Toronto Audiofest 2026 Show Report Part 1
High-End Audio Highlights, New Gear Debuts, And Must-See Listening Rooms
Top-performing listening rooms, exciting product introductions, prestigious audio gear, and value-packed hi-fi sound systems that captivate music lovers.
Toronto Audiofest 2026 Show Report By Rick Becker

Second Floor  (11 Rooms)

222  Mono/Stereo
Mono/Stereo is a relatively new retailer in Montreal, but its owner, Danny Labreque, has deeper roots in the industry as the owner of cable manufacturer Luna Cables, which dates back to 2015, and he was involved in the industry even earlier than that. This boutique retail store features brands that I have very high regard for. Not the biggest and most widely known names, but ones I've heard and admired in person at shows in Canada and the US.

The stereo/mono rooms have been among the best at shows here and in Montreal, and before that, in rooms fitted with Luna Cables that Danny has helped set up, the music has always been superior to what was expected.

Seen here in the top left was the Riviera Levante integrated amp from Italy, which is switchable from Class A to Class AB. Next to it was a CSport turntable with a detached motor. Its power supply was beneath the amp. On the bottom right was an Entreq Olympus ground box.

The three-way speaker was from Jean Maurer in Switzerland. Despite its rather industrial look, it produced excellent music. The sides are dark wood veneer, and the top is a gloss plastic laminate to protect the surface when your guests inadvertently set their cold drinks on the speaker. This is the speaker your JBL L100 wants to be when it grows up. The round orange footers are from Coga Audio, and notice the speaker binding posts are on the bottom of the speaker. The red speaker cable must be top of the line from Luna Cable.

I heard a very familiar cut from Neil Young's Massey Hall 1971 concert LP on my first visit, and I think Lou Reed with "Walk on the Wild Side" on my second trip through.

223  Charisma Audio
I've reviewed a number of products imported by Charisma Audio, and Bernard Li's Charisma turntable, tonearm, and phono cartridge still serve as my reference, and the gorgeous Codia Acoustic rack holds half of my components.

The Caprisse stand-mounted monitors were supplemented with REL T/7x subwoofers to achieve full-range. They were driven by Kinki Studio EX-B7 monoblocks and sounded very good with music coming from 15 ips reel-to-reel tape—the only room at the show to do this. Also on hand was a Well-Tempered Lab Amadeus Junior turntable fitted with Charisma Audio's flagship YYZ cartridge ($8k).

Bernard was very excited (well, as excited as he ever gets) to show me the new Wonder Audio Labs Reference phono stage with a remote control that allows very fine control over every parameter and five memory settings for different users, or different cartridges. Bernard feels this phono stage coming from Hong Kong competes with the best available on the market. The phono stage was just below the turntable on the Tiglon rack. It was used with the tube-powered Audio Space Reference 2S preamplifier positioned below it. A Gigawatt power conditioner was on the bottom shelf.  

On a table at the side of the room was the new White Tiger balanced interconnect from Tiglon. I'm looking forward to reviewing this along with the forthcoming speaker cable in January. I had a very enthusiastic response to a quartet of Tiglon cables, which you can read here.

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