Show Reports

This year’s Toronto Audiofest couldn’t have had a better backdrop for the October 18-20, 2024, weekend. Seriously — just the week before, frosty mornings had welcomed us up here in Southwestern Ontario, reminding hardy Canucks that winter is not all that far away. But the TAF weekend was rife with nothing but warm sunny skies and trees in full autumn colors. To properly enjoy it all, my non-audiophile partner and I made the road trip from our homebase to Toronto Audiofest (a.k.a. TAF) by meandering along backroads and passing by fields in the process of being harvested, in addition to rolling by pastures dotted with the usual farm life and a countryside edged with glorious trees painted red and gold. It was indeed a fine seasonal backdrop for a great audio show ahead.

Upon arriving at the Westin in Toronto for a weekend set to be full of music and fun, we were welcomed warmly by show organizers and friendly attendees alike. TAF major domos Sarah Tremblay and Michel Plante — who also host the Montreal Audiofest that typically takes place annually in March — are not only two of the nicest people you could ever meet but they check all the bilingual boxes when it comes to running an audio show in true Canadian style.

Some TAF background for you now. In 2018, Sarah and Michel, longtime organizers of the aforementioned Montreal Audiofest, picked up the mantle when Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show (a.k.a. TAVES) unfortunately ended. Originally touted to be an audio show when it began in 2011, TAVES slowly lost popularity with the industry when an increasingly overwhelming number of exhibits featuring robotics, video gaming, wearables, and smart devices reduced the audio focus.

But TAF is all about the audio, and those of us who attended the show this year enjoyed the full scope of the event as balanced between its locales at the Westin Hotel and Holiday Inn, which is right next door to YYZ. [AP editor Mike Mettler adds: YYZ is the official airport code for Toronto Pearson International Airport, and not just the title of one of our collectively favorite instrumental Rush songs.]

As TAF isn’t the biggest audio show on the event calendar, that makes it much more manageable for attendees to visit every space over the weekend. There’s an overall positive fun vibe to this show, with a bit of diversity evident in the various halls. Canadian companies and manufacturers are easy to find, and it’s not all that unusual to hear exhibitors and attendees conversing in both French and English. Mais oui!

A Brief T.O. FAQ Graf
Allow me to share a few words (or three) about the host city. Toronto is nestled on the shore of Lake Ontario, and it’s the largest city in Canada, with a population of almost 6.5 million. Founded in 1793 and incorporated in 1834, Toronto (a.k.a. T.O.) offers incredible theatres, museums, restaurants, music venues, sports venues, and it also boasts having the longest main street in Canada, Yonge Street. In fact, Yonge Street is not only the longest avenue in Canada, it’s also purported to be the longest road in the world, as it connects Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe. Toronto Pearson is the largest airport in Canada, and it’s also a hub for people and goods traversing all over the world.

And now, back to TAF talk! With David Solomon providing his incredible selection of hi-res tracks courtesy of Qobuz for the second year running and the diversity in streaming options available across the board, it wasn’t terribly surprising to see many TAF setups featuring the latest and greatest in digital music delivery gear. But since we are all about analog here at AP, I instead chose to focus on just the spaces that highlighted and/or featured turntables — and I had the distinct pleasure of listening to a lucky 13 of them at the show, all told. I will admit to wishing there were just a few more tables on display to both see and hear at the show, however. That said, the ones I did see and hear here at TAF were clearly of high quality, and they were also paired with carefully thought-out components.

Before diving into things, I should note that 12 of the 13 different turntables I listened to at TAF were stationed at the Westin, the venue that has consistently been the home of the show. With 50+ spaces offering attendees a variety of distributors, brands, and music to peruse, it’s safe to say the Westin was the busiest place over the show’s three days. The elevators were kept hopping, but without exorbitant waits. Well-placed signs and floor stickers made show navigation much easier.

At any rate, there were indeed a few standouts amongst the show’s baker’s-dozen turntable setups. In Parts 1 and 2 of my TAF report, I’m going to delve into four of my favorite setups, tables, and/or company locales, two each per part for different reasons. The ensuing part(s) of this show report that will follow them will then feature the nine other fabulous turntables I experienced at TAF. And now, I’m going to delve into the first two table configurations.

WYNN AUDIO
I started off on the lower level, where I met with a staple of many audio shows, Wynn Audio, who are based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and were founded in 2011 by Wynn Wong. Visitors to Wynn Audio rooms can always count on fine classical music being played via incredible gear. This particular system, as setup in the Carlyle Room, consisted of a Thiele TT01/TA01 turntable and tonearm combo, Ortofon Verismo cartridge, Karan Acoustics PHONOa phono preamplifier and POWERa mono power amplifier, Vinnie Rossi BRAMA preamplifier, gorgeous Tidal Piano loudspeakers, Metronome t|AQWO 2 SACD/CD transport, Metronome c|AQWO 2 D/A converter, Entreq Olympus Hero and Entreq Olympus Infinity T ground boxes — all of it housed in a Critical Mass Systems gear rack and seated on Critical Mass System MAXXUM-Ultra Center Stage Ultra footers. Cabling was provided by Crystal Cable and Fono Acustica.

