High Water Sound’s Jeffrey Catalano could give a master class in room setup. A veteran of hundreds of audio shows, he not only presents exceptional-sounding rooms but also curates adventurous vinyl selections. I invariably leave his room with music titles scribbled in my notebook, like recipes for marvelous dishes.

Before I heard the new Soulution 717 monoblocks ($109,975 each), I spoke with Cyrill Hammer, Soulution’s CEO and Chief Designer, and Cliff Duffey, President of AXISS Audio. The conversation was illuminating. The listening? Something else entirely.

Watch our exclusive video interview with Cyrill Hammer and Cliff Duffey.

Joe Henderson: Multiple
Milestone/Craft CR 00845 (LP). 1973/2025. Orrin Keepnews, prod.; Elvin Campbell, Al Vanderbilt, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

The essence of jazz is supposed to be the free-flowing exploration of ideas and expressions. Yet hardcore fans of the music have the unnerving habit of supporting and denigrating the work of the same player from record to record. Artistic growth is often seen as a negative. Even devoted fans might not follow an artist who veers off into a stylistic direction they abhor. The classic example is Miles Davis, who went through several artistic reinventions during his long career. Many of those who love Kind of Blue recoil from Dark Magus, On the Corner, or You're Under Arrest. So-called fusion—adding influences from rock and/or funk—is most often the villain in these judgments.

After starting out as a hard-bop devotee in the early 1960s, with such classic Blue Note sessions as Page One, Our Thing, and Inner Urge, Joe Henderson grew curious about funk, about adding it to his jazz mix. In 1973, on Orrin Keepnews's Milestone label (now owned by the Concord Music Group), Henderson cut Multiple, one of the highlights of his discography.

Kathryn Dawn Lang was country ... until she wasn't. A native of the Canadian province of Alberta, lang (who prefers her name lowercase) grew obsessed with Patsy Cline and country music in general before she was out of college. She joined the Patsy-focused country act The Reclines in 1983 in Edmonton. They released their first album, A Truly Western Experience, in 1984.

Styled as "cowpunk" by many, the album caught the ear of pub-rocker Dave Edmunds, who produced the band's next, rockier album, Angel with a Lariat. That album, in turn, found its way to Patsy Cline's one-time producer Owen Bradley, who in 1988 produced lang's solo debut, Shadowland, on Sire Records. Shadowland and the Reclines' final album, 1989's Absolute Torch and Twang, convinced lang that she was too adventurous—not to mention too gay and Canadian—for the 1980s country music establishment.

This show report covers over two dozen exhibit rooms from the 2025 Montreal Audiofest. Inside, you’ll find systems that impressed with powerful bass, nuanced detail, expansive soundstages, and a few surprises that left lasting impressions.

At an early-morning breakfast, Michael Børresen, co-founder and chief designer of Audio Group Denmark, unveiled the Børresen M2 loudspeakers ($190,000/pair) and their companion Bass Modules (price to be announced). Also shown for the first time in North America was the Aavik R-880 phono preamplifier ($70,000), designed to work with DS Audio optical cartridges. The R-880 enables users to adjust high cut, low cut, and absolute phase on the fly.

Arturo Manzano, long a fan of Koetsu phono cartridges, has reassembled Koetsu’s original team of artisans to return the legendary brand to the international market.

The PS Audio room on the ground floor drew a full house for Paul McGowan’s much-publicized “The Great Reveal.” No music was played during the 20-minute presentation, but McGowan, PS Audio’s founder and resident raconteur, easily kept the crowd engaged.