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They got it right by selecting the King Edward Hotel, a luxury hotel in downtown Toronto, with many restaurants nearby, and also close to theaters. All right, so parking is expensive, but the King Edward is steps from the subway, so it's easily accessible by public transit.
And if you think that the King Edward just looks classy from the outside, have a look at the inside.
I got to the show shortly after the 11 o'clock opening, and already there was a considerable lineup of members of the media. I had pre-registered, so getting a badge did not take long.
If you had a problem finding the location of an exhibitor or where a seminar was being held, Gigi Dalka, Maggie Waymark, and Sarah Ferguson (left to right) at the TAVES Information Desk were ready to help you.
One of the rooms I was most eager to visit was Bryston's. At the last Montreal show (SSI 2012), Bryston introduced their first entry into the loudspeaker market: the Model T, designed by James Tanner, Bryston's VP Sales and Marketing, with help from driver manufacturer Axiom Audio. The speaker was on passive display, Tanner saying that he was still tweaking the design of the drivers. The advance publicity for TAVES 2012 was that the Model T would be demonstrated at the show.
Whenever I hear about a manufacturer of one kind of audio product, eg, electronics, introducing a very different kind of audio product, eg, a loudspeaker, I tend to have my doubts about the viability of the enterpriseit makes me think of the saying about the cobbler sticking to his last. But I know Bryston to be a conservative manufacturernot in the political sense, but in the sense of not rushing into something in an impulsive wayand I know that Tanner has been in this game for a long time, and that he's a good listener.
The Model T that I heard at TAVES 2012 was very impressive indeed, with startling high-level dynamics (claimed maximum SPL is 118dB SPL at 1 meter, and I believe it), and powerful bass. The Model T is actually available in three versions: one with internal passive crossover ($6495/pair), the Model T signature with external passive crossover ($7495/pair), and a version with active crossover ($9495/pair), which was the one being demonstrated.
Bryston's Model T is the flagship of an entire line of speakers. There's a very serious-looking center channel (pictured), a smaller stand-mounted speaker called the Model T Mini ($2,550) and some wall-mounted speakers.
TAVES 2012 is billed as being "presented by" Porsche. What does this luxury sports car have to do with audio? Well, apart from being the kind of product that most audiophiles would love to own if they could afford itand, of course, some can afford it, and do own itthe Porsche 911S on display at the show had a $20k Burmester sound system, the total price of the package being to $141k. I had earlier suggested to show organizer Suave Kajko that it would be a nice bit of PR on Porsche's part to offer a free week-long loan of the 911S to all audio/video journalists covering the show. He said he's get back to me on this, but he never did. One of the few lapses in what was an otherwise well-organized show. :-)
I was amused by the sonic choices offered by the Porsche's Burmester sound system: Smooth CD, Surround CD, Live CD, and Sound Conditioner, which gives you "music playback with strong physical presence." The CD track being played when I sat in the car was "My Own Happiness," by X-Dream, which I positively hated, but the sound as such was very good.
Nordost offered discounted prices on their cables and other accessories, one of which was a product I haven't seen before: the Qv2 "AC Line Harmonizer," part of the QRT line. You plug it in to a spare AC socket, (two or more are recommended), and the result is said to be improved sound and picture quality. The list price is $350, with a "show special" price of $300.
You want pick up some used classical records, cheap? One of the booths at TAVES had them at $5 ("other genres" was $15). And if you can't quite read the writing on the sign in the picture, the upcoming Toronto Downtown Record Show is on Sunday, November 11, 2012, 11am to 4pm, 958 Broadview Avenue.
The Ontario Vintage Radio Association, represented at TAVES by Roger Jones (left) and Simon Claughton (right), is a club for collectors and enthusiasts of antique radio and wireless equipment." In an age where "wireless" refers to networks, speakers, subwoofers, and headphones, I get a particular kind of satisfaction from considering the fact that "wireless" was around a long time before any of these modern devices, and I have a great deal of admiration for the folks that help us maintain a sense of the history of electronic equipment that we take for granted.
"I'm pretty excited about the preponderance of manufacturers, because they tend to have more elaborate set-ups and bring a lot more product with them," Kajko told Stereophile.
Exhibitors will get a sonic boost from the King Edward's larger than average hotel rooms. Because of the building's age and construction, sound dampening between rooms is superior to that in new facilities, and ceilings are an impressive 10'8" high. Kajko has also done his best to spread exhibitors out in the 100% sold-out show.
Among TAVES' highlights will be the display, in the King Edward's historic Sovereign Ballroom, of a 2012 Porsche Carrera S sports car outfitted with an extremely expensive Burmester audio system. Burmester also has a special display awaiting Saturday attendees. Another exhibit from MK Sound, Marantz, and LG promises a state-of-the-art Home Theater system. No show premieres have been announcedthese seem to be saved for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, which opens a mere two weeks later, on October 12, a mere 1506.9 miles away in Denver.
A distinct draw for the average consumer is the diversity of exhibitors and product categories. "We're trying to distinguish TAVES from other shows by introducing product categories other than audio and video," says Kajko. "We're making it into more of a consumer audio show. We consider ourselves very lucky, given that this is only the second edition of the show, that we have several new categories, including automobiles, security and lighting systems, and even new commercial products such as LG's mirror and glass TVs. And we're super-excited that Porsche is our major sponsor, because that has enabled us to connect the categories of entertainment and automobiles."
For entertainment, on early Saturday eve, multi-lingual and multimedia electronic pop, urban, and rock diva Cindy Gomez flies in from Germany to, in Kajko's words, "do something definitely out of the ordinary." For Neanderthals such as myself who don't know Cindy Gomez from Rand Paul, Ms. Gomez made history of sorts when she became the first artist to debut in a mobile game on no less than 40 million mobile handsets worldwide.
Kajko has invested in advertising on three major radio stations, and is enticing people with contests that include radio giveaways of 10 different Paradigm products and TV giveaways of Totem Acoustic loudspeakers. "We are not promoting the show only to those already interested in A/V," he says. "We want to reach out to the main consumer market so they can discover the various high-end products and brands, and realize there's so much more to audio and video than what you can find in a big box store." Such as Cindy Gomez.
While Kajko declined to predict attendance in advance of the show, he expects to attract far more than the impressive 3000 attendees who showed up the first year. Given that he has invited several well-known TV personalities to participateNorth American technology expert Marc Saltzman will present a daily seminar designed to introduce people to the realm of digital music file playback, and one of Canada's top interior designers, Yanic Simard, will host daily seminars on entertainment rooms and interior design that culminate in the giveaway of a half-hour entertainment room design consultationhe will surely reach beyond the circle of the already-initiated.
Nor will Saltzman and Simard be the only seminar presenters. This year's offerings have jumped from four to ten, and cover both audio and TV. Mark Waldrep of AIX Records and iTrax.com will discuss "The Future of Music Entertainment," and others will educate people in the realm of TV purchase and calibration. Thanks to Nordost and support from Moon, KEF and Stillpoints, TAVES is even bringing in the UK's Roy Gregory, European Editor for The Audio Beat.com and founding editor of Hi-Fi+ magazine, who will lead folks through the intricacies of set-up and system optimization.
"It's a very young show," says Kajko, "and we still have plenty of work to do. I believe we have the potential to turn TAVES into a major North American show in the next few years."