Considering just the gear in this setup rounded up to a respectable $514,470 CAD ($370,487 U.S.) without counting the stand and the cabling, it was very kind of the Wynn team to give me a great rundown of the system — including the incredible Thiele TA01 tonearm, a rotary model that is said to ensure exact guidance, much like a linear one.

The Ortofon Verismo cartridge gave lively and lifelike reproduction to the Chopin piece, “Nocturn in C-Sharp Minor, Op, posth” (LP1, Side A, Track 1) from the 2015-released, Silk Road Music-distributed transparent vinyl 2LP edition of Elissa Lee Koljonen’s Heartbreak – Romantic Encores for Violin (Dorian/Sono Luminus SRM037TLP). Now, I’ve never professed to be a deep aficionado of classical music, but after listening to such a powerful and detailed piece on the Wynn system, I could understand the attraction. In fact, the Wynn system wins my “Most Balanced Sound With The Most I’m-Not-Familiar-With Music” nod. No matter where I stood in that room, the sound was so consistent. Sure, I found the sweet spot, and it was magical in that less-than-ideal listening space — but from side to side, and front to back, this system evenly gave every listener a wonderful experience. Well done, Wynn! And now, on to the next room, s’il vous plaît!

AUDIO BY MARK JONES
Moving up to the lobby level, I found Audio by Mark Jones from Toronto to have quite an impressive setup, located in the Easton room. Not only did Mark Jones and David Chan warmly welcome visitors to their listening space, but they were somewhat unconventional with their music choices.

On the gear side of things, front and center was a Vertere RG-1 turntable outfitted with their own SG-II Pathfinder tonearm and Lyra Etna SL cartridge. This beautiful piece of art was matched perfectly with a CH Precision P1 phono preamp. For the digital side of things, they also featured a Grimm Audio MU1 music streamer feeding a CH Precision C1.2 DAC. The CH Precision A1.5 stereo amplifier muscled the sound through gorgeous Magico S3 loudspeakers. They also went with a Solid Steel gear rack and Nordost Valhalla 2 cabling.

Now, when I say Audio by Mark Jones played a little bit of everything, I mean a little bit of everything. From a well-appreciated “St. James Infirmary” (Side 1, Track 1) from a 180g 45rpm LP of Satchmo Plays King Oliver (Analogue Productions AFSD 5930) to a banging “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” (Side 2, Track 4) from a 2007 Classic Records 200g repress of Led Zeppelin’s October 1970 acoustic-oriented LP Led Zeppelin III (SD 7201), it was, well, quite a little bit more than awesome.

For one thing, I loved the detail and separation this system laid down. From the breathtaking horns, hand claps, castanet trills, and soft tinkling background piano on the Satchmo track, every note was so wonderfully separated. Each instrument spoke to each other from different parts of the room.

There was also a moment where the chairs filled as Mark played a 1999 Speaker’s Corner pressing of Supertramp’s superb October 1974 LP Crime of the Century (SP 3647). For starters, I can say the harmonica leading off “School” (Side 1, Track 1) made the hair on my arms stand up, while the children chattering and exclaiming in the background could have been playing right behind the curtains. The train cha-cha-cha grew with intensity as the drums and piano were building, and I watched how the crowd responded. They freaking loved it — and so did I! In fact, the crowd enjoyed hearing “School” so much that they asked him to play the very next cut, “Bloody Well Right” (Side 1, Track 2).

Having said that, though, it was a track he played that I wasn’t expecting to hear — “Guantanamera” (Side Two, Track 2), from The Weavers’ Reunion at Carnegie Hall –1963 (Analogue Productions APF 005) — that really blew my mind. Mark explained that this was a quiet pressing, but it was well worth the effort of taking time to enjoy it in full. The delicate guitar and beautiful harmonies set the backdrop for the quiet male voice, speaking the English sections, echoed with Ronnie Gilbert singing the corresponding Spanish lyrics.

The Audio by Mark Jones listening space, hands down, won my heart for its collective of wonderful people, great music, and an incredible showcase of what separation should sound like. It means even more to me that, as a fellow hockey fan, David follows my beloved local Jr. B hockey team, the rocking St. Marys Lincolns. Thank you guys so much for making the music come alive, Mark and David — you earned the “Give Me All That Separation And Detail” top honors in my TAF book. Merci!

And that’s all for Part 1. Join me back here soon for Part 2, wherein I will discuss my having traveled up to the second level to spend much quality time with the turntables of Oracle Audio and Stable 33.33.

Author Bio: Shanon McKellar began collecting records when she was just a little kid. Music matters in every part of her life. A Canadian-born-and-bred vinyl enthusiast through and through, Shanon has been reviewing analog gear, albums, and reporting on trade shows since 2018.