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Prices listed in CA$. When owner of retailer EQ Audio Video Ed O’herlihy told me he and his team had painstakingly set up the Focal Grande Utopias EM EVO ($359,998) better than they’d ever been set up at a show, I believed him. Why? Because I recognized that glint of confidence in his eye that…
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Prices listed in CA$. Be honest: When you saw the speakers in the above photo, did you immediately think, “Tannoy”? Me, too. They’re actually the Vintage 15 model ($49,950) made by Fyne Audio, and they looked gorgeous — and massive — when I saw them in person in retailer Gramophone Audio’s room. They also sounded…
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This is the 5th color made available for the LS60.
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Prices listed in CA$ except where otherwise noted. Some demos blow away my expectations with their sound, and the Charisma room fell into that category. Aside from the fact Charisma Audio wasn’t well known to me, their speakers being demoed looked diminutive, so I expected sound to come out of them in, shall we say,…
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Prices listed in CA$ except where otherwise noted. For the 30th anniversary of the company’s Black Swan loudspeaker, Gershman Acoustics unveiled their Black Swan 30th Anniversary Edition, in a striking white finish ($90,000). Changes over the regular Black Swan include refinements to the drivers. The bass driver also weighs more, which, at 66lbs (30kg), requires…
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Prices listed in CA$. Throughout the years at audio shows, the Hearken Audio room has consistently offered me a peaceful interlude to everyday noise, but not just noise of the external kind, but the internal one that happens inside my head. Invariably, the Hearken room will be a wellspring of mellifluously-flowing, earthy, rich-toned sound that…
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Prices listed in CA$. Something most of us can relate to is how important speaker placement is. When I entered retailer Elite Audio’s room, it was immediately apparent the folks setting up this system knew how to position speakers in a difficult room. The speakers — the chic-looking Triangle Magellan Cello 40th Anniversary Edition in…
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Prices listed in US$. I’m going to get this out of the way: Every time I visit a On a Higher Note exhibit room, I turn into a sap. I get wishy-washy. I can’t help it. There’s something about the systems that proprietor Philip O’Hanlon is able to put together that allows those systems to…
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Prices listed in CA$. Every time I’ve visited Altitudo Audio’s room at a show, I’ve always been met with a variety of hi-fi options I can listen to. This time was no different. Altitudo Audio ‘s Leonid Yamborko was presenting his bookshelf Elipson Legacy 3210 speakers ($6500/pair), perched on Tri-Art’s new 22″-high P-Series stands in their…
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Prices listed in CA$. Many exhibitors at this year’s Toronto Audiofest were showcasing panel-style loudspeakers, including electronics manufacturer Atoll Electronique, who was presenting the North American launch of the company’s SDA300 Signature Streaming, DAC Amplifier ($6,999, and hence the SDA in the model name), paired with a pair of Final Audio Model 7 Hybrid electrostatic…
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Prices listed are in CA$. This compact setup in one of Motet’s several rooms at the show surprised me. I didn’t expect it to sound this good. Fronting it was an Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition streamer ($2000) feeding FLAC files into a class-A, single-ended Audio Note M2 preamp ($9000) and a class-A, directly heated triode…
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First things first; I hadn’t expected the Bowers & Wilkins / Classé Audio room to smell as good as it did! A sweet mixture of herbal and fruity scents, perhaps? I can remember only a few rooms I’ve visited at shows that enveloped both my sense of smell and of hearing. The Bowers & Wilkins…
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Prices are listed in CA$. Moon by Simaudio’s new flagship series, the North Collection, will comprise six models in all, four of which will gradually be rolled out in the coming months, and two of which were released this month in time for the Toronto show. Powering a pair of 3-way, 90dB-sensitive Bowers & Wilkins…
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I can’t imagine bigger audio news this year than that of Audio Research filing for something akin to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Fearing that such an iconic company – one I always took for granted as being indestructible – might possibly go under and disappear from the audio landscape was disheartening and unsettling to me.…
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Prices listed are in CA$. You want a simple-to-use system that sounds great, doesn’t clutter your room, and won’t break the bank? If you’re nodding yes, then the system being demoed in Le Studio du Son’s room just might be up your alley, especially if you don’t like big, heavy, inefficient amplification but do want…
