SSI 2014

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SSI 2014
Solen teens
Art Dudley  |  Apr 01, 2014  |  0 comments
On my second day in Montreal I had an enjoyable conversation with Jean Barbeau of Solen Electronique, the Quebec manufacturing company whose capacitors and other passive components remain popular with hundreds of manufacturers (including the vintage-inspired Shindo Laboratory). Monsieur Barbeau, who co-designed the fine-sounding loudspeaker project being demonstrated in Solen's SSI room, observed that more and more young listeners have been approaching Solen in recent months for DIY parts and advice—"A very healthy trend."
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SSI 2014
Son Idéal's Rega deal
Art Dudley  |  Mar 31, 2014  |  0 comments
Presumably someone snapped-up this show special, seen in the second room of Montreal retailer Son Idéal: a Rega RP40, which is the 40th Anniversary edition of the Rega RP3, complete with the reddest mat in existence. Son Idéal offered it for $CAD1199, instead of the usual $CAD1699.
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SSI 2014
Son Idéal, Harbeth, Rega, and Pathos
Art Dudley  |  Mar 31, 2014  |  0 comments
Bring me the head of anyone who says the Harbeth Monitor 40.1loudspeaker isn't a great rock 'n' roll loudspeaker! As Montreal retailer Son Idéal proved—proved, I tell you—the biggest Harbeths are very satisfying on the classic album Led Zeppelin III, especially with the assistance of a Rega RP10 record player with Rega Apheta cartridge; Rega Aria phono preamp; Rega Saturn-R CD player; and Pathos T.T. integrated amplifier.
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SSI 2014
Sony's sub-$5000 system
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 02, 2014  |  0 comments
Sony's contribution to the sub-$5000 system endeavour was a combination of the HAP-S1 Hi-Rez digital playback/amplifier/HDD unit ($999) and a pair of SS-HA speakers ($698/pair). As you can see from the picture, the setup was not ideal for listening.
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SSI 2014
Sophie De Cruz
Robert Deutsch  |  Mar 31, 2014  |  0 comments
The lovely and talented Sophie De Cruz. What a voice this woman has!
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SSI 2014
Sparta, from Kronos
Art Dudley  |  Mar 31, 2014  |  0 comments
At the GTT Audio room, turntable designer Louis Desjardins introduced a more affordable alternative to the original Kronos turntable: the Kronos Sparta ($21,000, plus an additional $6500 for the companion Helena tonearm).
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SSI 2014
Spin baby
Art Dudley  |  Mar 29, 2014  |  0 comments
Here's a closer look at one of Plurison's customized Regas. The face motif, according to Michel Plante, plays on the idea that an LP has two "faces" (French for "sides"), and the notion that music itself has many faces. Exact prices were not immediately available, but the plan is to sell each of the silk-screened Regas for 15% above the normal price; all of that premium will go directly to the artists who created the designs.
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SSI 2014
SSI & the Chester Group
Robert Deutsch  |  Mar 29, 2014  |  0 comments
As reported previously in Stereophile, the Montreal Salon Son & Image is now owned by the UK-based Chester Group, but with Sarah Tremblay continuing as the director of the Montreal show. (Sarah is also the manager of the upcoming New York Audio Show.) On hand at the Montreal show were (left to right) show organizer Scott Humphrey, Chester Group Chairman and Founder Roy Bird, and Sarah Tremblay.
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SSI 2014
SSI 2014—a Suitable Beginning
Art Dudley  |  Mar 28, 2014  |  6 comments
Here’s the trick to show reporting: accomplish as much as possible ahead-of-time. Thus my decision, while riding the Amtrak train from Albany, NY to Montreal for this year’s Salon Son et Image, to write about the journey itself, and to illustrate my post with a photo of something I’d seen along the way.
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SSI 2014
Tannoy's Canterbury GR
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 01, 2014  |  2 comments
Now, that's a real speaker! Unless you examine it, or read the literature on the Tannoy Canterbury GR ($30,000/pair), you might think that you're looking at a speaker made more than a half-century ago: a very substantial floorstander that's wide as well as deep, making no concession to modern speaker design ideas like keeping as narrow a front baffle as possible.
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SSI 2014
The Best Sound at SSI?
Robert Deutsch  |  Mar 29, 2014  |  1 comments
Friday was Day One of a three-day show, but I'd already picked my best sound—which I'm quite certain will not be exceeded by listening to any collection of electronic/mechanical contrivances. It was provided by soprano Sophie De Cruz, tenor Eric Thériault, accompanied by Dominique Boulianne on the piano. Standing near the entrance to the bar/restaurant at the Hilton Bonaventure, De Cruz and Thériault, sang arias and duets from La Traviata, La Bohème, Tosca, and other pieces of the Italian and French operatic repertoire.
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SSI 2014
The Future is Back
Robert Deutsch  |  Mar 29, 2014  |  0 comments
What is this replica of the DeLorean used in the Back to the Future movies doing at an audio/video show? It's to advertise a company called Le Studio Secret, which organizes office parties with a cinema theme. But this is obviously not just a business; the Back to the Future DeLorean was a labor of love for Thierry Lacombe, with some extra gadgetry that Doc Brown and Marty McFly would have appreciated. You have to admit that it looks cool.
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SSI 2014
The magic Chord
Art Dudley  |  Mar 29, 2014  |  0 comments
In addition to AudioQuest cabling, the demo system put together by Montreal retailer Audioville comprised a pair of KEF Blade loudspeakers ($30,000), stirred into action by Chord electronics: the SPM5000 amplifier ($25,000), CPA3000 preamplifier ($10,000), and DSX1000 DAC/streamer ($13,000). The sound, as noted in Steve Silberman's demonstration, was explicit without being relentless about it: Music flowed naturally, and with decent color and very good impact, especially at the louder end of the spectrum.
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NewsSSI 2014
The Montreal Audio Show Starts Friday
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Mar 24, 2014  |  2 comments
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Such is the story of the Montreal Audio Show aka Salon Son et Image (SSI), which takes place this coming weekend, March 28–30. The Chester Group may be sponsoring the show for the first time, and longtime show organizer Michel Plante may have ceded the reins to his partner/wife, Sarah Tremblay, but both the location (the Hilton Bonaventure Hotel) and the show structure are pretty much the same. Tremblay expects about 80 exhibitors—the same as last year—holding forth in 80–100 rooms.
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SSI 2014
The Nordost experience
Art Dudley  |  Apr 01, 2014  |  1 comments
I have experienced my first cable demo in French. The very animated and enthusiastic Bruno Delorimier conducted a Nordost interconnect comparison for an appreciative audience of Quebec audiophiles, using a pair of Dynaudio Confidence C1 loudspeakers ($8500/pair, plus $600 for stands), and all SimAudio Moon electronics. Going from Nordost's Blue Heaven ($350/1 meter pair) to their monofilament-technology Heimdall (ca $800/1 meter pair), the differences in rhythmic nuance and sheer touch—in favor of the Heimdall—were apparent, regardless of language.
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