Part 4: Montreal Audiofest Chronicles 2024
Many wonderful surprises within the 2400 Hallway.
Montreal Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

2422  Vinyl Sound
Vinyl Sound is a relatively new company (2018) on the outskirts of Toronto that focuses on vinyl but carries a wide variety of excellent brands across a wide price range. I was impressed with what I heard here from a rig that was not uber-expensive. From the top, there was a MoFi MasterDeck turntable (with a MySonic Lab Eminent EX MC cartridge) for $14,490 – and that's a $6k cartridge. It was followed by a MoFi MasterPhono phono preamp ($7195) – the first time I had heard one in action. Amplification was a HiFi Rose RA180 Integrated amp ($10k) along with an RS150B Network Streamer ($7k). An Isotek V5 Aquarius power conditioner ($4k, on the floor beside the rack) kept the current clean.

The big surprise for me here was the Wharfedale Elysian 4 speakers ($15k) in walnut finish – a beautifully finished speaker in high gloss that put out very inviting music. It has been many years since I've heard a Wharfedale speaker, which I have thought of as an entry-level brand, but the fit, finish, and sound of this higher-end model shattered my impression.

It was standing-room only but I cut in front of folks to grab the photo above to get a better view of this impressive speaker. Apparently, others felt the same way as no one left while I was there. The other feature that caught my attention was it appears Vinyl Sound offers professional cartridge installation and set-up. Presumably, they offer to do this in your home. This service seems to be gaining traction in large metropolitan areas and it can make a huge difference in your turntable's performance for a relatively small investment.

2423  Audio Note UK

In the second Audio Note UK room I found a smaller rig along with Vincent Belanger (facing), Audio Note's resident cello maestro and brand ambassador. I also found the answer that has long been haunting me: What would Audio Note speakers sound like if they were not tucked into the corners of the room to fortify the bass? While the little stand-mounted monitors were angled toward the prime listening position, they were pretty far from the corners of this long wall.

Surprisingly, they sounded pretty good, though lacking in deep bass as you would expect from such a small speaker. The beauty of Audio Note speakers is they are an easy load for their low-Watt amplifiers and are so emotionally inviting. The AX2 shown here is $6k.

The rig here was considerably less expensive than the larger one. The turntable was $12k, the Cobra amp was $8k, and the CD Zero CD Player was $4500. Not inexpensive, but musically very satisfying.

Bonaventure Room  PAD HiFi Distribution

PAD HiFi Distribution out of Hanover, MA, south of Boston has taken on the esteemed TAD line of audio speakers and components from Japan after years of absence. PAD has been rigorously promoting the line which I saw last year at Capital Audiofest. They were at the Florida show and committed to Montreal late in the game, grabbing the large Bonaventure room. They will also be at AXPONA later this month. This is a difficult room in which to optimize a system as the photo above suggests. Note the sound-diffusing mobiles hanging from the ceiling. I heard this gear sound much better in smaller rooms at Capital Audiofest.

The fit and finish of the gear and the speakers were first-class as you would expect in this high price range. The large Ultimate Reference One TX speakers were $160k while the Compact Reference One TX beside them was $87.5k.

The preamp on the top shelf was $24,950 and a DAC below was $15,900. That was a Wolf Audio Alpha 3SX server ($9500-$13k) below the Qobuz sign and on the bottom shelf were Synergistic Research Galileo SX and PowerCell SX power conditioners.

There were plenty of seats and people were listening very intently each time I dropped back into this room. It was at the crossroads near the top of the escalators to the lower level and I was hoping to catch a listen to some of the more affordable speakers in the room, but it didn't happen.

Above was the Evolution Two speaker, their entry-level floorstander at $20,500.

The Grand Evolution One and Compact Evolution One became a lot more formal looking at $65k for the floorstander and $32.5k for the Compact.

This banner for acoustic panels caught my eye but none were on display. PAD is initials for Professional Audio Design and this business does custom installation for live sound venues, corporate conference centers, education and government facilities, houses of worship, boardrooms, retail, and restaurants. One has to imagine that this is the heavier end of their bat and taking on TAD is a long-term commitment with a lot of staying power. I'm sure their presentations will improve as they get the feeling for different high-end trade shows.

Anne Bisson

Out in the hall near the top of the escalators, I encountered the lovely and ever-present Anne Bisson with a very long table full of albums in various formats. I don't think she ever stops smiling.

Best Of Montreal 2024 Blue Note Awards
That's a wrap for Part 4 and the upper levels of the hotel rooms. Part 5 will be a peak at the Industry Dinner with the Lifetime Achievement Awards. That will be followed by Parts 6, 7, etc on the lower level with the larger rooms, and finally, my call on the Best Of Montreal 2024 Blue Note Awards at this year's even. Stop back in a few days.

---> Onward to Rick's Montreal Audiofest 2024 show report part 5.

---> Back to the Montreal Audiofest 2024 show report homepage.