Toronto Audio Fest 2025
Since 2018, audiophiles and music lovers have converged on Toronto, Ontario for the Toronto Audio Fest (TAF). Owned by husband and wife team, Michel Plante and Sarah Tremblay, TAF is the spiritual successor to the Toronto Audio Visual Entertainment Show (TAVES). This was my first TAF outing, so I was looking forward to it. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the neat stuff on show, so I decided to concentrate my attention on vinyl-related stuff.
I met lots of people, many of whom were new to me, and some old industry friends. It was nice to meet the former, and to catch up with the latter. Because I spent so much chatting with people (which, after all, was the primary reason why I went), and only at the show for one and a half days, this report is shorter than it might otherwise be. As with earlier shows, I concentrated on rooms using turntables as their source (or at least, as a source). So, with apologies to the vendors I’ve missed, here’s a roughly chronological description of the people and rooms I spoke with. Where mentioned, prices are in Canadian dollars.
The first old friend I spoke with was the ever-effervescent Anne Bisson, who not only had a table where she was happily chatting people and selling her records, she also gave several live performances. At the performance I attended (in the Bliss Acoustics room), she sang, without a microphone, using just an instrumental backing track. What an artiste!
When they weren’t hosting Anne’s dulcet tones, Bliss Acoustics played a system based around two turntables: the first was the CS Port TAT 1 M2 air bearing turntable ($45,100), with the CS Port AFU1-2 air bearing linear tone arm ($14,545) and Aidas Trustone Violet Gold MC cartridge ($11,200); the second was the J Sikora Aspire turntable with Carbon Fibre Aspire tonearm ($13,600) and Etsuro Urushi Bordeaux MC cartridge ($9,635).
The signal from the Trustone Violet Gold was boosted by the CS Port C3EQM2 with battery powered option phono stage ($18,250), and the Urushi Bordeaux’s signal was amplified using the CS Port CMT 1 Step Up transformer ($2,350). Amplification duties were performed by the new Pilium Leondis MY25 integrated amplifier ($71,000) driving the Audio Solutions Figaro M2 speakers in a fetching custom Martini Racing Finish.
Next I made my way to Earvana, the headphone-centric show within a show. Outside one of the Earvana rooms, Chris O’Neill from O’Neill’s Creation Workshop was displaying his very cool headphone stands and DAC cases. Each stand and case is carved from a piece of exotic hardwood. Headphone stand prices start at $350.
Inside the rooms, numerous headphone vendors were demonstrating their wares. I spent quite a bit of time listening to the Stax SR-X9000 earspeakers ($8,199) with the SRM-T8000 vacuum tube energizer ($7,899). I also listened to the Stax SR-007S earspeakers ($2,999) using the same energizer. Much to my surprise (given the cost difference), I had a slight preference for the sound of the SR-007S. Because the SR-X9000 is Stax’s new flagship, I can only guess that they hadn’t been fully burned in yet (I remember the same sort of things happening to my Martin Logan Spires, which are also electrostatic, when I first bought them).
Back in the main exhibition space, I spent a long time outside the Essentia Technology room, talking with representatives from the UK’s Michell Audio about their just-announced flagship Gyro turntable ($9,699) and its new sibling, the Revolv ($6,599).
My last port of call before heading to an industry evening hosted by MACO and Whammerdyne was the Executive Stereo room, where Nordost’s Michael Taylor performed one of their renowned cable demonstrations. What better way to convince sceptics that audio cables (in this specific instance, power cables) can and do make a difference than with a live in-room demo?
To set the baseline, about 45 seconds of a track was played using their Tyr 2 equipped demonstration system. Before the test started, just the preamp’s power cable was swapped out and replaced with the usual “courtesy cable”. Nordost are quick to point out that the most important power cable in the system was actually the one between the wall outlet and the power distribution strip, but changing that would result in everything being powered down and taking a minute ot two to turn back on, but in the interests of expediency, they used the next most important power cable instead.
Once the baseline had been established, different power cables were substituted, starting at the entry-level Blue Heaven, before switching working up the range with Heimdall, Frey, and finally Tyr cables. With each change, the difference was an audible improvement, much to the surprise of many of the attendees judging by the gasps and comments I heard!
Someone asked to hear a USB cable demo, and Michael was happy to oblidge. Again, the difference between courtesy USB cables and Valhall was remarkable!
As the sun sets on this year’s TAF (my first), I have to say that it was a lot of fun and I look forward to going again in the next year or so. See you there, perhaps?
