I encountered Graeme Humphrey
outside the large Coupe de Foudre
room on the lower floor. Stepping inside I could see the Wilson
Audio Sasha speakers powered by Pathos
Adrenalin 200 watt monoblocks with their proprietary Inpol design working in
Class A. The room was dimly lit and the speakers and monoblocks were spaced
far apart, a good distance in front of the front wall. Only a couple of stands
of flowers and a CdF sign filled the view beyond the speakers and amplifiers.
The rest of the rig was over on the right hand wall. A single wide armless red
chair was specifically located with pieces of duct tape on the carpet. Even
standing in the proximity of this chair it was evident this was a very special
presentation — even more special than previous years when other, larger
Wilson speakers have been presented. Was it just the ambiance? In past years
their single large room had been ringed with other gear sold at their shop.
All of that was gone, here. Some of it was seen in their two hotel rooms
upstairs. A quick look at the source rack told me I needed some help from
Graeme. Not being sure of how it was currently configured, he introduced me to
Peter McGrath, the famous (at
least in our circles) recording engineer who is now Director of Sales for
Wilson Audio. Peter related his story of a recent recording session where
small children from the audience were invited up to play triangles (on cue
from the conductor) with the orchestra. Sensing my delight and awareness that
such special moments are what life is about, he proceeded to play the piece
for me. It was sourced on his computer and fed to a Wavelength
tube DAC (24 bit/96kHz) before going to a VTL
preamp. A turntable,
Berkeley
Alpha DAC and some kind of digital interface were also in the rack, but
apparently not in use. The red chair became available and I sat down. The
music was outstanding for its transparency, focus, soundstaging, and dynamics,
but most of all for its effortlessness that made it easy to imaging being
present to the musicians and the sheepish smiles on the small children.
Wilson
might deem some of their larger models superior to the Sasha, and certainly
they are more expensive, but this was absolutely the finest
Wilson
presentation I've ever heard. Of course the room is a major factor and it was
no small feat to fill this one, maybe 40' by 40', with the microdynamics of
delicately played triangles and the resounding notes of trumpets at the front
of the stage. Fortunately the dim lighting combined with the excellence of the
music to command respect and quietude from the visitors. Obviously, this was
one of the very Best
Rooms at the show this year.
After that experience I slid across the hall to get my head
together again. A Raysonic CD 128
tube CD player fed an Antique Sound Labs
Twin Head headphone amplifier with Sennheiser
800 headphones ($1675) that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to with Neal
Young's Unplugged CD.
Next up was a Hifiman
HE-5 open baffle design ($600) with wood ear cups were not quite as good as
the Sennheiser above, but were a lot less money. They were driven by a Xindak
tube amplifier.
The Beyerdynamic
open ear T1 design was up there closer to the Sennheiser, but only $1050. I
heard it with a solid state Lehmann Audio
Black Cube headphone amplifier. As a disclaimer, I'm not really a headphone
guy — haven't used them in decades, but I certainly enjoyed trying these
out. Especially since these top shelf models are not likely to be on hand at
your local Best Buys or audio emporium. Correct me if I'm wrong. I also
remember seeing a whole room given over to the Head-fi.org
group last year where local members brought in their rigs, often computer
sourced, and set them up for other members and the public to try out. No such
venture this year, as far as I could tell. I see they now have their own
Facebook group, too. My friend Tom should have been the one to write this
portion of the report. He uses cans big-time at work.
Dynaudio
went a step lower down the food chair from the Excite X12 that was so
impressive last year and has since received wide recognition in the press.
Their entry level DM 2/6 ($800) in black ash or rosewood was driven here again
by the Moon I-1 integrated
amplifier and CD-1 player. The DM is close in size and only $400 less than the
Excite X12 in the next series up their ladder. For the extra money you will
probably hang onto the X12 for more years as you upgrade your electronics than
you would the DM 2/6, hence receive a better value. It is also interesting to
note that the Excite X12 with the Moon .5 amp and CD player sounded better
last year than the less expensive DM 2/6 speaker did with the more upscale
Moon 1 series components. The Excite series is also offered in more finishes.
