How did an almost all-Quad system, featuring the brand’s 33 preamplifier with phono stage ($2299) and a pair of 303 power amps ($2299/each) in monoblock configuration driving flagship ESL 2912X speakers ($26,495/pair), sound at Montreal Audiofest 2026? Set up in retailer Codell Audio’s room and fed by a Brinkmann Bardo direct drive turntable ($18,000) equipped with a Supatrak Blackbird 9" unipivot tonearm ($6790) and an Audio Technica AT-ART20 cartridge ($3799), supplemented by two REL S/550 subs ($4550/each), a Saturn Audio 103E MkII power conditioner ($3800), and cabling by Audience—the…
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In the above video interview on our YouTube channel, Robert Schryer gets the scoop on all the ArtistCloner, Saturn Audio, Baetis Audio, and Tough Nut Audio gear shown in this room.
This room offered a great matchup of gear. In earlier Montreal Audiofest iterations, ArtistCloner has consistently demoed an all-ArtistCloner setup, including accessories. But at the 2026 show, the company proved it can get sound just as good by including with other brands—specifically Saturn Audio and Baetis Audio. The resulting system combined impactful bass and a vast, airy, deep soundstage…
In the above video interview on our YouTube channel, Heaven 11 Audio’s Itai Azerad discusses the company’s new gear.
This was one of my top rooms at Montreal Audiofest 2026. The Heaven Audio Billie 11 integrated amp ($2995; shown below) and Buchardt Audio E50 standmount speakers stop you at the door—minimalist, sculptural, impossible to ignore.
The sound matched the looks: impactful bass with real authority, whistle-clean highs, and a soundstage far larger than the speakers' footprint suggested. From Billie Eilish to John Coltrane, the system stayed…
IIn our latest video interview from Montreal Audiofest 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with SPL cofounder Hermann Gier about the equipment shown in this room, including the SPL Crossover Mk2 active analog 2-way crossover, SPL Performer s900 amplifier (look for the forthcoming Stereophile review), and SPL Performer s1200 amplifier.
Like the studio-grade pro audio gear company which made its name, the SPL setup at Montreal Audiofest 2026 wasn't built to impress exactly. The SPL setup was something more disciplined—even frequency response, clarity, a consistency that made…
Not to toot our own horns, but Stereophile magazine's reviews of the J.Sikora Initial, Reference, and Standard Max Supreme turntables helped catapult the Polish manufacturer into the audiophile spotlight.
As I wandered the circuitous corridors of High End Munich 2025 and AXPONA, J.Sikora's meteoric rise was impossible to miss—the 'tables' neo-Brutalist beauty commanded attention in room after room in Germany and Chicago.
The kicker came at 2025's Capital Audiofest, where J.Sikora turntables seemed to have multiplied like audiophile rabbits. Initial Max and Standard Max Supreme…