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

S5  Joseph Crowe Custom Audio Products
The Joseph Crowe room at the Toronto show last November was one of the surprise hits of the show, easily earning a Best Rooms award. With a much larger room, the presentation here was even more spectacular. Dire Straits was ethereal.

On the top right was a Lucas Audio Lab Reference One Streamer ($38k CAD), made in Poland by Lucas Domansky. A LampizatOr Genya DAC from Lucas Fikus in Poland ($28,775 CAD) was in the center of the lower row, flanked by prototype Joseph Crowe 300B monoblocks ($41k/pr.). A prototype Joseph Crowe tube preamp ($12,850) was above the DAC. The finished preamps (2310) will be available to ship in a few weeks, and the amps (2320) will be ready to ship in June of this year. Cables were from Anonymous Cables. All the components were on special footers, or a plate with special footers.

Canadians Don Sachs (above) and Lynn Olson collaboratively developed the preamp and monoblocks used here for Joseph Crowe, who is licensing the design from them. Don and Lynn are world renowned for restoring vintage tube gear as well as producing their own vacuum tube gear. Don is trying to retire, but I don't know why; he is still vertical. I can't remember if the monoblocks here were a parallel or push-pull 300B design. 

Crowe builds a variety of beautifully designed, high-efficiency horn loudspeakers. I'm not sure if this is the exact same model he showed at Toronto. Being in a conference room rather than a sleeping room at a hotel, I could get a much better look at it. You don't have to have a background in the furniture industry to appreciate the fine design and high-quality workmanship that go into Crowe hornspeakers. I believe this is the 2087 model, which is an 18" three-way bass reflex design, priced at $70k.

It was a pleasure to meet Troy Crowe, who is young enough to have a huge impact on high end audio in the coming decades.

The banner in the hallway showed the 1636 Nighthawk three-way model ($105k), which crosses into the avant-garde, being a work of art in addition to cranking out the tunes.

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