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
And a trio of Abyss headphones from Joe Skubinski in Buffalo, NY, who also manufactures JPS Labs cables, favorably reviewed by Enjoy the Music.com.

Other entities listed in the show's program for EARNOVA and the Marketplace included Audio Group AURALiC, Kimber Kable, Opal Audio, Café Audiofile, Forte Art & Musique, and QNAP Inc., none of whom were easily identified by banners or other signage. I was interested to learn that QNAP Systems, Inc., headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, provides a comprehensive range of cutting-edge Network-attached Storage (NAS) and video surveillance solutions. Maybe we were being watched?

S3   Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, And Masimo
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), Marantz, and their Italian umbrella company, Masimo, teamed up in S3 and S4. The arrangement was similar to last year, but felt more refined. There was a line of most of the B&W speakers on one wall in the front part of the large room.

Beyond a divider, a darkened room presented music from Bowers &Wilkins' flagship speaker, the 801D4 Signature in California Burl, driven by Marantz components.

The speaker was very rich-looking and sounded more inviting than I recalled B&W speakers sounding when driven by McIntosh gear in other shows.

The Marantz gear looked like new models to me, though the styling theme was consistent with previous models. That was a DR Acoustics Antigone power conditioner on the handsome, three-legged stand.

A convenient poster detailed the models and prices. Remember, the prices are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified.

S4   Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, And Masimo
From my photos, I'm not sure where S3 ended and S4 began. They blended nicely.

Bowers & Wilkins chose to strengthen the brand by showing their wireless headphones in their own room, rather than joining EARVANA.

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