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Art's Sonic Saturday in Montreal
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
Art Dudley  |  Mar 25, 2019  |  1 comments
A few years ago, the Hotel Bonaventure (formerly the Hilton Bonaventure), long the site of the Montreal Audio Fest (formerly Salon Son et Image), turned its sprawling restaurant into a sprawling ballroom called the Ville-Marie salon. For the 2019 Montreal Audio Fest, that room was home to Focal Naim Canada (formerly the distributor known in Canada as Plurison, and in the US as Audio Plus Services.) Daniel Jacques (on the left, with me, in the photo above), who founded Plurison/Audio Plus in 1983, has now sold that company to Vervent Audio Group, which owns Focal and Naim; those brands, including a few others—namely IsoAcoustics, Cambridge Audio, Musical Fidelity, Siltech, Vicoustic, and Solid Tech—will now be handled in Canada by Focal Naim Canada, and in the US by Focal Naim America, also a Vervent subsidiary.
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More from JA's First Day in Montreal
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
John Atkinson  |  Mar 25, 2019  |  1 comments
This one's for Herb Reichert: the booth outside the huge room where Solen Electronique was demming what they described as "The Ultimate Experience" system (CDN$115,435) featured parts and components from Solen and The Parts Connection/Dayton Audio. This box of NOS tubes would have had Herb drooling!
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Robert's Day 3 in Montreal: Grandinote, Elac, Neat Acoustics, Etc.
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
Robert Schryer  |  Mar 25, 2019  |  0 comments
A perennial exhibiter at the Montreal fest, Quebec-based importer / distributor Goerner Audio usually puts together a wonderful-sounding system built around a turntable, but this year’s setup was one of my favorites of theirs in recent years, and it included no vinyl.
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More from Art's Day One at the Montreal Audio Fest
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
Art Dudley  |  Mar 24, 2019  |  6 comments
I suppose I'm odd man out for not liking Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, which has sold over 45 million copies since its release in 1973 yet for me remains a monument only to the hazards of excessive marijuana consumption. Too bad for me: On Friday, the sounds of that album blasted from what seemed every third demonstration, and by the time I approached the door of the room sponsored by Montreal retailer Son Ideal, I was hearing DSOTM for literally the fourth time since the show opened. Quiet desperation, indeed.
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Robert's Second Day at the Montreal Audio Fest
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
Robert Schryer  |  Mar 24, 2019  |  7 comments
Continuing my exploration of the Sonor-Filtronique room, which began in my first Montreal Audio Fest report, I spotted across the room a brand whose distinct appearance—I'd characterize it as a blend of modern and retro—is instantly recognizable to most audiophiles: Nagra.
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JA's First Day at the Montreal Show
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
John Atkinson  |  Mar 23, 2019  |  2 comments
I thought I would start my day by exploring the Hotel Bonaventure's ballroom exhibits, and on my way to the Westmont 2 room, where British company PMC was presenting the North American debut of their flagship Fenestria loudspeaker, I heard some unambiguously live harp music, played by the young lady in the photo, Isabeau Corriveau. A great way to start the day and one that emphasized the show's focus on music of every kind.
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Something in the Air in Montreal—But It's Not the PM’s Ferrari-Red Helicopter
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
Robert Schryer  |  Mar 23, 2019  |  6 comments
Even sans Justin Trudeau, who last escorted me to the show in a Ferrari-red Airbus helicopter (not really) I was feeling good about this year's show—its 32nd edition—because for months I’d been seeing Facebook posts announcing the return of major brands that previously had bailed on Montreal’s Fest.
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Montreal Audio Fest 2019 Hits the Ground Running
Montreal Audio Fest 2019
Art Dudley  |  Mar 22, 2019  |  5 comments
At 1:00 on Friday I spoke with Sarah Tremblay (above), co-organizer (with Michel Plante) of the Montreal Audio Fest. The 2019 show had opened only two hours before we ran into one another, and already over 4600 attendees had pre-registered and 1400 of them had arrived on-site. (Admission is free, but the organizers ask of each attendee their name and gender, and whether they'd attended previous Montreal shows.) Tremblay told me that approximately 50% of registrants so far were first-timers: an excellent sign.
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The Montreal Audio Fest Starts Today
Montreal Audio Fest 2019, News
John Atkinson  |  Mar 22, 2019  |  10 comments
The 2019 Montreal Audio Fest has opened at the Hotel Bonaventure across the street from the city's main railway station and even at the opening time of 11am, there was a long queue at the registration desk. The show, which runs until 8pm tonight, 10am–6pm Saturday, and 10am–5pm Sunday, has a theme celebrating both the Woodstock Festival's 50th anniversary and the 50 years since John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's infamous bed-in in Montreal and the Fab Four's last live concert. I will be covering the show live for Stereophile, along with Robert Schryer and Art Dudley. Stay tuned for our reports.
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J E Sugden Masterclass LA-4 line preamplifier
Solid State Preamp Reviews
Jim Austin  |  Mar 21, 2019  |  11 comments
Like most serious pursuers of the audio hobby, I've known about J E Sugden & Co. Ltd. for years. For many of those years, though, it was easy to forget about them, and I mostly did—until, quite recently, Sugden gear began popping up at audio shows, including the 2016 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. In his report on that show, Herb Reichert described the midrange of Sugden's A21SE Signature, a pure class-A integrated amplifier, driving DeVore Fidelity speakers, as "shroom-like" and contrasted the sound with what he called class-D's "fake cocaine." That got my attention.
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