Toronto Audiofest 2025: Complete Show Coverage, Biggest Gear Reveals, And Best Demos
What happened, what to buy, special highlights, plus our best audiophile gear picks!
Toronto Audiofest 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker

  The situation with Trump's tariffs may make purchasing items from Canada far more expensive for U.S. audiophiles, but the manufacturers and vendors I spoke with do not have animosity toward U.S. customers. They are keenly aware of what is going on in the U.S., perhaps more so than the average American.

Having set a personal high-water mark with my show reports, it has become necessary to restructure my workflow for show reports and cut back on my coverage. My goal remains to pay homage to every room with at least a photo, but my writing will focus on the most salient remarks and the most impressive rooms at the show. I need more time to enjoy my music, and that's not possible if I'm writing constantly. If I didn't comment on a particular room, that doesn't mean the presentation was not worthwhile; just that nothing jumped out at me at the time.

I drove home feeling that it was another great show with lots of good rooms and new products, but it seemed like attendance was down on Saturday and Sunday when I was there. At times it seemed busy, but I was able to visit every room on my first pass. Sunday seemed exceptionally slow, which would have been a good time to visit the consolidated Earvana headphone exhibit if that was your game.

With many rooms at the show, I felt about a third of them would fall in the top tier at any shows I regularly attend: Montreal Audiofest, Toronto Audiofest, and the Capital Audiofest.

Prices mentioned are in Canadian dollars unless specified as U.S. Dollars.
Monoblock amplifier and loudspeaker prices are for the stereo pair.

$1 CDN = 0.71 USD
1 USD = 1.40 CAD

The Lobby: Rega, Expo "I Love the Fab Four" And Wynn Audio

I had a nice chat with Gerry Dube, who is working to expand his reach into new venues. He's a fountain of knowledge about the boys from Liverpool, and he has been a regular at the Montreal Audiofest for several years.

Level 4
As usual, I start at the top and work down to keep my photos and video notes in order. The show was on 4.5 floors, including a couple of great rooms in the lower level. Everything is included in this one long report, including the recognition of the Best Rooms I felt were in the Top Tier. Be sure to read until the end as I give you my personal special choices for the highly coveted Enjoy the Music.com's Best Of Toronto Audiofest 2025 Blue Note Awards!

Playback Distribution

The UberLight Frame LED Desk/Audio Light lamp from Reliable is an outstanding design, and it was seen in many rooms along with a flyer promoting it. I took the opportunity to press all the buttons and explore its features. It is easier to use than the much less expensive gooseneck version from Reliable, which has also been very popular. The Frame lists at $550 CDN. Like my gooseneck style, the Frame is available in a version to clamp onto the shelf of a rack.

Nordost, Executive Stereo, And Erikson Consumer

Michell turntables were seen in several rooms, and the Michell distributor had a large display table on the second Floor, where I will mention them in some detail.

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