne Vintage. Again, the ES-14 was the best! I can listen to Hey Now on repeat on them all day. And our testing seemed to have a similar effect of attracting other show goers as they were pouring into the room.

Fyne vid

We even managed to snag my favourite audio YouTuber, Audiophile Junkie! Great to see you again.

Speaking of vintage, I love JBL, both in look and sound. My pictures don’t do justice to the glossy black finish of the L100

I love the look of the Mission as well (I didn’t get to hear them though)

I heard the Stein Bobby M horn speaker with HighLine Bobby Bass Extension at Montreal Audiofest but it was standing room only so I didn’t get the best position. This time I got the sweet spot and they sounded even better! For even more bass, you can add a second Extension on top of the horn!

(I will be adding a video of this one as well)

Up till now I have mainly been talking about “short” speakers but remember the hypothesis about tall ones so let’s look at some of those, like the Kroma Atelier Irya from their reference line brought to us by our good friends at Bliss Acoustics. Similar to the Audio-Nec, it features two 10-inch drivers, one at the top and one at the bottom (there are also even bigger versions with two 12’s and two 15’s) and is ported in the rear to give a frequency response of 19Hz- 27kHz. They sounded as great as you would expect. The listeners next to me felt it was the best in show.

Kroma Atelier sound vid

Great to have the rep fly in from Spain.

I covered the Børresen Acoustics X6 in more detail in my Montreal Audiofest review so here is another quick look and another sound sample.

Quick X6 vid

The Børresen Acoustics C1 was on static display

Unfortunately my pic of the Von Schweikert Audio Ultra 55 came out blurry (apologies) but that shouldn’t take away from their amazing sound. They were playing jazz music through reel-to-reel and while this is not my usual type of music, I can certainly appreciate the sound. So clean.

Solid sound out of the Dali Rubikore as well.

Dali sound vid

I have heard the KEF Blade before but this was by far the best experience of them. I should have taken a closer look at the amp setup. 

The last speakers that I listened to were the Coherent M18 FC31J with 18” field coil woofer! Pretty good way to end my listening sessions though next time I would want to hear them with digital media and my type of music (as opposed to jazz on vinyl).

Now for a few static shots, Harbeth

Kharma

IMHO the Gold Audio KB2 were the best looking speakers of the show. They remind me of old photography equipment

Corby’s Audio

Charisma Capresse bookshelf speakers

Spendor

Bricasti

Pure Fidelity

EARVANA

New this year, EARVANA fest featuring a huge array of headphones located in the hotel next door to the main show.  I missed the $75k reference Sennheiser HE1 headphones last year and I wasn’t going to make that same mistake again. Actually, this is more of a “system” with tube amp included and is claimed to have “the lowest distortion ever measured in a sound reproduction system.”

I listened to a few tracks including my reference Lil Wayne, Five Tiger Generals, and the theme from Bladerunner. All produced fantastic bass with the promised 0 distortion.

I was super impressed with the Focal Utopia headphones with Naim Uniti Atom headphone amp last year and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to do a head-to-head comparison against the HE1.

I dare say I preferred the Focals! They are definitely more “aggressive” than the HE1, which may not be entirely surprising as solid state amps can produce more bass than tube amps. In either case, I LOVE the way the Lil Wayne track sounds through the Focal so I think these are better suited to the type of music I listen to.

In terms of headphone amps, the Auris Audio Headonia 300 was super impressive. It features “impedance matching” and “maintains perfect impedance matching, guaranteeing an authentic, distortion-free sound reproduction across the entire frequency spectrum” (per their website).  It costs about $15,000 and was paired with headphones that cost about a tenth of that yet the sound was easily matching/surpassing some of the other reference headphones I listened to.

I did a head-to-head comparison of Audeze’s flagship LCD5 planar and CRBN2 electro-static headphones. I preferred the electro-static but perhaps these are not the best options for my type of music. Great playlist though.

Last but not least, the Auribus Acoustics Sierra. Perhaps it is a bit unfair to compare $899 headphones to $75k and $8K headphones but they held their own! Certainly great bang for the buck.

I didn’t have a chance to listen to the SPL

A shot of the room

TURNTABLES

When it comes to audio equipment, I believe turntables are the most aesthetically pleasing and the Nagra Reference is among the top as you may recall from my shirt and modulometer hat at MAF 2024.

I was glad to see it again in the Bliss Acoustics room

As well as the awesome new Nagra Streamer

It was also great to see Rene Laflamme again. Thanks for autographing my copy of your Audiophile Speaker Setup CD

Also great to meet a fellow CAMmer. Thanks for the kind words!

