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
I didn't get a chance to talk with this gentleman as I was blitzing through the room, but Gerr Audio is into acoustic test and measurement tools and services to sniff out noise and vibration issues in components and rooms. Audio Precision acoustic analyzers are the standard of the industry.

Princess Pasta Audio was first sighted at the Toronto Audiofest, and they were back with more headgear from high-value companies such as Geshelli Labs, HarmonicDyne, Mod House Audio, Opal Audio, Orchard Audio, and Ricable.

PPA had a table that was busy each time I passed by.

Rtings.com had a pretty simple presentation, but it wasn't clear what they do. A search led to their website, which states: "RTINGS.com is a website that buys and tests its own products to provide unbiased and comprehensive evaluations." And from Wiki:  "RTINGS is a Canadian website which performs and publishes data-based benchmarks of consumer electronics products."  OK.

SPL (Sound Performance Lab), from Germany, had a table featuring their headphone amp along with a few headphones. They are known by Enjoy the Music.com for their mastering, studio, and pro audio gear, but also have made a foray into the high-end audiophile consumer electronics sector. In use here was their Phonitor x or Phonitorxe, a headphone amplifier and preamplifier. It is available in silver, black, or red.

These cheerful folks from Luxe Sound / Luxe Son were selling fashionable earbuds.

Grado Canada had both a counter with listening stations and some upholstered seating for more involved listening.

I had heard about some new introductions and found these two higher-end models in the Signature Series. The HP100-SE with an aluminum housing had new pricing ($3,599), and the new S950 had Brazilian Walnut chambers and a detachable cable with 4-pin mini XLR connectors for $3,199. I listened to both for a minute and was impressed with the sound quality, but found I lean toward the organic sound of the wood-chambered model. They were vastly superior to my workhorse SR80e daily drivers. LOL!

Quebec Acoustique, in Blainville, a suburban town just north of Montreal, had a long table with a lot of headgear on it. From the posters, it looks like they sell a lot more than headphones.

Lots of earbuds.

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