Magnepan and Schiit audio combo stole Toronto 2022 audiofest spotlight. 

Honest reaction from the show: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XJyibXLHqdQ.html Correction: Wendell is not the owner, he just seems like the owner. Thanks for pointing it out guys! What was the most surprising audio gear you heard this year? Leave a comment! The Lii Song speakers were sold on the spot at the audio show! For more info on the Lii song speakers and Galion TS120 amp: lii-song.ca/ and www.galion-audio.com/

Congrats on your room Thomas, looks great! thanks for the tour

Congratulations on your success Thomas. Great video.

Great coverage - wish we had a show like this in Vancouver.

Great show coverage! Your room looks amazing!!

Another fine review and video Thomas. Always a joy to share in your audio journey.

Thomas, great job! Audiofest help many people to open something new and try something different!

Franco Serblin is a legend among speaker designers.

So, glad it went very well for you Thomas.

Thomas, your room is definitely one of the best sounding rooms. Love the Galion and Lii Song combos. We briefly chatted in one Coherent room and it's great to see u in person. I agree with your comments on Center HiFi room and the Heretis Speakers (sitting on the floor one) keep it up and wish all the best for Galion. Simon

Wendell was so nice at the show and excited to get the word out there. He mentioned he has been working with Danny GR Reseach on some concepts on open baffle and looking forward to the future. Agree the subs where crazy and the preamp was not even on tubes. Future of open baffle is coming. ❤

Thanks for the tour Thomas.

Your room was packed with music lovers. Good show! 😊✌️

It was good to see you at the show, I have enjoyed your videos for several months. Looks like I even have a little cameo in this video, taking a pic of the gear with my phone. It was a bit crowded in there so I didn't stay too long but it was definitely a good sounding room. See you in Montreal next March!

Great video Thomas 👍👍

nice job in your coverage

Great video - Nice overall summary and fair assesment across many ( too many to details ) rooms. =) Positive is right! This event was fun - So greatful to meet with many many local review personalities and brand reps. See you in Montreal! ( lemme kno if I can be of any help)

Innovation is not dead. Kudos for all those taking a chance and pushing the boundaries!

Good stuff Thomas 👌glad to hear your room was a hit👍

Super impressive show! That magnepan sub is amazing

Thank you Thomas.

The magnepan room was very impressive. The bass slam and dynamics was something i did not expect.

Thanks for doing this!

Thomas, you shouldn't be surprised that you liked the Franco Serblin speakers. He's the guy that started Sonus Faber, and when he was designing their speakers, the Stradivarius museum in Cremona, selected his speakers to install in their museum so that their visitors could hear what a Strad was supposed to sound like.

Thomas, I really enjoyed your amp with Elipson Legacy 3210, it sounds so powerful and open! Tube amps is really good gear! Great product!

Congratulations, your room was very interesting and as you well know, well attended. I wish that I had heard the open baffles.

My ears are so green... congrats to everyone who attended the show

Audiofest is great to have! Everyone can check lots of different products, brands and try something new! Thomas, you mentioned how hard it is to do room setups!

Keep up the good work thanks! just about at 70K too I see too nice going!

well done

Not a big fan of Jay but love your videos, Thomas. I was trying to go to this show but couldn't make it. Thanks for this excellent video.

Congrats on the show. Coherent Speakers are made in Canada, high efficiency, pair well with tubes. Maybe worth an upcoming video review of the Galion paired with Coherents? Canadian match made in heaven?

🤗 MORE GREAT STORIES THOMAS 😎👏👏👏💚💚💚

In January I plan on putting an order in for the Magnepan LRS+ and a Decware amp both of which I have wanted for years but never pulled the trigger. The Decware probably won't be powerful enough to drive the Magnepans but I have another set of speakers that will pair nicely with the amp. Thank you for the informative review.

Thomas, thats cool that you mentioned the CV XLS215 towers... I have two systems.. my audiophile system on my main floor (Tekton Moabs/Mcintosh Pre & Monoblocks) and a party system in my basement for having people over to have fun and karaoke... that party system are the XLS215s and a Crown XLS2002 amp.... its a fun speaker that plays loud and actually sounds great! Far better than the CVs in the past.... Great speakers for their intended purpose.. to make people sing and dance

I'am glad that I am not the only one who dislikes monosodium glutamate interfering with the sound. Super review of the Toronto show Thomas !

