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

  Equally interesting was the vintage-looking NAD stereophonic amplifier C3050LE ($2575) with a pair of meters, headphone amp, bass and treble controls, speaker switching, balance control, and just to keep the youngsters interested — a phono stage, BluOS / MDC and Bluetooth. If a hurricane wipes out your big rig, this might be just the place to start rebuilding.

From there it was a long walk down a gauntlet of PSB and NAD banners with more information than I could record or absorb, but along with another pair of Passif 50 speakers, they lent great atmosphere to the space.

The Carlton room at the end of the hall was home to ASONA (Audio Sales of North America) and featured Innuos music servers and streamers with a Synthesis Roma 510AC integrated tube amplifier driving modest Apertura two-way floorstanders. Synthesis, from Italy, is a high-quality niche manufacturer that I've admired for many years. Lovely blend of wood and metal on their chassis.

Out in the hall, Richard Kohlruss of ASONA was manning his headphone table with a variety of high-quality headphones from STAX, Dan Clark Audio, Kennerton, Meze, and Takstar. I had a listen to both a high-end STAX as well as a new more affordable model that was mostly made of plastic. Douglas Ip of STAX snapped a photo when I was deeply immersed in music. I was wearing the flagship SR-X9000 ($6200 USD) which is available by special order with a lead time of nine months. Ah, those pesky supply chain woes coupled with strong demand for luxury goods.

And yes, their entry-level model with amplifier (SRS-3100) sounded great, though as much as I wear my workhorse Grado 80e cans supplemented with a Clarus Coda DAC/amp for Zoom classes, I'm not a headphone expert. A headphone shopper could easily spend a whole day at a typical audio show just listening to headphones and the multitude of headphone amps.

Anne Bisson and I share a smile at every show I attend, it seems. It's always good to see her.

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