I got a kick out of an all-Audio Note room playing cellist Vincent Bélanger’s Audio Note LP Pure Cello. Bélanger also offered live performances throughout the weekend; he’s been a welcome fixture at SAM and other audio shows for several years.
Speaker designer Jeff Joseph shows up at these things even more often than Vincent. He took charge of a pair of bewitching Joseph Audio Pearl 3‘s sourced by vpi Titan w/ Lyra Etna cartridge, Technics RS1500 reel-to-reel, and the inevitable MacBook (electronics: Simaudio/Moon; cabling: Transparent Ultra; racks: Modulum Audio). We heard Joe Morello’s rebooted Take Five, then tracks from Midori’s 1991 Carnegie Hall recital. Pièce de résistance: Acoustic Sounds’ Ansermet Royal Ballet Gala Performances. Wow. Just wow.
Don Rhule of Kimbercan with products from Kimber, NEAT Acoustics, and PS Audio (new Stellar Gain Cell DAC and S300 power amp) on Custom Design Milan racks. Yes, he had us convinced the sound was coming from the Momentum SX5i pair, not the dainty Iota Alphas alongside them.
Iain Richardson, with a typically-stylish display of Devialet products, in this case Phantom wireless speakers. He saw me peeking at the Phantoms’ unusual configuration, asked me if I liked organ music, and proceeded to show them off with an astonishing 17-Hz pedal tone that effortlessly filled our 40-ft.-square corner of Salle Ville-Marie.
Mark Jones showed gear from Kronos, CH, and Focal. Using vintage LPs from The Police et al. to highlight this system’s unflappable imaging and plentiful but well-controlled bass, he convinced me there’s nothing ordinary about “ordinary vinyl.”
Wynn Wong showed gear from Karan, Goldmund, Thales, and the amazing Tidal Sunray G2 speakers from Germany. (That’s tee-DOLL, BTW.) I also heard remarkably good systems from Monitor/Roksan (PL300ii, Blak) and Revel/Arcam.
Perusing le Drink Menu at the venerable Maison Kam Fung. After a well-spent day at the show, on to the Centaur Theatre. Some of my friends arrived early enough in the week to catch Kent Nagano conducting Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie with the OSM.
A great show in a lovely city. Despite the cold, we were sorry to leave.
Random notes: Le Salon Audio Montréal has been going on a long time; many attendees have formed lasting friendships. It’s almost like being at an extremely large family reunion—provided, of course, that everyone in your family speaks French. The convivial atmosphere was also due in part to a certain intimacy. This was not a giant event on the order of RMAF or Munich. Canadian gear, also French and British brands well-distributed in Canada, got the emphasis, resulting in a manageable, newbie-friendly event. You weren’t likely to feel exhausted afterwards.
But if you did grow tired of audio (“When a man is tired of audio, he is tired of life.”—Samuel Johnson), you could plop down and gaze out a window—lots of windows at the Hotel Bonaventure—on falling snow, ducks by the pond, guests frolicking in the heated outdoor pool. And did I mention great restaurants, concerts, theatre?