I was hoping to see something more ear catching here like the Ocos and Octave
models that were supposed to have been shown at CES earlier this year, but
perhaps I was in the right place at the wrong time.
I
had noticed Gabbi van der Kley of
Arabesque speaker and Crystal
Cable fame when I was in the Coupe de Foudre room, but didn't get a
chance to say hello at that point in time. I found her glass Arabesque
speakers again this year in a large two-room presentation by Audio
Basics from Canada. The first room was filled with silent
merchandise, largely LPs for sale. These folks graciously gave exhibitors and
members of the press a free copy of their Blu-ray Sampler containing the works
of 30 artists and groups. Then, passing through a cloth partition I came
upon one of the most expensive rigs at the show. I was more impressed with the
Arabesque speakers this year, but that may have something to do with the
exotic Tenor electronics that
were fronting the system. Specifically, the Tenor 175S stereo tube amplifier
was having its Canadian debut. The system began with a Sota
Cosmos turntable with a Dynavector
SV1S cartridge on an SME IV.Vi
arm. The phonostage was the upcoming Tenor model to be priced about $50K. The
glass rack shown here had a Crystal Cable label on it and the middle wood box
was the vacuum pump for the Sota turntable. I had a nice chat with Jim
Fairhead of Tenor who told me they were coming out with a preamp
and the phono stage shown here will have a touch screen as well as a very slim
remote that combines machined aluminum with an inlay of wood. Jim rides a
Harley Davidson Fatboy and is no stranger to Rochester , so perhaps we'll get
together this summer for some ribs and music at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Last
year I remember seeing Ernie Fisher of The
Inner Ear magazine talking with Gabi, but I didn't spot him this
year. Perhaps he came during the first two days. In any case, if you read
this, Ernie, I hope you're in good health.
Taking in a blast from the past, I explored the exhibit from
the Musee des ondes Emile
Berliner (1851-1929) who was the inventor of the gramophone, the
microphone and the flat disc, as well as three major record companies: EMI,
Deutsche Grammophon and Victor. Man,
when did he ever have time to listen to music? The Musee is now located in the
original factory that was the home of the Victrola. That would certainly be
worth staying an extra day in
Montreal
. Shown here is a museum representative cranking up a tune on an
Edison
player from back in the days when music was engraved on soup cans.
After that brief history lesson I went off to find the one
room that was conspicuously lost — Totem
Acoustic. I say "conspicuously
lost" because their ad was the front cover of the Salon's directory
— certainly they must be here?
Up in the lobby level of the hotel I tracked down one of the Men
in Blue (sans blue hair) and was pointed down a hallway toward a
large conference room with glass windows that let the daylight pour in. I
entered a huge open space with an 18' high wall covered with artwork, edge to
edge, except for a small TV in the middle. I later learned that Lucy (in the
sky with diamonds?), their DP (Director of Photography?) had created all the
art panels from pieces of old speakers and bits of electronic components. The
intent was to shake visitors out of the paradigm of audio show listening room
and put them into a realm of possibility for what might be created at home. It
is also an attempt to get women excited about creating a quality listening
experience in the context of their home. After all, women listen to music and
watch movies at home, too.
At the top of the wall was an ad featuring a woman draped in
cloth used for the new Totem & Skin
presentation where works of art are wrapped around Totem Tribe III speakers.
The poster, which will likely become a magazine ad in the near future,
reminded me of the Victor Skrebneski poster on my wall from the early days of
the Chicago International Film Festival. Examples of the Skins were seen
around the corner in the Totem space. Vince
Bruzzese assured me the images were all in the public domain. The
one shown here with Klimt's The Kiss harkens
to the Vienna Acoustic speaker of that name, but that's another story.
The concept also flashes back to Adrian Butts of Tetra Speakers, but Vince is
pushing the concept to the forefront with his on-wall speakers and in his
advertising. He is doing this not only with the skins, but also with the use
of primary colors on his speakers, a direction that at least one pole shows is
the least popular (though respondents may have been primarily male). It's a
bold move and one that could move the entire high end industry forward and out
of its doldrums.