Nostalgia for me. Showing my cables at CES in Vegas decades ago. Up early drive to Vegas in a rented van with all my stuff, get the room set up, deal with all the small stuff, try to get it sounding good. Then every day in early to warm it up. Out late then flop in a Motel 6 and do it again the next day. It was great fun for me the cables being a second business. Got to meet some of the industry biggies. Then pack up all your stuff and drive home. Whew. I was younger then. CES has everything electronic from the porn video business (back then) to auto stereo (by far the most and biggest exhibitors) Quite a circus.

Congrats on your room. Listened to your Galion amp with Lii songs and was very impressed. Asked to hear Lil songs with the Decware 30 EL34 SET, and it was no contest vs your Galion amp. The Maggie subwoofer playing full range on its own had me fooled too. I had no idea the LRS was silent. I had to ask Wendell why the LRS plus even existed. Wendell also played the LRS Plus by itself after playing the subwoofer by itself. He said he couldn't play them together because of the added effect of the midbass etc. I think it had something to do with not having worked out a Xover for it yet. The subwoofer was spectacular, loud, and tight. Most impressive.

Was there and somehow I missed you. Damn. I'm sure I would have loved your room.

Geez, I hadn't realized that the Lii Song room was your room. Interesting stuff! It was quite busy in there when I walked in, so only had a brief listen.

From 9:20 of the video. Thank you Thomas for dropping by and mention us here. I believe you said we were your neighbour. We were in room 353. The colorful amp is called the AG2022. It is a concept test bed for many of our new models of amplifiers. We use it to test new circuit designs and their limits. After we are happy with the result, we put the various circuits into various models. The one you show in the video is only one of many which call the C318 preamp. It was unfortunate that when you came in there was no music playing. It was a rare moment but it did happen.

Love to hear your opinions on this. I was not very impressed by any system at NYC audioshow last time I went.

Subscribed good channel

Congrats to you Thomas! Looks like a lot of work but also great fun. Eat more ramen so we can hear your gear at Axpona soon!

This review is great! Thank you Thomas! Any chance you can go further and tell us about the pre-amp, amp and gear that drove the magnapan speakers and sub in that room? I think I saw Schitt audio. Keep doing what your doing, your channel is great . Wish I could have heard those Magnapans.

looks like a fun show! I just picked up a pair of 1.7i's ... In need of a SS integrated to power them. Was looking at a Hegel H160 or perhaps the H190. Any other suggesting for something that is stable down to 2 ohms, has high current, and lots of damping factor to control these panels? Anthem STR Integrated might be an option or something from Naim? If I wanted to get these Maggie Subs down the line are they active or passive? I think the Hegel only has line outs and not independent sub volume controls. So bass management/integration might be better with the Anthem that also has ARC.

That cable booth is hilarious 😂

Mr Thomas thank you for your videos they are Awesome. At the show in your room what was the amp and speaker you were talking about i had audio problems on my RU-vid can you name them again especially the 30 watt amp thank you..

Thomas, I am so happy for you and your success with your amp. I have a Doge 10 and have enjoyed it but can imagine what your amp provides. Both my nephew and myself will likely be making a purchase in the near future. Great job!

Hi Thomas, as usual enjoying your great video presentation and especially the Magnepan demo. Funny story I just bought a pair of the LRS Plus speakers and currently running with two REL Tx/7s. I am driving them with the Hegel H590 and the marriage is made in audio nirvana...at least to my ears. My room is not setup in any way conducive to proper sound due to selling my home and everything is temporary and quite frankly REALLY crappy. Why am I telling you all this? Because it is like the mad professor who makes a remarkable accidental discovery whereas in order to keep things uncluttered to potential buyers I hid as much gear as I could and stuck each REL in one corner with some fabric footrests in front of it and the other diametrically opposed in the other corner behind the pie shaped sectional where nothing is seen. Results? WOW baby! The "Plusses" performed like champions to levels perhaps achieved by Wilsons or take your pick of some of the finest loudspeakers of your choice. What makes me say this? Like John Hunter of REL claims when you do NOT hear the source of the subs because of the nature of omnidirectional sound waves all I heard was rich delicious low end punch radiating not just from the Mags but a true soundstage. I couldn't accept this was actually happening, so I kept walking up to these two unsuspecting panels and like a ghost it lived "somewhere" between. I have plausible explanation for this other than my excitement of my next move and dream about my new setup and will I apply the same theory. So....what will Wendel's new sub panel deliver with the Plusses and can it match or exceed my RELs? Thanks again Thomas.

