Friday, October 17 Oct - Sunday, October 19, 2025
For the 2025 Toronto Audio Fest, (herein referred to as TAF 2025), I'm going to provide two—count 'em…two—show reports. There were a lot of exhibitors at TAF 2025. So much so, that it will be easier to bring greater clarity and insight to my thoughts and words about everything that I witnessed at the show in two articles.
To start, I want to say a sincere 'Thank You' to the organizers of TAF 2025 and all of the exhibitors who made the effort to come to the Toronto Airport Westin hotel and showcase their audiophile goods.
The Westin Hotel in Toronto
Folks outside of the high-end consumer electronics (CE) industry simply have zero idea of how much stress it causes to bring a 2-channelannel or multi-channel system to an audio trade-show. The heart-attack inducing physical stresses (plural) caused by hauling components, speakers, equipment racks, cable looms, power regenerators, grounding devices, acoustical panels, product banners, promotional literature, glamoured road-worthy flight cases, and whatever else an exhibitor feels is needed to produce decent sound in a hotel environment is just… sweet Lord above… staggering. And then there is the sizeable commitment of both time and money which must be made to exhibit at a show. As such, before you critically judge the sound quality of this or that, please consider how much effort it takes to exhibit anything at a CE trade show.
Westin Ground Floor Lobby (picture taken by Renato Rossi)
As I type this, the wheels of the Canadian economy are semi-stuck and spinning in an icy snowdrift that's based around mortgage refinancing. This year in 2025, about 1.2 million (give or take) Canadian mortgages that were arranged 5 years ago in 2020 are coming due for re-negotiation. Back in 2020 during the COVID crisis, 5-year term mortgages could be had in Canada for 1.5% to 2.0%. Today in the autumn of 2025, mortgage rates are rather ominously hovering up in the 4.5% to 6.5% range (depending on term lengths). For most folks in Canada, higher interest rates inherently mean that far less disposable income can be spent on quote-unquote "luxury" items like high-end audio or home theater gear.
Westin Ground Lobby - Beatles Exhibit (picture taken by Renato Rossi)
Add into this, Canada and our biggest trading partner the United States are "renegotiating" international trade agreements. The lack of a finalized trade agreement between Canada and the US is also creating a lot of economic pressure and stoking financial fear. Not surprisingly, fears of potentially higher—indeed…much higher—tariffs on incoming and outgoing goods are also causing Canadian consumers to re-think purchases which are anything other than necessity-level.
Westin Lobby - Metronome Kalista + Karan Acoustics integrated amp (pic taken by Renato Rossi)
Nonetheless, TAF 2025 was well attended. To my eyes, the show was busier than my future wife Sydney Sweeney's mesmerizing thunder melons when she strutted out onto the stage in her jaw-dropping red dress at the 2025 Emmy Awards. God Bless America! Sorry…I digressed there. On Saturday 18 October, I couldn't physically get into a lot of the smaller rooms on the 3rd and 4th floors of the Westin that I'd wanted to hear. Stated succinctly, there were too many people in some of the rooms to physically squeeze into said rooms. I hadn't planned on coming back on Sunday the 19th, but I did because I needed—not just wanted…but needed—to experience some of the key rooms that were on my 'must hear' list.
There is no way that a single audio journalist could properly cover every exhibitor at TAF 2025. I don't write venomous hatchet pieces where I drone on and on about how bad a particular room sounded. Germane to this, Parts 1 and 2 of my show coverage will only document what I felt were the best-sounding rooms and, in terms of memorable experiences, the most exciting moments for me at TAF 2025.
Please enjoy reading about the rooms where the stereo systems gave me goosebumps and, sonically speaking, blew me away to a level that I thought I was too jaded to ever experience.
Chord
Up on the 3rd floor, Chord Electronics brought a sensibly priced, (by audiophile standards), 2-channelannel vinyl rig. Source components for this stereo system were a Michell TechnoDec turntable fitted with a T2i tonearm ($3399 CAD), an Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 + LPSU power supply ($3799 CAD), and a Chord Qutest DAC ($2400 CAD).
Chord room
The pre/power combo featured an Exposure XM7 preamp ($3499 CAD) and a matching Exposure XM9 pair of solid-state mono-block amplifiers ($4999 CAD). The speakers were Neat Acoustics Ekstra Tower loudspeakers in a glistening white cabinet finish ($7999 CAD).
Chord room - Michell TechnoDec + PhonoAray Grounding device
I chatted briefly with Patrick Mitchell (Chord's Export Sales Manager) and Emmanuel Le Quere (Chord's National Sales Manager for Canada). I'd arrived at the show early and the two gents were trying different cables to see…or hear...which ones sounded the best germane to their room's specific acoustics.
