TAVES Consumer Electronics Show 2017 Show Report 
Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show Part 2
TAVES 2017 Show Report By Rick Becker

The Hi-Fi Listening Rooms
Having scoured the infield of the Main Pavillion, I turned my attention to the listening rooms that were constructed for the show to provide reasonably isolated space for presenters to actually play some music. By and large, the rooms actually were reasonably isolated, at least when the doors were closed. The difficulties arose from the interior acoustics. After hearing music in several rooms it became easier to filter out what was room induced noise from the music produced by the gear being presented. I started in Room H by the entrance to the Main Pavillion and worked my way down the line.

It's been probably a decade since I've heard or seen Von Gaylord at an audio show. The appearance of the rig and notably the pyramid shape of the two-way stand mounted monitors were familiar. And so was the sound driven by their Nirvana monoblocks ($8495 US) said to be conservatively rated at 110 watts each in triode mode using 6550 tubes. I was surprised by the extensive product offerings on their website, especially considering the gear is all hand made with point to point wiring. The VG 8 speakers ($5000) with 91 dB sensitivity and 8 Ohm impedance were bi-wired. This is their entry level speaker using a titanium dome tweeter and an 8" mid-woofer that is said to run 20Hz to 20 kHz +/- 3dB. Their Uni DA DAC ($12,995) was used at the source and their Harmony Preamp running in Class A at $12,995 was also set up at the side of the room. Von Gaylord also makes their own cables which included Return of the Legend interconnects at $1995 and their Progress (bi-wire) speaker cables at $8495 for the 8' pair. A beautiful sample of a different speaker was displayed in what looked like high gloss rosewood veneer. The music here was classic tube sound — lush and inviting; though at the opposite end of the spectrum from what you hear from say, Audio Research tube gear.

Room I (as in the letter "eye") was the first of four in a row from Tri-cell Enterprises, one of the major distributors of High-End gear in Canada. As a furniture guy, the gorgeous equipment rack from Massif Audio Design with its spalted maple pillars and the spalted maple amp stands immediately grabbed my attention. Using techniques he learned from building pool tables, Trevor Doyle has come up with unique wooden racks that add visual interest to otherwise cold looking metal components and are capable of supporting significant weight. The pieces shown here are among his finest designs that I've seen, so far. The rack is priced at $6000 and the amp stands in Ambrosia maple with ebony legs and BDR cones are $1350 CAD, each. I heard music played on the Reed Muse 1C turntable ($11,500 CDN) on the left, equipped with Reed's first tangential tonearm, the 5T ($18,000 CDN). From their brochure: "Reed 5T is a tangentially tracking pivoted tonearm, based on Thales' theorem, with position controlled by laser and linear sensor array and angular rotation implemented using limited rotation sectional torque motor." Just looking at it, I couldn't have figured all that out on my own. On the far left of the third shelf down was the Reed Source 12V, a battery sourced power supply for driving the turntable off the grid. Like the system used by Kronos, one side is charging while the other side drives the turntable, thus galvanically isolating the turntable from the power grid with its incumbent noise.

The second shelf supported the 550 Phono Stage from Solution ($20,500 CAD) along with a separate power supply and a Solution preamp. The 511 Solution monoblocks on the floor were $34,500 each. For those desiring a more simple system, on the lower left shelf was a Solution 330 Integrated amplifier ($20,500) that is available with a phono option for an additional $4000. On the lower right shelf was the Synergistic Research PowerCell12 UEF SE power conditioner ($8500 CAD), the big brother to the PowerCell8 I reviewed earlier this year. Hidden behind the scene, here, were Synergistic Research Active UEF Ground Block ($3650), UEF Level 3 HC power cords ($5000, each), standard UEF Level 3 power cords ($4400, each), Atmosphere Level 3 balanced interconnect ($2550, 1m) and the more visible Atmosphere Level 4 speaker cable which was bi-wired for the Gold Note XT-7 loudspeakers ($26,000). And conspicuously positioned directly in front of the equipment rack was a Synergistic Research Atmosphere Mini room tuning device. Seen here is Andy Wiederspahn of Synergistic Research, drawing my attention to the tiny PhT phono transducer ($199 US, for two) on the top side of the phono cartridge — Black Widow version, I believe.

The turntable on the right was an Acoustic Solid from their Classic line, the Solid Wood MPX model ($3750 CDN) with SA-1 tonearm ($2,225). This model used to be called the Abis, but the name has been changed to Sorane — no change in the tonearm, though. The arm was fitted with a Charisma Audio MC-1 cartridge priced at $1530, but this model has been replaced by the new MC-1 Alpha ($1,700CAD). (I've reviewed a couple of their cartridges and use their 103 as my daily driver and their Reference One as my reference.) Note the unusual round remote control for the turntable allowing you to change speed and adjust speed minutely faster or slower.