So where's Vince? I wandered around and followed the music to a
room created with freestanding partitions in the back corner. Peering over the
shoulders of a wall of listeners I saw one Wind, a vertical red Tribe, a
horizontal Tribe and a freestanding domino shape subwoofer. Sitting in the far
right corner was a small stand containing a Chord
CPM 2650 integrated amp (120 wpc) being fed from a Chord Blu
transport and DAC64 short stacked in the curved (and very expensive) end
pieces. And Vince, who at this late point in the show was showing signs of
being weary and voiceless. He perked up when he saw me and rallied to tell me
about the new red Tribe V which, along with four of his patented
"Torrent" extreme performance woofers, has a new tweeter that better
matches the higher resolution of the four woofers in this model. It is ported
at each end and it sounds as good mounted on the wall as it does out in the
room. The asymmetric orientation of the two speakers created an astounding
wall of sound that while extremely well focused, dynamic and engaging, was
essentially monaural. And as I check my photo, I don't see a speaker cable
going to the wall mounted Tribe — maybe it was
mono? "Vince," I cried" What are you trying to do — drive the industry back
to the Mono era?" If mono had ever gotten this good, stereo might never have
been invented! The Torrent driver is clearly to blame. I've raved about it in
previous years and the more of them he sticks in a box, the better they sound.
Maybe next year he will come out with a Line Source speaker? Not likely.
According to Vince he has a handful of CNC machines cranking out Torrents just
to meet demand for his current models. I also asked about the possibility of a
stereo sound bar for under a big screen TV? "Why?" was his response, "when I've
already got this?" Perhaps in a few years, he conceded. As creative as he is,
he is cautious not to grow his company too quickly. At $5000/pr, the Tribe V
come across as a poor man's Scaena — not a bad trick when you consider that
is without a subwoofer.
Speaking of which…That thin red wafer with two 10" Kevlar
coned woofers for $1700 including an external amplifier with built-in
crossover and controls is equally ingenious. I spotted a hand holding a camera
rise above the free-standing wall and click a picture. It was probably spies
from Def-Tech, quipped Vince. This chic beast is designed to stand on its
short or long ends, hang on the wall or slide under a sofa. But who would want
to hide such a beautiful subwoofer? It was not active with the Tribes, but
around the corner, mated with a small floorstanding two-way speaker driven
with a Peachtree integrated amp/dac
the sub sounded great. With all this going on, the room was an easy Best
Rooms pick, and the first room I would send a newcomer to visit. A
truly great show, Vince!
.jpg)
Before leaving I thanked Michel
Plante for his hospitality and this fine show. Moving to the Hilton
Bonaventure has been a plus that will be made even better in the coming two
years as he fine tunes the details. I highly encourage you, particularly if
you have never been to an audio show, to experience the Salon Son & Image
at least once in your lifetime.
Montreal
is a wonderful city and it is always good to get out of the hometown for a
different perspective on life. Mark your calendars for:
31 Mars-3 Avril, 2011
22-25 Mars, 2012
And if you wish to return to the States after
the show (you might not), don't forget you will need an enhanced drivers
license or a passport.
I cut southwest from
Montreal
on the south side of the St. Lawrence and crossed over at
Trout
River
, just north of Malone, where I was met by a single Border Babe who enticed me
into telling her about my various exploits in the
Adirondacks
after she first checked the back of the Hotel Tracker for undisclosed
amplifiers. I love motoring down through the
Adirondacks
, no matter what the season or weather. That's what 4WD and snow tires are all
about. At
Long
Lake
I pulled over at the beach and pondered how this boat house ended up so far
from shore and how they might be planning to get it back to shore over the
melting ice.
Just before leaving the Park in the southwest corner I
pulled into the White Lake Inn about 9 pm only to be told by the barmaid that
the kitchen was closed. But before I could get out the door an older woman
came running after me insisting they could serve me. It was a really great
hamburger and it's a pretty safe bet I'll be back.
Click here for main show
report page.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
