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I am only familiar with the name "Solen" from the company's audiophile-quality capacitors and other passive components, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I entered the room labeled "Solen." The beautifully finished speakers, demmed with an Ayre C7-xe CD player, Accuphase preamp, and Rotel power amp, were one-off designs to show off what coud be achieved by the audiophile interested in "rolling his own." (Selections from <I>AudioXpress</I> magazine's library of speaker design books were also on show.) The large speaker with the outboard crossover sounded pretty good, I thought. It combined a JBL subwoofer with an Audio Technology woofer, ATC dome midrange, and Dynaudio Esotar tweeter.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Grant Fidelity is the North American distributor of a range of Chinese-made audio electronics, under various brand names.

Which do you prefer: tube sound or transistor sound?

"Oui, Monsieur! You get a copy of <I>Stereophile</I> magazine with every admission to the show! It's an unbelievable deal, n'est ce pas?"

SSI had a display of vintage gramophones and radios, courtesy of Montreal's Emile Berliner Museum. They've had this for several shows now, and it's always wonderful to see these artifacts that tell the history of our hobby. The Museum is member-supported, and publishes a pamphlet, His Master's Voice, four times a year, in English and French.

Isn't she?

Shure's public relations representative, Monica Moufrage, explains that the new SE115 earphones ($139) replace the company's popular SE110, and come in four great colors: black, (sort of) red, blue, and (definitely) pink.