Seminars

“FREE with Show Admission!”

The Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show is proud to present numerous educational seminars geared toward consumers and industry professionals.  All of the seminars are FREE (with show admission) and will be presented by industry experts in one of the large conference rooms at the King Edward Hotel.

“2012 Seminars (preliminary list, subject to change)”

• Entertainment Rooms and Interior Design (presented by Canada’s top interior designer Yanic Simard)
Top designer and television personality Yanic Simard will propose how to create entertainment spaces (both large and small) that look attractive and offer great audio and video performance.  Most of the tips from this seminar can be applied to both new and existing rooms.  This is one seminar you definitely won’t want to miss!

• Introduction to Digital Music Files and Playback (presented by Canada’s technology expert Marc Saltzman)
This seminar will explain the benefits of storing and accessing your music in the digital format, as well as the various file formats and what devices allow you to play digital audio around the house.

• TV Buyer Guide – LCD, LED, Plasma and OLED (2D and 3D)
This seminar will explain the benefits and shortcomings of each TV technology available today and help you determine which TV types is best suited to your viewing habits and environment.

• TV / Projector Calibration
Why should you consider having your TV or projector professionally calibrated? This seminar will explain in plain English what it means to have your display device calibrated and what benefits it will bring to your watching experience.

• The Future of Music Entertainment (presented by Mark Waldrep of AIX Records and iTrax.com) Personalized Music Delivery – Imagine being able to personalize the fidelity and delivery specifications of the music you consume. The age of “one size fits all” optical disc music delivery are going away and the promise of better quality sound files hooked into music servers is being realized on a daily basis. With this new paradigm, consumers of music will finally be able to get music personalized to their own personal taste. If you want surround music mixed from a stage perspective or music tailored to a particular type of headphone or speaker, no problem. The files delivered to your server can be unique and different than those that were supplied to your best friend. This seminar will examine the trend towards better fidelity and the supply chain for getting it.

•  System Optimization and Set-up (Sponsored by Nordost and supported by Moon, KEF and Stillpoints)

Roy Gregory, European Editor for The Audio Beat.com and founding editor of Hi-Fi+ magazine will be presenting a series of demonstrations, showing just how big a contribution set up and basic ancillaries can (and should) make to the performance of a system.  Working with basic Simaudio Moon Electronics and a pair of KEF’s revolutionary Blade speakers, you will be astonished at the difference between the system set up as you’d generally expect to see (and hear) it – and the transformation that can result with the application of a little simple care and attention to detail. Along the way he’ll demonstrate a series of essential rules and techniques that together constitute a universal strategy for system optimization and set-up – an approach that will deliver significant performance benefits from almost any system. 

Finally, by taking that strategy to its logical conclusion, he’ll show you just how far you can take even fairly modest electronics. You won’t believe just how much music most system leave locked in their boxes! The end result is a road map, not just to achieving the best possible performance from the system you already own, but to navigate future upgrades too.

Each seminar will last around 40 minutes with 15 minutes for questions afterwards. These are closed-door sessions, with tickets available from the main show desk. Visitors without tickets will be admitted on a first come, first served basis if there are any spare seats at the start of each session, but once the doors are closed, no additional visitors will be admitted. So make sure that you get your tickets early and don’t miss your start time: this could be the most cost effective hour of your audio life.

• HDMI Digital Connectivity: Understanding the complex world of HDMI by Jeff Boccaccio, President, DPL Labs

This presentation will explain in detail the complexity of signal transfer and the HDMI transmission line in particular. You will learn why HDMI became the transfer standard of choice for both High Definition Video and Audio. The journey begins with a comparison between analog and digital transmission systems.  From there we dive into the depths of HDMI, focusing on the details of how its performance is measured and its critical Performance Signature. The entire event is presented in an easy to understand animated Power Point slide presentation that will draw you into the interface.  This is an interactive presentation where everybody gets to play a role in a seriously entertaining event, leaving a little older, but a lot wiser by the end.

• Basic Turntable Setup Tips
The seminar will teach basic turntable setup and provide an explanation of VTA (vertical tracking angle) azimuth and overhang.  It will also explain the difference between linear tracking and fixed pivot tone arms and how they track a record, plus a brief Q&A session.

• AV Receiver Setup
AV receivers have advanced rapidly over the last few years and continue to offer new features and functionality with each new generation.  This seminar will explain how to choose an AV receiver best suited for your environment based on its specifications, power rating and connectivity options.  It will explore many of the latest features offered by AV receivers including network connectivity (and streaming), secondary zones, iPod/iPhone connectivity, control Apps for smartphones and tablets, as well as 4K video compatibility.  And to top it all off, this seminar will share numerous tips on how to properly setup and calibrate the sound of an AV receiver.

• Audio Streaming
Just about everyone has music on their computer and smartphone.  But listening to this music through small computer speakers or earphones severely reduces its enjoyment.  This seminar will teach you how to unlock the full potential of your digital music library by streaming it to your home stereo or home theatre system.  It will explain the various means of sending the music from your computer or smartphone (through wires or wirelessly) and investigate which method to use to achieve the best quality playback.  Finally it will also suggest some audio components that offer audio streaming and talk about the various product categories that now offer this functionality.

Seminar Schedule (Vanity A Ballroom)

Seminar Schedule (Other Rooms)