Of one room I can honestly say: The sound pulled me in. A succession of convincingly deep, tactile drumbeats caught my ear, and I followed the thwacks to Cabasse, where the Sphère ($150,000/pair, more or less, and reviewed by Michael Fremer a year or so back) held court, driven by Cabasse's own Bel Canto-sourced amps; the Cabasse outboard digital crossover; and McIntosh's C2300 preamp and MCD500 SACD/CD player. No less impressive was Christophe Cabasse himself (left), who patiently led me through the Sphère's impressive technical background—in English, I'm thankful to say. Monsieur Cabasse also reminded me that his company celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, having been founded by Georges Cabasse (père) all the way back in 1960.

Next door to Cabasse, Samuel and Jean-Pierre of L'Atelier-Audio had somewhat less English—and my command of French is virtually non-existent. But I had no trouble understanding the music played through their Ocellia Calliope 30 Twin Signature loudspeakers (exhibited in pre-production form, price TBD), driven by their Quaero 300B push-pull amps ($15,000/pair) and Quaero Signature preamp ($9000). As with all Ocellia loudspeakers, the very efficient Calliope 30 Twins use high-sensitivity drivers from the French company Phy, and the exquisitely beautiful cabinets are built with intentionally very thin walls, braced in a manner not unlike a guitar or violin, and equipped with an adjustable port/open baffle system for matching the loudspeaker to the volume of air in the listening room. The performance was lovely, insofar as I could tell in such an unavoidably setting, and I've requested a pair for review.

Because I have a review pair at home, I was eager to hear how the new Wilson Sasha loudspeakers ($26,995/pair) would sound under show conditions, in the largest Coup de Foudre room. Driven by a Brinkmann Oasis turntable ($13,700), Brinkmann 10.5 tonearm ($6300), Brinkmann EMT cartridge ($4300), VTL TL5.5 preamp ($8000 with phono), Berkeley Alpha D/A converter (45700), Pathos Adrenaline amplifiers (price unknown!), and all Transparent Audio cabling, the Sashas were just as colorful, dramatic, and involving today as they've been for the past several weeks in my own listening room. Of course today's performance owed a great deal to the quality of the recordings made by master recordist Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio (left), whose sessions with Cuban-born pianist Jorge Luis Prats were nothing short of sensational. On the right, making sure I didn't miss the VTL preamp, is VTL's Luke Manley.

The best new jazz album of 2010 so far: the Ryan Keberle Double Quartet’s <I>Heavy Dreaming</I> (on the Alternate Side Records label). I’ve played it a dozen or so times in the month since I received an advance copy. It’s infectiously joyous, except when it’s movingly melancholic, and it’s head-spinning, too.

From the perspective of an attendee, Salon Son & Image 2010 may be the ideal hi-fi show. While the Hilton Bonadventure is a massive, sprawling location, the exhibitor rooms on the main floor are clearly marked and easily identifiable by a specific color referred to in the official show guide: There are green, purple, red, and blue halls, all with pleasant lighting made to match. In the green hall, just around the corner from my own room, we find Audio D’Occasion, Cardas Audio, Hathor Acoustik, Joseph Audio, Sensational Musicale, and Verity Audio.

Simple "Enter" signs posted on exhibitors' doors, and made to match the color of the show hall, work to create a welcoming environment at SSI 2010.

You’ve heard this before from us, but only because it’s true and remains an important point: A great part of the fun (and, therefore, <i>value</i>) in attending hi-fi shows comes from the chance encounters that inevitably take place in the show halls. We’re all trying to get somewhere fast, and these encounters invariably slow us down, but almost always for the better. We get to see the people who work so hard to bring great music into our homes. Here, for instance, I had the pleasure of bumping into Ayre Acoustics’ Steve Silberman (left) and Magico’s Irv Gross (far right).

Today is Press Day at the <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/montreal_audio_show_starts_friday/">2010 Salon Son & Image</a>, located at the extraordinary Hilton Bonadventure, a penthouse hotel perched above the Place Bonadventure exhibition center, built for the 1967 World’s Fair. At the moment, exhibitors and members of the press are just getting acquainted with the unusual hotel, which has an extremely tempting heated outdoor pool and garden views at every turn. Lines are just beginning to form at the registration desk, where I couldn’t help but say hello to the charming staff.