Franco Serblin was the guy who founded Sonus Faber in the 80s. He sold Sonus in the 2000s and started a namesake brand. Unfortunately Franco passed away before his speakers were ready for sale but his contemporaries are continuing the business.

I unfortunately didn't get to hear the Maggie's. For me there was one big surprise the little Elacs sounded great, especially given the price and size. Two tube rooms really stood out, especially given I'm a SS guy, Audio Note and Icon...superb. The Acora room was good too. Unfortunately I was unimpressed with many of the rooms you mentioned, perhaps being there first thing on Friday was a bad idea. This was my first, and likely last, show as it is impossible to get a decent idea of the gear based on all the factors already mention, and all the people that won't stop talking. Apart from the Hearken Audio where Matt tried to get the talkers out. The system in that room was smooth as well. The only RU-vidr we ran into was Adrian and he was to busy to chat, even though I'm a client. Well done to all that ventured in to display, as it's surely an incredibly intense endeavour.

Damn I missed the Maggy room. Well at least I am able to see it on this video.

Around 13.13 mark, the equipment driving the unknown speaker is from Kinki Studio, EX-B7, I have their EX-M1+, I think I will keep them forever, amazing equipment indeed.

Maganoan subs: Thomas your absolutely spot on. I attended the Texas show that Schitt put together earlier in the year and had the fortune of listening to the Magnapan presentation and was blown away with the sound and performance of the LRS Plus and their new subs. The subs are freaking amazing!! All of the folks in attendance literally were in disbelief of what they were hearing. Could have stayed there for hours listening !! And also surprising was the use of one Vidar to power the LRS speakers. Testament to the Vidar’s capacity. Great combo.. Certainly on my bucket list once the subs are available.. Great job Thomas!! Awesome channel !!

Great video Thomas, loved it !! Thanks !!! I want to hear your Gallion… I’m in Paris, France. Any chance to get a distributor for you here ?

Very fun show! Looked for made us stronger. not on Qobuz darn it!. Take a Sonus Faber history class when you get a chance! Thanks for the walk thru!

“Two Tums Up”. 👍👍

Great to hear it was a success for you Thomas. What was your playlist in the end and the streamer you used?

Probably your funniest video, lol at least three times.

Hey Thomas,thanks for a great video!!! Can you help me out please? I'm looking to upgrade my Rotel RC 1582 power amp to a more powerful amp. Is the Schitt Vidar a better match for my LRS or should I keep the Rotel? (Will I need 2 Vidars or 1?) I just want to get the best out of the LRS. Thanks much!! Any suggestions on other amps is appropriated.

Thomas I heard you saying on the video that Wendell is the owner of Magnepan, actually he is the marketing manager for the Magnepan, the owner I believe is Jim Winey, thanks for the video.

Ahaha hahahaha ahahahahahaha Ahahahahahaha I sent you a message about just this speaker as I heard, of course through video, but the presentation was still astounding. Jason Stoddard immediately bought 2 for his Schitt Audio presentation as he uses LRS for his business.

Thomas, -- What was the make/model of the 30 watt class D amp you mentioned near the end? --Thanks

at last!a cd player that i did see!

Thomas, what was the model of Schiit amplifier paired with the LRS+? Looks like monoblocks.....

11:13 is that a $6,500 Dynavector tone arm on that TT?

Very interesting. I use a Rel T7/x with my .7s, and I think it’s an unbeatable combo. But I’m open to anything!

Thanks for this. I missed the Magnepan speakers room. They were doing demonstrations at scheduled times and we couldn't stick around. Btw. I'm skeptical about highs coming from a subwoofer. But I'll take your word for it. ✌

Congratulations on a great show Thomas! Will you be at AXPONA in 2023? I will definitely also check out the Magnepan subwoofer at AXPONA!