Chord room - Patrick and Emmanuel
Mr. Mitchell showed me Chord's brand new turntable grounding device called the PhonoAray (projected MSRP $1800 CAD). This device limits a phono ground from acting like an antenna. In theory, it knocks the noise floor from radio frequencies which are everywhere down to next to nothing. I'm hoping to soon hear (and review) Chord's PhonoAray grounding solution in my own home with my own turntables and phono stages.
Chord - PhonoAray grounding device
For more information, please consult Chord's website at www.chord.co.uk.
Charisma Audio
Set-up on several tables on the 2nd floor, local Toronto audio retailer Charisma Audio was showcasing Wonder Audio Labs' new P1 Deluxe tube phono stage ($7990 CAD).
Charisma - Wonder Audio Labs P1 Deluxe phono stage, front view
Charisma - Wonder Audio Labs P1 Deluxe phono stage (interior board parts)
For TAF 2025, Charisma also brought a large assortment of equipment dampening devices, footers, component platforms, and cables from Japanese high-end manufacturer Tiglon. Many North American audiophiles may not be familiar with Tiglon's products. They're a well-respected high-end audio company. Charisma had the new Wonder Audio Labs tube phono stage sitting on a Tiglon Grand Magnesia 4-tier audio rack ($3990 CAD).
Charisma - Tiglon cables
I'm looking forward to doing a full-length review of the Wonder Audio Labs P1 Deluxe tube phono stage in the not-too-distant future. For more info, please visit Charisma Audio's website, http://www.charismaaudio.com/.
Sonic Artistry
For TAF 2025, local Toronto-based retailer Sonic Artistry brought a Grimm Audio MU2 all-in-one Analog preamp + DAC + Streaming device that runs Roon Core with an 8TB storage capacity ($23,995 CAD).
Sonic Artistry 2-channelannel rig
For amplification, they used a Kora High Fidelity TB200 integrated amplifier ($15,790 CAD). Mated-up with a pair of 2.5-way three-driver Acora MRC-2 floorstanding speakers ($16,995 CAD), a Nordost QBase power distribution center ($21,599 CAD) and a full loom of Nordost's Valhalla-2 series cables, even early on Friday morning, the system sounded superb. I wrote in my notes: Huge soundstage, precise placement of instruments within the soundstage, and a dynamic but non-fatiguing sound.
Sonic Artistry - components
Sonic Artistry - Acora floorstanding speakers
Sonic Artistry also used German-made laboratory equipment stands from a Deutschland company named Seismion. The Seismion Reactio-2, in a 500mm x 400mm size, is an active isolation base that can handle up to a 65Kg load. A single Reactio-2 retails for $19,750 CAD per each platform…er…base. Although I wouldn't have thought that any isolation platform could make that much of a sonic difference, Jonathan Badov (CEO of Sonic Artistry) swears by these reactive bases.
Please visit Sonic Artistry's website at Sonic Artistry
Artysan Pure Connexion Cables
Based out of Saint-Hyacinthe (near Montréal in Québéc Canada), artisanal cable maker Artysan brought a wide-range of their wires to TAF 2025.
Artysan Cables table
Artysan Cables 2nd table
I've worked inside the high-end audio industry in different capacities for (nearly) 30 years. Prior to TAF 2025, I'd never heard of Artysan Cables. This is a new high-end cable company. It fascinates me when, at this point in history, someone—anyone—finds the courage, ponies up the dough, and has the near-lunatic determination to start a brand new audiophile cable company. What possesses a person to do this? When a lord or lady claims to have figured out a supposedly "better way" to engineer ultra high-end audiophile cables, it really puts the hook in me to hear their cables in my own 2-channelannel stereo systems.
French-Canadian cable manufacturer Artysan had their wires laid out on a table on the 2nd floor of the Westin hotel. The cables they brought for TAF 2025 included their affordable Hera series, the mid-level Helios line, and their top-of-the-line Poseidon loom. Although I didn't get to hear any of these cables in an active system at TAF 2025, I'm looking forward to (hopefully) doing full reviews of some of Artysan's Helios and Poseidon interconnects, power cords, and speaker cables in the not-too-distant future.
Please visit their website at http://www.artysan.ca/.
Paradigm/Anthem + Liptons Audio Video
Two years ago for TAF 2023, I wrote:
…based just west of Toronto in north Mississauga, Paradigm have been in business for… well… almost as long as the poor, sad, hopeless Toronto Maple Leafs have gone without being anywhere near Le Coupe Stanley. Unlike the Leafs who've invented new and exciting ways to lose during the playoffs, Paradigm keep engineering winning sound at affordable prices.
