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

Joseph Crowe Custom Audio Products
Every show seems to have a room that comes out of nowhere and is jaw-droppingly good. Joseph Crowe Custom Audio Products was that room at the Toronto Audiofest. Troy J. Crowe hails from Prince Edward County, which juts out into the eastern end of Lake Ontario, due west of Sacketts Harbor, where my wife and I paddled this summer on our anniversary. (It's a little over 30 miles over open water as the gull flies, so we didn't attempt a crossing.) Needless to say, Troy drew a steady stream of listeners, many of them wondering where this guy had been hiding all his life. His company has roots dating back six years into the DIY sector. He has developed his own designs and manufactures them with CNC machining on a custom-order basis, selling directly to customers.

Obviously, Troy is an expert craftsman with an outstanding sense of design and an ear for musicality. The music filled the room without exploding it, hanging in the air, revealing the recording venue, which seemed many times larger than the small room we were in. The #2087 speaker is an 18" three-way design at $58,600.

The electronics and the number of racks shown here don't correlate with the price list, unless there is a pair of monoblocks hidden behind the leg on the left side of the photo. That would mean the preamp on the upper left is above its separate power supply. On the rack on the right is another LampizatOrGenya DAC with a Monster Powerpower conditioner below it. The racks were likely made by Joseph Crowe.

A pair of stand-mounted two-way speakers (#1159) was just as beautiful. ($8372/pr.)

Tucked behind the big three-way speakers was a smaller one (#2800) on a custom stand which I heard on Sunday when I dropped by again. It sounded just as good, though with not quite as much bass. This outstanding design will likely fit more conventionally sized rooms. Absolutely gorgeous woodwork.

Troy was very conversant, and at his age, it is clear he will likely go far in this industry and be around for a long time. I asked if the speaker had been designed to fit in a corner, looking much like a Klipschorn. He said the acoustic design dictated the clipped sides, and it was meant to face forward as he presented them. (I've heard Klipschorns presented quite effectively this way in the past, though many people think they have to be placed in a corner.)

Troy's website is a lot of fun to explore, and prices in USD are given there along with the direct ordering process and shipping details. He can post a Best Rooms award there for his outstanding presentation at this show.

Atoll Electronique Canada And HiFiPro.ca

I've heard the smaller version of this Davis speaker, and this one, too, at the Montreal show, but the presentation here in this larger room was much better. It is designed to fit up close to the front wall and still produce a reasonable soundstage. Its unique styling with the unusual wood gives it a dramatic look for design-conscious music lovers.

The Atoll electronics used here were an upgrade from about a year ago, and the jump in sound quality from their previous offerings is noticeable.

The heavy money in this rig was in the speakers and the Merging Technologies DAC, but the Atoll amp and streamer did not seem outclassed.

The Final speakers never seem to rate a good presentation at Montreal, either, but here they showed off the fine quality they are capable of, driven by an Atoll All-in-One unit for a very nice minimalist presentation. Their model 5H is $9599 per pair and Atoll SDA300 all-in-one is $6399.

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