Franco Serblin is not unheard of! Just in Canada by the looks of it

I think i saw a denefrips dac in the room. I am thinkig to by pontus. This video my help me to be shore i am on the right way.

Hi Thomas, would you mind elaborating a little on what are the sonic characters you like with the T+A + Franco Serblin setup? Thx

Hi Thomas, did you check out the Hearken Audio room?

Hey Thomas what was the name of the base track you said that you used?

I thought I missed hearing the Galion amp until you explained it was driving the LiiSongs. I could not experience the 'lap dance' effect u mentioned in previous video unless I sat on someone's lap 😂. Those guys sat so long I had to move on. As for Magnepan subs, they were so well hidden I couldn't see them. A guy asked Wendell about crossovers and he countered with DSP. So confusing. Very innovative if they use planar technology. I liked the Cerwin-Vegas and Mike Tang's custom MC cart. Dare I say their analog playback system had the slam of good digital audio?

I'm excited about the Magnapans subwoofer! I haven't seen any pricing anywhere? Any insights? Thank you for your input Thomas!

Very smart using Schitt gear, showing you don't have to drop big bucks for a high power amplifier for the LRS+. I'll bet a lot of Schitt gets sold with Maggies now.

Hi Thomas, the short speakers you enjoyed at 13:00 are the Heretic - also a Montreal co. 👍🏼

I'm positive that certain rooms are better than others at these type of events. I'm sure if you took your own personal system to show off it would not sound like u would think it should and be disappointed.

Franco - The man who started Sonus faber - Serblin ... yah.. that guy .. stil makes amazing speakers ( less corporatized goals )

what was your playlist in the end? and was it just digital?

Did i see Audio Note there? Their speakers are quite amazing...

I wonder how low the Magnepan subwoofers go. Their current bass panels go to 40 hz.

I notice this woofer isn't available on the magnapan website???! They're not for sale currently?! I'm confused...as usual

Cerwin Vegas ! Ah my single 20s were great. I had VS120’s my buddy has them now

As other users have written before me, Franco Serblin was a legendary figure in the Italian audio industry. He was the founder of Sonus Faber and is recognised as the man behind the original Sonus Faber concept (elegant design, use of typically Italian materials and colours, two-way loudspeakers with low-order crossovers and so on). It is widely believed that he is the actual designer of the first SF models, with a subjective approach based on his own good taste. A detail that I believe is unheard of outside Italy is that he had another day job and Sonus Faber was actually his second occupation. Then the SF business grew and he sold his shares. But he still wanted to pursue his ideal of high-end audio with a craftsmanship approach and founded the new commercial enterprise that bears his own name. He died a few years ago. But the Franco Serblin company is still active. It has something of a cult following in Italy. I read somewhere that Andrea Bocelli likes the sound of FS speakers. The speakers you heard at the exhibition could be the speakers in Bocelli's personal hi-fi system.

Hi Thomas. Could you please post the name of the bass track that you used at the show here in the Comments section. Thanks.

Were those Vidar amps used as monoblocks or was one powering the lrs and one powering the sub?

Those small speakers on the floor w the Kinki equipment are coaxial , Heretic Loudspeaker Company AD614 97db/w/m $7999

What about all the frequency overlap from a subwoofer that plays full range?

How didn’t you get the Serblin Sonus Faber connection? Compared to you I am mildly interested and much less committed financially…

It will help folks think outside the box and it develops good will and brand awareness. Not that Thomas and Gallion need any of that, eh?!

Hello, My name is Cindy, my father would like have some informations about the Cayin CS 845A?

Did Thomas call Wendell Diller the owner of Magnepan? I thought he was the marketing manager unless something recently changed.

$30G worth of speakers... Not unless I hit the lottery! I am searching for new speakers but for me it's all about the sound/$$ ratio. So not sure what I will get. Nice tour of the show.

Do you think magnepan will release those subwoofers in 2023?

Hello Thomas, we met and talked a bit at the show. I did not know anything about Lii audio. I entered that room just like I entered other rooms, set down and listened. Once I heard the sound, it was like, this can't be true. Is the sound coming from those two speakers? It was quite crazy. Hope to own the speakers and the amp at some point.

I haven't heard Certain Vaga in an eternity. In fact I thought them long gone.

What Schiit was being used with the Magnepans? Tyr?