One year ago for TAF 2024, I wrote:
So nothing's changed. Back in May 2024, the Maple Leafs once again choked and got knocked out of the NHL playoffs in Game #7 of the 1st round. Well… at least they're consistent in their failures (plural). The only thing more reliable than the Leafs giving their die-hard fans a Polish sauna and choking in the first round is Paradigm's legendary build quality.
Paradigm hallway banner
2nd Paradigm hallway banner
How on earth do the Leafs keep doing it? Year after year after year, they… somehow… find a way to lose in a deciding Game 7. Nine years. Count 'em… it's now nine consecutive years in a row(!) that the Taranna Maple Leafs have lost a playoff series in the early rounds in a Game 7. The mathematical odds of this happening are utterly staggering. It's a near-impossible, hail Mary, moon shot, one in a billion parlay that—if you could place bets on such things—would've bankrupt dozens of on-line sports betting franchises. But I digress... again.
Unlike the Leafs, Paradigm's components and loudspeakers are sure-fire winners. Working with Liptons Audio Video, for TAF 2025, Paradigm Electronics were running active systems in two rooms. Liptons have a brick and mortar store that's located about 45 minutes (depending on traffic) north of Toronto in Newmarket Ontario.
Paradigm multi-ch H/T rig + 115" Samsung Tele
Showcasing Anthem and Paradigm home theater gear, for TAF 2025, Liptons brought an Anthem AVM-90 multi-channel preamplifier ($8999 CAD), an Anthem STR solid-state integrated amplifier ($5999 CAD), and an Anthem MCA-525 multi-channel solid-state power amplifier ($4199 CAD). Hooked up with a full loom of AudioQuest cables and driving a pair of Paradigm Founder 100F floorstanding speakers ($6799 CAD), the sound quality of this system was much higher than I thought it would be. Synced up with two Paradigm Seismic 110 subwoofers ($2199 CAD per each sub) and a Paradigm Founders 90C center channel speaker ($3399 CAD), the wall of sound this system created was precise and engaging. The massive 115" Samsung QN115QN90F television ($29,999 CAD) is one of the most visually impressive TV screens that I've ever seen.
Sim Audio + GoldenEar 2-channel rig
In a 2nd room, Paradigm also showcased a gorgeous 2-channel stereo system that featured a Sim Audio 371 streaming amplifier ($8800 CAD) and a pair of GoldenEar T66 three-way tower speakers ($5999 CAD to $6599 CAD—depending on finish). Back in 2024, GoldenEar was acquired by Paradigm. Wired up with AudioQuest Braveheart speaker cables ($6790 CAD to $10,640 CAD—depending on length) and an AudioQuest Niagara-3000 power conditioner ($5900 CAD), the sound quality with breathtaking.
When I'd first entered the room, the lad controlling the streaming tablet, (Sasha Kurtschi), was warming the system up with some textured cello music. He kindly asked what I'd like to listen to. As I was the only person in the room at that time, I haphazardly muttered: How 'bout something heavier…? He scrolled through a tablet for a few seconds and then asked: Would Slayer do…? I smiled a twisted smile that—if I'd dropped dead of a stroke right then and there—a coroner wouldn't have been able to chisel off of my cold, dead, doom-bile infused corpse and enthusiastically replied: Ohhh Hell yeah… do it!
Sasha selected the title track off of Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss album. He then cranked the volume up far higher than he probably should have. Experiencing this punishingly heavy and immensely technical track played at concert-level volumes let me hear what the GoldenEar T66 speakers are capable of. I wrote in my notes: Impressive speed and agility; especially in the lower mid-range, upper bass, and mid-bass. Accurate PRaT and sonics that are NOT fatiguing in the highs. This 2-channel stereo system offered toe-taping rhythms, deep resolution, and blitzkrieg dynamics. In retrospect, this was (arguably) the most memorable moment for me on the first day of the entire TAF lollapalooza.
Sim Audio + GoldenEar + AQ close up
Paradigm's products are tangible proof that you don't need to win the Powerball lottery to put a decent sounding 2-channel rig or multi-channel home theater system together. Paradigm's gear is priced for people who live in the real world where car payments and mortgages are a monthly concern. Their equipment and speakers sound damn good. 'Nuff said.
Please visit Paradigm's website at https://www.paradigm.com/en/.
More coverage of the TAF 2025 show will be coming up in Part 2 of my show report any day now.
Stay tuned!
