Part 7: The Lower Level, Outremont, And St. Laurent Rooms
A symphony of spectacular high-fidelity sound!
Montreal Audiofest 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker

S1 & S2  EARVANA & Marketplace
These young folks had a table full of high-quality, esoteric jazz recordings. I didn't notice what company they represented.

Charles Kirmuss survived the industry party last night in fine shape, but the Dr. of Groove was certainly not dressed for operating on LP records on Sunday. Acoustique Technologies on the blue poster behind him is a Montreal retailer who also offers equipment repair services and LP cleaning services using the Kirmuss record cleaner and products.

Being from Montreal, of course Charles has his poster in French!

Soltanus Acoustics received an honorable mention at Montreal last year, where their crossoverless electrostatic panel speaker performed so well in a room sponsored by Brooklyn Audio. This year, they combined to present the company's electrostatic headphones and headphone amplifiers. They had a large table full of products, but it was the orange amp and headphone above that grabbed my attention with balanced outputs for both electrostatic and dynamic headphones. Brooklyn Audio, by the way, is in Nova Scotia. Don't get lost in New York City. Their website is worthy of investigation if you are interested in electrostatic speakers or headphones.

Gerry Dube returned again this year with his I Love the Fab Four exhibit featuring gold records, period-correct instruments, and artwork from the Beatles. I did a longer exposé on him at the Toronto show last year if you want to dive deeper. Unfortunately, Gerry was under the weather that weekend, so we bumped fists and vowed to meet again. His larger collection of John Lennon's drawings was on display several years ago.

...or, you can find out more on his website, or even call him up.

The Association Montrealaise des Audiophiles was present again, looking for more recruits interested in having a fun time with audio gear and music.

Richard Kohlruss was a particularly difficult person to track down as he not only had this expansive headphone presentation, but also two other rooms with stereo systems to keep open. While not explicitly labeled "ASONA Ltd.", I recognized the headphones he imports. The folks here kindly put me on the right trail to find him. Stax, Dan Clark, Shanling, Pathos, and Meze are among the headgear brands featured here, plus additional component brands.

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