Salon Audio Montréal Audiofest Show Report Part 2
Rick Becker's Montreal Chronicles 2023 Show
Report By Rick Becker

Room 2333  DarTZeel, Sonic Artistry, And Stenheim
I'll write about this room in sequence, but this was the room I had the most difficulty gaining access to. I finally made it inside on Sunday on my fourth pass. The reasons, I think, were two-fold. First, these were hot products with limited distribution. Second, the people who finally made it inside were prone to stay for a good long listen. Most of them didn't look like they were in socio-the economic level capable of affording these high-priced components, but listening to the good stuff at shows is a prime way of training your ear/brain. So, I don't begrudge these listeners. Besides, looks can be deceiving. It's hard to spot the real millionaires walking about at shows. They're good at disguising their wealth.

The darTZeel LHC-208 Integrated Amplifier / Preamplifier / Streaming DAC outputs 175 Watts RMS (200 Watts peak) 8 Ohms 275 Watts RMS (300 Watts peak) 4 Ohms which is plenty for the efficient Stenheim Alumine Three speaker. The combination provided a very high resolution for which Stenheim is noted. Special Nordost footers likely contributed to the clarity and transparency. If this is what you're looking for, I strongly recommend an extended listening session with the music you typically listen to. I'd be inclined to soften it up a bit with some tube amplification. The DarTZeel was supported on a Seismion shelf and Massif amp stand.

The Seismion shelf is an active vibration absorbing shelf from Germany with a list price of €4800 plus shipping. There is not much information online about it. I did learn there is a slightly larger version, 600 x 600 mm, which costs €5600 plus shipping, and the active circuitry consumes about 3 Watts. It is said to be very effective by knowledgeable audiophiles. In a show setting, with an unfamiliar rig (and room), it is difficult to evaluate — particularly because the speakers and electronics are already of very high resolution.

The Merging + NADAC was the DAC in the system, also resting on a combination of Seismion vibration absorbing shelf and Massif amp stand. The Nordost Ethernet Switch and Qkore power conditioning unit were also supported by a Massif rack in the center of the layout.

I've heard the Nordost Ethernet switch A/B compared with and without the Nordost footers and the footers made a significant difference for the better. Nordost makes several flavors of footers and of course, other brands will likely have their own sonic flavor. Everything matters as the saying goes.

2334  Cambridge Audio, ELAC, And Trends Electronics
Trends Electronics went minimal with a Cambridge Audio all-in-one unit, sitting on a cocktail table decked out with plants and candles, driving a pair of passive stand-mounted ELAC monitors supplemented with a single subwoofer. This was an excellent entryway to the high end with a hint of how a rig might look in an apartment or starter home. Not to take anything away from Andrew Jones, but I admired ELAC speakers before he joined them and it's great to hear them sounding great now that he's moved on. He certainly gave them a boost in popularity as well as sound quality and I'm sure they will continue to improve further.

2337  Cambridge Audio, ELAC, And Trends Electronics
Across the hall, Trends Electronics went bigger with a great-sounding pair of ELAC Vela fs 409 floor-standers driven by a couple of components from the Cambridge Audio top series.

Below you see the air-motion tweeter with a sculpted wave guide above a large midrange and a pair of woofers with uniquely segmented cones for rigidity and dispersion. With a frequency range of 28Hz to 50kHz you can easily live without a subwoofer with these $3700 USD speakers. They are also available in wood veneer.

When the Cambridge Audio Edge series first came out, I thought they were over-priced, but having heard them, even with these modestly priced ELAC speakers their value holds up.

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