Part 6: Montreal Audiofest Chronicles 2024
The Lower Level, Montreal, and Westmount Rooms.

W4  Audio by Mark Jones, And Nordost

I always look forward to visiting Mark Jones' room as it is typically among the best at any show and he has an appealing way of presenting music he loves on vinyl. It always has a crowd of attentive listeners. Unfortunately, Mark caught up with me in the hall earlier on Sunday and told me there had been a mishap and he had to close down his room. I couldn't get into the room to take a photo, but Mark supplied a couple. He also briefly described the rig:

"We had a Linn Klimax Table with a Lyra Etna SL going directly into a CH Precision I1 integrated with a built-in phono-stage and DAC. Although used sparingly - a Grimm MU1 streamer, Magico S3's, and all cables were Nordost Valhalla 2, power and Ethernet distribution also via Nordost."

I was disappointed that I didn't get to hear the new Magico S3 again, as I've heard it sound great at Capital Audiofest and it has received outstanding reviews.

A second photo Mark sent showed his innovative use of a low-profile SolidSteel amp stand as the top shelf of the rack. This accommodated a slender unit from Linn, probably the Radikal motor control for the turntable. With increasing downsizing of components, this may be a useful (and cost-saving) way to add another shelf without substantially raising the height of your rack. Often (and I'm guilty of this) people stack two components on a single shelf, foregoing any sound-damping or isolation benefit from having each component on its own shelf.

W5  Atoll Electronique Canada And Hifipro.com

Atoll Electronique, from France, has been making obvious improvements to its styling and sound quality in recent years. But the main rig in this room had only a single piece of their gear – on the far right of the middle shelf. Lots of conrad-johnson was seen on all three shelves. The Merging & Nadaccompany has folded and will now become Master Fidelity with new products to be introduced in Munich this year.

The unusual speakers were from Davis Acoustic from France, a brand that I've only seen on rare occasions. Note how thin they were and how close to the front wall they were. They were quite unlike anything I'd previously seen from them. It was a beautiful veneer and an attractive design. The gentleman removed the grille to reveal an 8" full-range Kevlar driver and tweeter in the ported upper section. Lower down, inside, were a pair of 8" carbon woofers in push-pull configuration with their own port. Depending on the finish, the price ranges from $33k to $41k, quite far upstream from the Davis speakers I'd seen years ago.

I was surprised to learn the acrylic turntable was from Goldnote in Italy, likely their entry-level table.

As I turned around to leave they were reversing all the chairs in the room to play a second system featuring a Merging & Nadac DAC in a mostly Atoll system driving a pair of Model 15 electrostatic speakers from Final in the Netherlands. Final was a strong brand in the 1990s, but faded when the owners left in 2004. They have since restarted the company and it was sounding very nice driven by the Atoll electronics. Cabling was by AtOhm from France, who also makes speakers.

W6  Motet Distribution, PS Audio, And Kimber Kable Canada

Motet Distribution caries the PS Audio line in Canada where it is still sold in brick-and-mortar stores, unlike in the States where it is direct sales only. Motet has shown PS Audio rigs in this last Westmont room for the past few years. I've had the opportunity to hear each of the new Aspen series speakers as they've been introduced here ahead of their introduction at AXPONA.

I was lucky to stumble in when the new Aspen FR10 speaker ($14k) was playing. To my ear, this was the best of the three models in this room despite its smaller size. The mid-size FR20 ($26.6k) is shown above in white.

Rather than displaying it with their more expensive components, the rig featured the new Airlens streamer ($3k), new Stellar Gold DAC ($5.6k), new Stellar Gold preamp ($5.6k), and the Stellar M1200 monoblocks ($8.5k). The Stellar M700 monoblocks ($4.6k) were on silent display and a P15 Power Regenerator ($10.7) was upstream.

One of the main differences in the FR10 was the rear-firing 6" x 9" passive radiators rather than the side-firing ones on the larger models. Efficiency is also lower at 86.5 dB, thereby encouraging you to buy their high-power Class D monoblocks.

I had the feeling that this was probably the model that should have been purchased by the early adaptors who first jumped on the FR30 when it was introduced. My favorable opinion of the FR10 was fortified by the fact that a lot more people were filling the seats in the room this time, and they were staying to listen. I enjoyed Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" with which I am very familiar. A clip from "If Not Now" from that same album has been on my compilation CD which I've used since the early 2000s.

More Montreal Audiofest 2024 Show Reports To Come
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That wraps up the Montreal and Westmount room on the lower level. I'll be back in a few more days with the Outremont and St. Laurent room in Part 7 and finish up with the Best Rooms nominations in Part 8.

---> Onward to Rick's Montreal Audiofest 2024 show report part 7.

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