Montreal Audio Fest 2023

Making its North American premiere—perhaps its world premiere, according to Le Studio du Son's Olivier Fragman—was the Aperion Verus III Concert V8T Tower speaker ($5000/pair, the big ones in the photo above). The sensitivity of the V8T, with its dual-8"-woofers, is specified at 91dB (specific units not, um, specified) into 4 ohms, yet the minimum recommended maximum power is a formidable 250Wpc. Powering the speakers was a New Zealand–made, Bluetooth-equipped, 400Wpc integrated amplifier by Java Hi-Fi ($15,000), which is among the first class-D amps to market that employ GaN-FET (Gallium Nitride field-effect transistor) transistors. The source was a Bluetooth-equipped Zidoo NEO S media player-streamer ($2000), which supports DSD up to DSD512, PCM up to 32/768, decodes MQA, and has separate digital and analog power supplies to eliminate (or at least reduce) EMI interference. Asona cabling kept the current flowing.

Music was served up from an iPad over Bluetooth, but the sound wasn't flat, fatiguing, or harmonically deprived. It sounded organic, sweet, textured, and fleet-footed, with a pulsating undercurrent that made for engaging listening. I was impressed, but I could only imagine how this setup might sound with CD or higher resolution material. All prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.