Fourth Floor Part 1: Toronto Audiofest 2024 Show Report
Featuring Nordost, Thorens, Chord, Audiovector, Audiolab, IsoAcoustics, Executive Stereo, Geshelli Labs, Tri-Cell Enterprises, EverSolo, and more.
Toronto Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

445  Kennedy HiFi / Tri-Cell Enterprises
Kennedy HiFi partnered with the distributor Tri-Cell Enterprises who also had two other rooms on the 3rd Floor. This was an interesting combination of the new Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined speaker with Fezz tube gear. The original Trapeze speaker was the first model from Audiovector. It is an intriguing design that reminded me of the JBL L100, though the Audiovector is four times the price. With 88dB/W/m sensitivity, the Fezz tube gear seemed to be able to handle it, but the music playing didn't seem to get out of the box.

Perhaps it was just the music selection, but I would like to see some very favorable reviews before spending almost $20k USD on this speaker. Nothing was labeled in this room and there was so much Fezz gear on display, I couldn't figure out which components were actively playing. I had two chances to hear a JBL L100 Classic Mk2 later in the show but I will hold you in suspense.

It was a floor stander, and larger in real life than I imagined. Still, I wondered if the music would improve if it were raised up on an open stand like the JBL L100 Classic or even the new classic KLH models, though all these are somewhat smaller speakers.

446  Kennedy HiFi / PS Audio  / EverSolo
Room 446 is kind of an L-shaped room and I haven't ever heard an outstanding presentation in this room. I walked in on a promotional recording session and stood quietly as the gentleman explained the demonstration of the IsoAcoustic footers used on one of the matched pairs of PS Audio. I've written about this comparison before — how it is much more revealing when the customer can initiate switching on their own. Not knowing how long the video recording might take, I took a photo and moved on.

On my sweep of the show on Sunday afternoon, they were actively conducting the comparison and all the seats were taken, which was fine. I am already a convert and have been reviewing aftermarket footers for years, if not a decade or more. Numerous speaker companies have already contracted with IsoAcoustics to design external or internal footers for their brands. It is one of many footers that make significant improvements in speaker resolution.

I was anticipating a more favorable impression of the PS Audio Aspen FR10 speakers ($10k USD), but given the room and having to stand off to the side, it didn't happen. Other gear included their Stellar Gold DAC and Preamp, M700 monoblocks, and a PowerPlant 15, plus an EverSolo streamer.

That's it for the 4th floor. Within my Part 2 Toronto Audiofest 2024 show coverage I will drop down to the 3rd floor.

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