While not a formal review under familiar conditions, I was treated to a brief comparison of the Codia Acoustic Design Ebony 600 record clamp, a very finely designed, 580 gr. stainless steel clamp with ebony wood inserts and carbon-Teflon core, and a tall wood composite record weight from Massif Audio Design seen in action on the Reed turntable. Both were excellent. The Codia gets the nod for ergonomics, and the Massif gets the nod for slightly better inner detail and warmth. The Codia is $610 CAD ($490 US). The Massif will be about $500 and weighs about 400gr. depending on the wood used. Ebony is their preferred wood.

I've focused on the gear in this room because there was a lot going on here, but it did not go unnoticed that acoustically this was one of the Best Rooms at the show. Kudos to Jonathan Badov of Sonic Artistry for putting on a good show here.

Moving on to Room J, a beautiful pair of Audiovector SR6 Avantgarde Piano Rosewood speakers ($21,300 CAD) easily captured my eye, along with a row of stablemates in a variety of finishes including a pair of SR 3 Avantgarde Arrete in a limited edition with a raw surface looking kind of like white stone for $15,000 for those with particular decorating demands. Note these speakers have a rigid backbone that houses ports and speaker binding posts. Standard finishes on the SR3 are only $10,900. Supporting the equipment was an HRS SXR-1921 rack ($10,185 black frame only) with a variety of shelves designed for a variety of weights at a variety of prices that can rapidly escalate the package price. Electronic were primarily Gold Note including the P1000 fully balanced Class A line stage ($7500), DS-1000 DSD Streamer ($6250), PH-10 Phono stage ($2000) and in silver at the bottom of the rack was a Tube-1006 Class A vacuum tube output stage ($4000).

The cherry on top was the Gold Note Pianosa turntable in walnut with B5.1 tonearm ($4000, complete) which is a classic style table with an Italian design twist in the sculpted plinth. The phono cartridge here was the well-received Hana SL moving coil with 0.5mv output for a very reasonable $850. Behind the scenes was a Synergistic Research Powerell8 UEF SE with which I'm very familiar. And the power amp on the amp stand beside the rack was a Unison Research Unico DM Silver at $4950, all prices CAD, I believe. Cabling was by Cardas, including Clear Beyond power cords ($1410, each), Clear Beyond interconnects (1.5m, $6795, each), Clear Beyond speaker cable (3m, $14,605) and Tri-wire jumper cables for the Audiovector ($280). A Clear digital cable was $640 for 1.5m. I've admired the Audiovector speakers at previous shows and the sound here was very good once again.

Moving on to the third Tri-cell room, Room K, the yellow horns of the Acapella LaCampanella Mk II speakers ($31,000) were complemented by the tall banners behind them from Cardas Audio and Synergistic Research. Here again, the components were housed on an HRS SXR rack, this time a double-wide three shelf unit that starts with the silver frame at $15,800 and goes up from there when you add the shelves at $1,995 each. The sole Synergistic Research product was the PowerCell12 UEF SE again at $8500. Acoustic Solid ruled the top of the rack with the Solid 111 Metal with stand from their Aluminum Line equipped with WBT-213s arm ($6,325) seen on the right. And on the left was the Solid 113 Bubinga turntable with the more basic WTB 213 tonearm from their Classic Line at $5,000.

Again, the Hana SL MC cartridge was in use here ($850) as was a Dynavector DV10X5 cartridge (2.5mv, $750). Below the turntables a Unison Research CD Due in silver ($4,880) seemed to be used as a transport for the Moon DSD capable DAC sitting to the right. Below the Moon DAC was a Brinkmann Audio Edison Tube Phono Preamplifier ($11,650).running topless. On the lower left was the Acoustic Arts Power 1 Mk4 integrated amplifier putting out 135 watts into 8 Ohms, 200 watts into 4 Ohms — a premium product at $11,000. This amp and the Moon DAC were both equipped with Stein Music Black Stones to damp vibrations. Cardas Audio Clear Beyond cabling, similar to the previous room was used here. Tri-cell pulled together a lot of different manufacturers here, and again it was a very fine sounding room, hosted here by Hermann Winters from Acapella Audio Arts, a true gentleman.

The fourth Tri-cell Enterprises room, Room L, featured the static display of at least seven TransRotor turntables from Germany. Needless to say, it was relatively quiet in this room, which gave ample opportunity to study the product if you wished. On the tall metal stand ($9,185) was their Rondino Nero Black FMD with Merlo Reference 5009 arm and Konstant FMD ($22, 475). The Crescendo Nero was shown with two tonearms. The Zet 1 Glossy White was shown with an SME 5009 tonearm for a price of $9,075. The host in this room was in serious discussion with a potential buyer so I moved on. These are expensive turntables, but beautiful to behold.

At this point I am somewhere in the middle of my coverage, so I'll call it a wrap on Part 2. Most of the Hi-Fi Listening rooms lie ahead in the Main Pavillion, so keep checking back for more.

---> TAVES 2017 show report part 3 by Rick Becker.