My pictures absolutely don’t do justice to the Jean Nantais Reference Lenco, what a beauty! And sounds great too.

Also visually stunning, the Audio Note TT-3

I love turntables with visible spinning gyro like Transrotor and the Michell Gyro SE

More fantastic turntables… Kuzma Stabi S

Stable 33.33

Pretty sure this is a Pro-Ject Metallica edition

Musical Fidelity MX8TT

Vertere MG-1 Magic Groove

Regardless of which turntable you choose, I suggest a Seismion Reactio 2 active vibration isolator. In fact, the new Thorens Reference turntables has one built in! It uses extremely sensitive piezoelectric sensors to detect even the smallest vibrations from both the equipment above it and the surface below. Then an all-analog electronic control circuit generates the required compensation forces.

AMPLIFIERS

Among the more interesting amplifiers at the show, the new Marantz Model 10 Integrated Amp. It has a newly designed “dual-mono symmetrical amplifier topology” and Marantz claims it is their most powerful amp ever.

New Marazntz CD player

More from Marantz

I have always liked Accuphase

Audio Note is so beautiful

Fezz Audio

Tektron and Alnic

Naim

Unison Research Simply 845

Sennasound

CONCLUSION

So first my answer to the question about speaker height. Yes, I do prefer shorter, smaller speakers. I like their “punchiness” if that makes sense.

In terms of a dream system using components that I saw at the show, well I can’t narrow it down to one so I created Gold, Silver, and Bronze versions.

Gold System

• Acora SRB with Bedrock
• Gryphon Amp
• Nagra Reference Turntable

Silver System

• Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined
• Accuphase amps
• Jean Nantais Reference Lenco
• Seismion Reactio 2

Bronze System

• EPOS ES-14N
• Marantz Model 10 Integrated Amp
• Michell Gyro SE
• Nagra streamer
• Focal Utopia headphones/Naim Uniti Atom headphone amp

Oh yes, I would be happy with one of those systems.

RL

Just six short months after the very first Milton Sportsmen’s Show we are treated to a second one, and an even bigger one at that!

The show now spans across the main building

A secondary building

And an outdoor area

I’ll start with the beautiful barn

For those who thought there wouldn’t be anything “tactical” here, how about an Akdas Masterkey! I admit, I was not expecting to see that today!

Canfirearm, exclusive distributor for the Akdas, also had a Kodiak K9 and Crusader Crypto on display as well as a Tavor 21 in the original IDF configuration (well not full auto, of course)

Charlie Does Leatherwork had my next favourite firearms related booth. He does all of the beautiful leatherwork by hand, including tanning, stitching, and wrapping.

Check out this beautiful package with matching rifle case

Charlie sourced that piece of coyote fur at the last Milton show!

Even the lever is wrapped

Ok time to visit the second floor for a mini-reunion of the Great Lakes Custom Knife Show that I covered a couple of months ago!

Back for his second Milton show, Todd Bolce

Again, 5400 year old wood handle

More interesting handle materials from Farmboy customs

Sheaths too

Of course, Farmboy uses more traditional materials like Stag as well

Some table shots

Also back at Milton, Buffalo Bones and their great leather goods

This incredible machete sheath/scabbard was my favourite piece

The Man behind Buffalo Bones, Seamus

With Todd Bolce and Matt Metcalfe

More unique pieces, such as this custom dog collar

And lady’s wallet

Nice leather notebooks we are used to seeing from Buffalo Bones

More nice leatherwork and paracord from Matt

Continuing with GLCKS alumni, Wynn Stitt

Again, I like that big stag handled bowie

Good to see KC Forge again as well

More great forged knives from Steve Cornelson – Bad Llama Forge

Fire Drawn Forge mentored under KC Forge

This one is similar in profile to a competition chopper

One of the first knives he ever made with sheath made by his son

Also back at the show, Sharp Sticks customs

This homage to the Canadian military’s issue knife was my favourite

Game calls from Knotty Beaver

I didn’t take many pics in the second building as they were mostly private gun sales but I did find yet another knifemaker from GLCKS, Mark Summers of SM Knives

Had another look at his GLCKS build-along knife

Finally, the outdoor market area where my favourite piece of kit was this 1997 fragmentation vest

Last time I was blown away by the fact that it was the first Milton show, the organizer did such a good job promoting and putting on the show. I came to the same conclusion this time as the show was even better than the first. It feels like this show has been running for years! I think there is a third one in a few months and I highly recommend you check it out.

RL