Third Floor Part 1: The Toronto Audiofest 2024 Show
Thrilling music on the third floor.
Toronto Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

  First, my apology for the delay in getting this part (Part 2) published. In addition to an important review that needed to make the November issue, I had my high school's 60th reunion this weekend. If you ever get the chance to go to yours, I highly encourage you to make the effort to attend. We had people fly into Rochester, NY from Vancouver, BC, California, Arizona, and Florida. Real "no excuses" kind of classmates, and all of us grateful to be alive.

Third Floor - The Lounge
AudioConnexon / The Gramophone Audio Distribution
The Lounge on the 3rd Floor is the only large room on this level. It is about three times the size of the sleeping rooms and nicely proportioned for good sound. At the far end was the large rig (above) featuring the Vintage Fifteen flagship speaker from Fyne Audio, a two-way with a coincident 75mm titanium dome compression tweeter and 15" woofer. It is as large and finely finished as the flagship of the Tannoy speaker line, from which this company spun off within the past decade.

The music playing during my visit was not particularly revealing of sound qualities audiophiles typically listen for while auditioning. A  couple of acoustic guitars, a couple of male vocalists, and no dynamics to speak of, which is something you'd think they might want to show off with this 97dB/W/m efficient speaker.

Off to the side were several pairs of Fyne speakers – a tall floorstander that I thought was impressive looking, but as often happens, they were playing the flagship both times I stopped in.

On the top shelf of the equipment rack were identical-looking Canor integrated amps – one tube, and the solid-state version that was playing. They were both priced at $9495. The black unit on the left on the middle shelf was a Canor tube CD player/DAC ($7495), and beside it was a Puritan PSM 156 power conditioner ($2750).

On the bottom shelf was a Melco S10-X Network Switch ($7495) and to the right was a Melco N50-S38 Network Streamer / Server ($7195) beneath an aqua Formula XdB Rev. 2 DAC ($23,950). To the right of the rack was a PlixiR Elite BAC 3000 power conditioner ($23,950) .

On top of the speakers was a very elegantly designed omnidirectional Fyne Super-Tweeter with a walnut base to match the fine walnut veneers on the main speaker. Excellent craftsmanship on the Fyne speakers which I noticed when they were first introduced years ago. Sadly, I felt the music should have had more air, especially with the super tweeters in the rig.

At the other end of the room was a very modest rig with three pairs of interesting stand-mounted monitors which would likely have been a delight to hear.

From the left were a Creek 4040A integrated amp ($1495), Creek 4040 CD Player ($1295), and an NAD M10 V3 streaming amplifier ($3500). It's nice to see Creek back in North America. I recall it sounded very good back in the 2000s when it maintained its affordable price by using a wooden chassis. On the shelf below was an NAD M23 and on the bottom shelf was a Lumin Network Streamer / DAC.

The monitors, from the left, were an Epos ES-7N ($2895), a new Epos monitor, ES-14N (~$6100?) designed by the Fink Team in Germany, and a Fink Team Kim monitor ($17,750) which I've heard before (and it sounds great!).

311  Martin Logan
Martin Logan floor standers with an AMT tweeter were driven by an Anthem STR integrated amp sitting atop an audioquest Niagara power conditioner.

Cabling was also by audioquest.

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