Dan Wright of ModWright started out modifying CD/SACD players and D/A converters (I still use the ModWright version of the Perpetual Technologies D/A converter), and his success in this area has encouraged him to come out with products of his own. New at the show was the SWLP 9.0SE prototype phono+line stage preamp (about US$4000).

Bruce Edgar has been refining his Edgarhorn loudspeakers, available in kit form, for a good number of years now, and I've noticed a steady improvement in the sounds he's been getting at shows. The ones I heard at the Montreal Show were the best-sounding yet.

Bang & Olufsen, a company that usually gives audio/home entertainment shows a wide berth, had an extensive display, featuring their futuristic-looking omnidirectional speakers. I enjoyed the sound—maybe because they were playing Frank Sinatra.

The big news at this years Festival Son & Image (FSI, aka "The Montreal Show")
was the change in venue. After many years at the Delta Hotel in downtown Montreal, the Show moved this year to another downtown hotel, the Sheraton Montreal.

The doctor never called back. Maybe tomorrow. Nevertheless, I do feel a bit better. My head still hurts and my throat is still sore, but I've got more energy than I had all week. I picked up the tissues, came to terms with the tea, washed the dishes, and found the energy to set the Moscode aside for now and reinstate the Musical Fidelity A3.5 integrated.

A new Massive Attack album and <I>The Belfast Telegraph</I> breaks the story. "We don't like each other very much. It's always been quite tempestuous for us in the studio&mdash;we always seem to lose a member after every album," says Grant Marshall.

New study: <I>High Times</I> is not a gateway publication to hard reading.

Bagheera simply dribbles off the bookshelf for hours at a time&mdash;after she rids it of those troublesome books, of course.

Huckleberry mutters and plots while cleaning his weapons of mouse destruction.

Neil Gaiman gets a tribute disc. I hope it's as cool as he is.