Salon Audio Montréal Audiofest Show Report Part 1
Rick Becker's Montreal Chronicles 2023.
Report By Rick Becker

Room 1306 Brosseau.ca
Brosseau put together a fine-sounding rig tastefully displayed in a console-style cabinet that certainly presented a solution for integrating your gear in a typical living room environment. The rig was comprised of Dali speakers, Melco server, Lyngdorf preamp/room correction(?) Innuos streamer, Saturn Audio amplifier, and Analysis Plus cables.

Off to the side on silent display at the time was one of the smaller Cabasse spherical almost all-in-one speakers on an artful dedicated stand. Just add a source, if I'm not mistaken. I've heard the largest version of this design on several occasions and was always impressed. It's a lifestyle approach, but on a very high level from Cabasse. They have another series of more conventional-looking speakers that have been heavily advertised in the print press. I've yet to hear any of them, but expect them to be an elegant, high-value speaker.

Room 1209 Laliberte Electronique And Studio Solution
I finally got to hear the new KEF floorstander, but since the room was sponsored by a company that specializes in room treatments, I think the sound was overdamped. The Studio Solution products seemed to work effectively and were reasonably priced.

Room 1311 Laliberte Electronique And Studio Solution
Here again, with the same presenter, the music sounded a little better, but putting the components flat on the floor isn't a good approach for optimizing the music.

Room 1314 Heaven 11 Audio
This was probably the most modest rig in the show. Using a laptop computer, a Douk USB to S/PDIF converter (60$), the Billie Mk2 integrated amp with DAC (2495$), 12Ga. speaker cables for 50$ and Buchardt S400 Mk2 speakers (2960$), they put out a very listenable sound at a reasonable price. This is the second time I've heard the Billie and I'm glad they are still around. Maybe that was a second rig with the Technics turntable as a front end?

The Billie Mk2 puts out 120 Wpc @ 8 Ohms with ICE power Class D. The tube is a Mu-follower in the Class A preamp section. There is an ESS DAC, headphone amp, and MM phono input, as well as Bluetooth input. The clean box with protruding tubes and large wood knobs gives this piece a unique and very cool look.

Room 1318 absolu par CHF And Yamaha Canada Music Ltd
This room with the Yamaha rig was dark and the bright spot on the banner foiled my camera. Fortunately, my video notes were more successful than my still camera. The NS-2000 piano black floorstanding Yamaha speakers were sounding better than the larger, more expensive speakers yet to come in the large Yamaha room on the lower level.

I was able to eke out a photo of the Yamaha R-N2000 Network Receiver with its retro styling, tone controls, and modern features. It boasts 90 Wpc, an ESS Sabre ES902PRO Ultra DAC, Wi-Fi streaming, and HDMI (ARC) capability Next year I'll bring my headlamp. The system was wired with Kimber Kable.

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