Toronto Audiofest 2022 Show Report Part 3
Musical magic while listening on Level 2.
Show Report By Rick Becker

  Working my way across to the other side of the atrium on the 2nd floor, I visited Altitudo Audio from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in the Plaza B room. A pair of PMC Fact Fenestria tower speakers ($99,000) from Great Britain was being driven by an Auris Fortissimo integrated tube amplifier from Serbia.

The tall, thin white PMC speaker had an open baffle tweeter and midrange in the middle of the front baffle. Above it (and below it) were two transmission line woofer chassis that completed the tower. The crossover was located in the lower bass unit.

Another interesting speaker was the Elipson Legacy 3230 with a ribbon tweeter, ceramic midrange, and two white woofers that were not ceramic.

Of particular interest in this room was the Tri-Art Audio platform gracefully machined from Plyboo to absorb vibrations. The photo reveals the multiple layers of bamboo and the way they are laid at 90 degrees from adjacent layers. It looked to be about 4cm thick. A version with a dark stain looked almost like weathered barn wood — very rustic, as seen in the photo above of the Auris amplifier. Thanks to Leonid Yamborko for walking me through the gear in this room.

Next door in Plaza A was Bluesound, NAD Electronics, PSB speakers, and Lenbrook International, the owner and distributor of the three companies. The largest wall promoted the M33 BluOS streaming DAC amplifier, which is the modern-day version of what my generation called a ‘receiver'. An AudioQuest Niagara power conditioner was also in the rack. Three versions of contemporary PSB speakers flanked the electronics.

What really caught my attention, being the cutting-edge Boomer that I am, was the PSB Passif 50 stand-mounted speaker ($3500 w/stands) that is being offered only for one year in commemoration of a 50-year-old two-way design with a tweeter and 6" woofer supplemented with a passive 8" radiator. The brick shape with real wood veneer and tweedy tan grille cloth reminded me of the Advent speakers of the 1970s. PSB was not really on my radar in the States at that time, but then PSB is a Canadian company.

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