The little thing just begs to be picked up. And when you do pick it up, you'll find that it's much heavier (and much more satisfying) to hold than you could have imagined. Made entirely in Canada, the lil_doosey (cute!) uses a linear power supply with a custom-wound toroidal transformer. It has gold-plated binding posts and offers XLR and RCA inputs. Apparent build-quality is very high. Standard finishes are gloss white and…
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But the Cutest Amp of Show Award has to go to Mass Fidelity's "lil_doosey." You see? It's even cute about how it spells its name. You gotta love that.
Meet Mass Fidelity's Benjamin Webster. Ben's lil_doosey monoblock amplifier is making its world debut here at SSI 2009.
Ben explained that he's been "obsessed" with both music and gear for as long as he can remember. That obsession led to work in sound editing and recording. Along the way, however, Ben experienced frustration with the limitations of the gear on hand. Too often, the affordable stuff was not up to task, while the good stuff was just beyond his budget. So, "out of spite," Ben decided to build his own gear—affordable gear that lacked the obvious problems…
Montreal's finest vinyl record shop (according to them, l-r): Simon, Pierre, and Tony. Aux 33 Tours has been operating for two years at its present location: 1379 Mont Royal Est, right here in beautiful Montreal. Owner Pierre Markotanyos had collected vinyl for more than 10 years before deciding to open his own shop. The store now carries approximately 80% vinyl, and has a healthy clientele.
A large and constant crowd surrounded the bins at the Aux 33 Tours booth. Men, women, and children were all diving in, happily.
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.
"I'll let you try the pink ones," Monica tells me.
"Hey, I don't have a problem with that," I respond. "In fact, I'll try them all and let you know how the color influences the sound."
This is how audiophiles flirt. Oh god.
The SE115 uses Shure's Dynamic Micro-Speaker Technology and comfortable, sound-isolating sleeves. The goal here…
Isn't she?
Shure's new SE115 earphones look better on Monica than they do on me. Sound good, too.
the rain
in
in
montreal
sounds
just like
the rain
anywhere
else, but
the women
are
beautiful
in a
different
way.
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.
The times that Stereophile writers have available when the Montreal show itself is running is too limited to allow a visit to the Museum, but one of these days I'll just have to make the time. Here's Museum Board Member Pierre Valiquette with…
"Oui, Monsieur! You get a copy of Stereophile magazine with every admission to the show! It's an unbelievable deal, n'est ce pas?"
The Pierre Gabriel speakers usually demonstrated at the Montreal show are normally humongous affairs, and, with partnering equipment by Jadis, the system price may leave you with little change from a $500k bill. I was surprised, then, to see a relatively modest-looking—but still very-good-sounding—speakers playing in the Pierre Gabriel/Jadis room.
The speaker was the 15th Anniversary "Presents" (if my notes are correct), priced at CN$7500/pair. Alas, if you want the accompanying Jadis electronics and digital front end, you have to be prepared to shell out $25,000 for the preamp, $…