Part 5 — Lower Level, And Left (Outremont / St. Laurent Rooms) At The Montreal Audiofest 2026 Show
Major demos, new high-end audio tech, and very interesting audiophile innovation.
Montreal Audiofest Show Report By Rick Becker

S3 And S4  Sound United
Sounds United, the umbrella company that owns Marantz and Denon, combined S3 and S4 rooms by manipulating the movable interior walls. The round Marantz Grand Horizon wireless powered speaker system with Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and HEOS Built-in ($5500 USD) must be achieving some success, as it is still being displayed at shows.

On pedestals off to the left were Marantz integrated amplifiers and separate components.

Again, at this show, they had examples of wide-open components showing the interior copper. Note the dual mono design of the unit on the right.

Further into the room, behind some curtains, was a rig featuring the Bowers and Wilkins Nautilus speaker. It was a lecture/demonstration going on, and I believe the gentleman was describing how the tapered cones behind the drivers have been extended over the years to further improve the sound. These cones seem quite a bit longer than versions of this speaker I've seen in previous decades.

The amplification was a Classe preamp and monoblocks, which were designed in Canada and built by Marantz. Classe shipping boxes say “Assembled in Japan”, but the country of origin on eBay ads says China. So, maybe they are made in a Marantz factory in China?

A line-up of the usual suspects.

In the adjacent room, a pair of Bowers and Wilkins 801D speakers was driven by Marantz flagship separates, along with an Audioquest power conditioner.

The preamp has a built-in streamer.

Bowers and Wilkins graciously sponsored Gerry Dubé and his I Love the Fab Four collection, or as much of it as he could fit in the allotted space. B&W speakers were used by the Beatles in the Abbey Road Studio. That's Gerry with his orange Enjoy the Music.com lanyard.

Along with the (from the left) Hofner, Epiphone, Rickenbacker, Fender, Gretsch, and another Epiphone guitar, you will see an exact replica of Paul McCartney's star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd.

I couldn't get the camera to stop focusing on all the great Beatles paraphernalia in the background.

The company that made the original stars recently made replicas of John Lennon's star, and created one for George Martin, the fifth Beatle, who lived to complete his 90th year.

Also newly acquired were original photos from back in the day of the building on which the rooftop concert was performed (top left), and the entrance of Abbey Road Studios (top center).

I recall he said he was missing one of the series of Pro-Ject's The Beatles Series of turntables. The one at the top was a Rega Planar 2, Guy Belanger Edition.

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