TAVES Consumer Electronics Show 2015 Show Report 
Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show Part 3
Report By Rick Becker

As it was close to the end of the day, I wandered toward the other half of the show in the Sheraton Parkway and wandered outside into the courtyard between the two hotels. The drones were all out on a mission, but there was a stable full of Volvos and a couple of electric cars including a BMW compact city car and a Tesla luxury sedan. Further back in the courtyard I came upon a scene that made me feel like I was at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest with an off-road course for remote controlled four-wheel drive vehicles. I tried my hand at controlling one and I'm here to tell you I'd much rather take my Tracker over Engineers Pass in Colorado than one of these cute buggies.

Kam Leung of Focus Audio passed my door just as I stepped out of my room heading out to find a restaurant. I graciously accepted his offer to join him, his wife and another relative who works with him. We drove a short distance down 7^th Avenue through an area that had a lot of Chinese restaurants and other Chinese businesses. Kam told me the Richmond Hill area where the show was held is about 90% Chinese. He pulled into a small plaza that was almost entirely Chinese businesses, most of them restaurants. We had to wait for a table at the New Choice Restaurant and I noticed I was the only non-Chinese person there. Kam said this particular restaurant is very popular with the local Chinese people and is open until 3 a.m. serving people who work late into the night. Near the ceiling in a corner of the room was a TV showing programming streamed from China over the internet. The production standard was very high quality.

My hosts honored my request to avoid red meat and ordered a dinner special comprised of four courses which we all shared. This was the real Chinese food, not the kind of dishes served at buffets or American Chinese restaurants back home. Some of it was very tasty; some of it was different than anything I've ever eaten before. None of it was as spicy hot as the Thai food I frequently have back home, and the sweet dough balls we had for dessert were sweeter than any donut I've ever eaten. The really good news was not a single shark fin was in sight or I might have made a scene. (My wife has been to Hong Kong and says they were visible in shops and restaurants. The cultural appetite for shark fin is a disaster for the ocean's ecosystem and the practice wastes the entire body of the shark.) Kam shared with me some of the trials and tribulations of manufacturing his speakers. The cabinets are built and finished in China where the chemical finishes necessary to achieve the high gloss are still permitted. There is a high rejection rate that has to be factored into the final cost of the ones that meet the outstanding quality level his customers expect. I've watched his speakers evolve over most of his company's history and they've always been among the top echelon in the High End, both sonically and aesthetically. On the ride back to the hotel I learned from his uncle that Kam's two children have both become accomplished professionals in their respective fields and are living in Europe. I was grateful for the opportunity to share an authentic Chinese dinner and engage in such informative conversation. It is not healthy to sleep within three hours of eating, but the lights went out quickly that night.

Next, I take on the Sheraton with its larger rooms and small booths. Lots of good gear to come!

---> TAVES 2015 part 4 by Rick Becker.