Third Floor Part 2: The Toronto Audiofest 2024 Show
Enjoying great tunes on the third floor.
Toronto Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

352  Hearken Audio
Matt Thomas of Hearken Audio put together another great room reminding me of his room at Montreal earlier this year. With an analog rig and horn speakers it stood out in contrast with the previous room which he also sponsored with a digital front end and ceramic dynamic drivers. The music here was more liquid with dynamic contrasts, bloom, and air.

Atop the HRS rack ($11,750) on what looked like special footers, likely from Stein Music, was a Jean Nantais turntable, a brand that is frequently seen at Canadian shows. On the shelf below was a Senna Sound Orca line-level preamp ($4400), again on special footers. Below that was a Senna Sound Phoenix phono stage ($3500) on the left and a Miyajima Laboratory KSW MC transformer (SUT) with cartridge demagnetizer ($3600) on the right.

I wasn't able to figure out what the item on the bottom shelf was. It looked like a billet of aluminum with an inset brass disc. A press release came just today, identifying it as the new Cinnamon Audio Galle DAC ($19,500) from Portugal. We will have another opportunity to hear it at Capital Audiofest in the Gestalt Audio rooms next week. From the description, physical design, and price, it appears to be something quite special. And the brief sample of music I heard coming through it was quite good, too.

The Jean Nantais turntable was a rebuilt  Reference Lenco MkII turntable with reference bearing. Figure $17,300 plus your Lenco turntable... or add $500 if he needs to supply one. It likely had a Stein Music carbon Sig. Mat ($750) and was fitted with a Supreme Analog Tangenta tonearm ($29,500) at the rear and a Reed 2G tonearm on the right. A Hearken Audio speed controller ($2500) was also on the list. An Aidas banner for the Lithuanian cartridge maker was in the room and the list mentioned the Aidas Mammoth cartridge ($14k) but that was not what was on the tonearm on the right.

The tonearm on the right side was a Reed 2G ($5275) and a note invited folks to ask about an out-of-production demo model. This is the arm fitted with the Miyajima Zero Mono cartridge ($3150).

This looks to be the Supreme Analog Tangenta tonearm from Serbia ($29,500) and the one fitted with the Aidas Mammoth cartridge ($14k). Note the lever for mechanically engaging 78, 45, and 33 rpm speeds on the turntable.

On an HRS amp platform and with an HRS damping block on top of it, was a Senna Sound Onyx stereo amp ($4950). A pair of them were used as monoblocks. The Class AB amp puts out 45 Wpc at 8 Ohms and 70 Wpc at 4 Ohms. The Stein Bobby M speakers were bi-amp'ed and I noticed the speaker cables were on Synergistic Research cable risers. Two Yeti Acoustics Line Conditioners ($10,600 each) were also used in the system.

The Stein Bobby M Ultimate speaker ($33k) was the same one shown in Montreal earlier this year and it sounded wonderful with lots of resolution, dynamics, bloom, and air. This was just one configuration of this speaker offered in multiple sound quality levels. If you need more bass for a larger room, you add a second bass module and affix it to the top of the speaker seen here. I spotted a little cone placed on the front edge of the top – Stein Black ($200) or Blue ($320) Diamonds, said to increase the intensity of the music, based on principles of quantum physics.

And Stein Harmonizers were also said to be in use, though I didn't spot them. Given the sound quality of this room, I suspect Matt Thomas would be more than qualified to advise you on their applications. A few years back, I had the opportunity to sit in on a Los Angeles and Orange County Audiophile Society Zoom meeting with Holger Stein and I was very impressed with his knowledge. He is right up there with Ted Denney of Synergistic Research on the Scale of Wizardry. There was so much going on with this complex rig that I should have had a tour guide. But the end result was excellent.

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