Toronto Audiofest 2026 Show Report Part 2: Hi-Fi Highlights, Great New Gear, And Must-Hear High-End Audio Systems
From the newest turntables and DACs to reference-quality loudspeakers and remarkable tweaks, Part 2 explores exciting audiophile exhibits and presentations.
Toronto Audiofest 2026 Show Report By Rick Becker

Convention Level
Part 2 will cover the large rooms and the tables and kiosks in the convention center.

Part 3 will conclude with the Best Rooms and Honorable Mentions at the show.

Bright sunshine woke me up in time to have breakfast in my room and scoot over to Walmart for an SD card. I packed up my gear and headed out with my laptop bag over one shoulder, and my hands filled with bags of clothing, road food, and a small travel cooler. As I pushed through the door to exit the hotel, a shadow swept across me, and a roar filled my head too quickly to trigger a fight-or-flight response. I didn't realize how close the Sheraton was to the airport. The trip to Walmart was easy, once I had located it on the computer last night. The guy at the photo desk was super courteous and helped me out by cutting open the impenetrable packaging. Happiness is lots of gigabytes on your SD card. Life was good again.

If you entered at the main entrance to the Convention Center, there was a hallway to the right and another to the left. But if you entered from the Hotel Lobby, expecting to be at that same junction, you were likely to be confused. Naturally, that's the way I entered. Being a retired hitchhiker, I figured it out.

Sennheiser owned the hallway coming from the Hotel to the Convention Center. It was lined with sofas and comfortable chairs, along with tables full of listening stations.

At the junction of the hallway from the hotel and the long hallway of the Convention Center, people were greeted with lovely music from Isabeau Corriveau playing harp, who has become a regular at the Canadian shows. I happened to catch her in conversation with photojournalist Bob Wegner, author of the book "Max Webster, High Class", who was present at the show for meet-the-author appearances from 1-3 p.m. each day. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to flip through his book. While I have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, there are simply too many right places and too little time at these shows.

From there, with guidance from an Audiofest staff person, I found my way to the Conference Center main entrance and headed off down the hallway on the right as you enter the building.

Directly in front of the Convention Center main entrance was a cluster of tables displaying products from Rega, co-sponsored by StereoGroup Canada, the Rega distributor.

Jonathan St-Denis of StereoGroup was ready to assist with the Rega P8 with a clear platter and P10 with a white platter and polished tonearm.

The new Replay turntable hits a new entry-level price of $549 for Rega. It has a T-shaped plinth reminiscent of the Kuzma Stabi S, but it's an order of magnitude more affordable.

I had to walk further down the hall to get all of Gerry Dubé's "I Love the Fab Four" display into the picture. Jerry has become a regular at the Canadian shows, and he is a wonderful guy to chat with if you're from the Beatles era. He is also an accomplished musician in his own right.

The first table I came upon on the right side displayed three special Technics 1200 series tables trimmed in gold…well, maybe fool's gold. From the right, bluish grey with gold trim (SL-1200M7G), gold trim with gold plinth, and in the distant left, black plinth with gold trim on the platter and tonearm. These are a limited Gold Edition, so get yours quickly. I'm sure there is a market among certain political and ethnic groups around the world for this kind of styling, but I'm a classic black and/or silver kind of guy.

Alireza Rafigh of Panasonic/Technics was kind enough to pull some platters and show me the different direct drive motor construction that justifies the significant price steps as you move up the Technics line. My tweaking experience has shown there is significant improvement to be made with aftermarket platter mats, footers, and record clamps; those from Stack Audio being the best I've found so far—at least with mid-level, medium-weight turntables.

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