Part 1: Magical Music During The Montreal Audiofest 2025 High-End Audio Show
Starting our exploration of great sound at the Montreal show.
Montreal Audiofest 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker

1235   Laliberte Electronique, Audioquest, And Sonus Faber
Laliberte was also in a sales/education mode in their second room with every seat taken. The Sonus Faber Lumina III speakers ($3349) sounded very decent at a price point where many audiophiles start their journey. Each of the short racks was fitted with a Bluesound Node streamer on top. There was an Arcam A25 amp under the left Node and an Audioquest PowerQuest power conditioner under the right Node, so I suspect some kind of comparison was going on here. They were speaking French, which is not unusual, but I was left out.

This attractive Avyra 622 two-way stand-mounted monitor from Morel in France was sitting at the side of the room above.

1240   Passion Audio, J. Sikora, Burmester, And LampizatOr
Passion Audio in Châteauguay, across the river and just southwest of Montreal, has a hybrid approach to their business with limited open hours on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but also working Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday by appointment only. Unlike Laliberte, above, they carry a solid number of more esoteric brands, some of them exclusively. That explains the unusual composition of the system presented at the show.

The host was unfortunately pinned behind the system with questions from attendees and I had to wait several minutes to get a look at the components. Peeking between the people I could see a J. Sikora turntable and a Burmester amplifier... and yes, Wolf von Langa Son speakers.

This was the first time I've seen the Son speaker on 'legs' like this and the sound seemed more airy than I've heard it before. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to sit down in this room. People were glued to their seats.

I was delighted to spot the LampizatOr Atlantic TRP equipped with the same LCD screen and remote control as the Amber 4 model I reviewed. I noted the quartet of LinLai tubes on top and the volume control on front. I believe it is also equipped with a line input allowing you to use it as a preamplifier for an analog source as well. There is something very special about LampizatOr DACs with tubes and this may have been why the Wolf von Langa speakers sounded so airy in this room. Starting at $7325 (plus tariff?), it was nice to hear one of the more affordable LampizatOr DACs at a show. More often I've heard the several models at or near the top of the line.

I'll move on to the nine rooms in the 1300 hallway in Part 2. Stay tuned!

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