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

Golden Delicious Room

Artist Cloner, Baetis Audio, Saturn Audio, And Tough Nut Audio
The Artist Cloner room is usually a hit, rarely a miss, and always a "must-see" room. Featuring the massive Artist Cloner Depth Wave speaker with a D'Appolito configuration of drivers, along with concentric waves machined into the aluminum baffles (then ceramic-coated) and textured stone cabinetry, this year's room was a real winner. The four Canadian companies here form a tight team which is destined to improve in the future. The music was transparent, dynamic, highly resolved and eminently inviting.

On the left rack were the source components from Baetis. Joe Makkerh gave me the rundown:

"A Baetis Audio Reference HQore started the digital source, using Roon with tracks from Qobuz, Tidal and internal storage. HQPlayer software provided upsampling, filters and modulation of the music to DSD x512 quality. This was streamed via a fibre-optic network link to a second Baetis Audio Reference 4a unit, which was powered by the new Baetis PowerOne linear power supply. The Reference 4a streamer rendered the music via USB to the Saturn 202 DAC [in the double-wide middle rack]. The dual-box Baetis solution brings out the clarity, depth, and soundstage of the music, giving it a more "live" feel." The dual-box Baetis solution brings out the clarity, depth and soundstage of the music, giving it a more "live" feel." A second Baetis unit was on an identical rack on the right side.

Note the top shelf of the Tough Nut rack in the light maple with a metal insert beneath the Baetis streamer. What you can't see is that the metal sheet has a ground wire coming off the back side. A similar unit in black was used in a demonstration at several points during each day. I'll get to that in a minute.

On the Tough Nut double-wide black rack in the middle was the Artist Cloner Senator Preamplifier, boasting dual, parallel JFETs per channel and a Triode Tube distortion profile, among other special features. Below it was the silver Saturn 601 class A/B stereo amp. The Saturn DAC was to the left of the amp, and the Saturn power conditioner with 12 outlets and IsoAcoustic Gaia IV isolation feet was on the bottom left shelf. A Saturn preamp (not in use) was on the bottom right.

I doubled back to this room to witness a comparison of the system with the ArtistCloner preamp on the Tough Nut grounded isolation platform vs. resting on a standard shelf insert on the black rack (not the empty isolation platform shown in the photos here. On the standard shelf, the music was still very articulate, but the sense of music playing in a three-dimensional space was missing. When the preamp was returned to the sophisticated Tough Nut isolation platform, the music became instantly more holographic and much closer to the experience of "live" music. Within the first few notes, I cracked a broad smile and let out a gentle chuckle. The difference was not subtle to my experienced (but not golden) ear.

I have recently reviewed the Tough Nut footers on my Acora speakers and compared them with IsoAcoustics Gaia Neo and Stack Audio Auva footers, all of which varied only slightly from each other. You can read the Tough Nut Audio Footers review here. These footers are similar to what is used on the isolation platform, along with additional technology. The effect of adding the Tough Nut Isolation Platform to the preamp in this demonstration boosted the performance of the system from what sounded like a $200,000 system to one sounding more like $500,000.

It surprised me that this was accomplished by adding the platform under the preamp, rather than under a source component. And I can only imagine how effective it might be under a tube component. If you have loved their footers under your speakers, as I have, I expect you will love what the Isolation Platform will do for your system. I'm trying to figure out how to reconfigure my components and racks to bring one in for review. If you didn't buy a thing at the Audiofest, but walked away with the knowledge gained from this demonstration, your trip was worth the cost, no matter where you flew in from.

On a table outside the room were examples of the isolation platforms. Note the copper one has a flat woven copper ground wire attached. Also note the graphic displays with enough circles and arrows to make Arlo Guthrie jealous. This comes from true engineering. Keep in mind that this technology and these isolation platforms correlate with their full-blown rack systems at far less cost than the big names in this industry.

As if that were not enough good news from this room, I also inquired about the tall black and white screen standing at either side. These were Hwa Pyung Acoustic Panels by Tough Nut Audio and Jay Lee, the young audio vlogger and now entrepreneur. The white material is felt, and the black is a wood frame and lattice. The base providing free-standing capability is still being developed. Very interesting technology lies within, and it has many interesting applications.

Sylvio Comtois of ArtistCloner was consistently surrounded by people wanting to know more about this room. I'm not sure I had a chance to say hello.

The Artysan table was a lot more active at this show, and they had more product with some innovative ideas on display. Several rooms at the show were actively using their product. It has taken a couple of years, but they are gaining traction in the industry.

Four separate runs with spacers to keep them separated were combined in an hourglass-shaped device to the signal and return legs of these speaker cables. Note the banana plugs featuring carbon fiber housings and rhodium-plated pins.

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