Moving down the hallway to Fontaine H sponsored by Brosseau,
a major dealer in Saint-Hubert, just across the river from Montreal, there
were several rigs set up in this long, narrow room. Among the systems was a
fine sounding rig featuring small stand mounted DALI
Minuet monitors ($1795 in cherry, less in black or white) with an unusual
chrome-like tweeter that reflected the lights in the ceiling, driven by Exposure
electronics, a brand that we haven't heard much about in recent years, but
certainly a very good sounding high-value line. On silent display was an
unconventional shape DALI speaker in red with a short, dedicated monopod stand
that appeared to be more of a lifestyle product, but knowing DALI (from
Denmark), I expect it is a very serious endeavor. It was wired to a very
uniquely styled YBA Genesis IA3,
an integrated amplifier with a USB input, another brand (from France) that we
haven't heard a lot about in recent years. Unfortunately there was only one
person attending the room and I wasn't able to obtain a lot of information
here.
This rig in the Import
Hifi room in Fontaine F sported a $5k system logo and started off
with a Rega P3 with an Ortofon
Blue cartridge feeding a BC Acoustic
integrated amp for the mid and tweeter of the BC speakers while the silver
monoblocks drove the bass. Nordost
cabling was used here. Note the excellent signage and the handsome wood sound
diffusers present here. Since all the rigs in this room were on the long wall,
side reflections were nowhere near as much of an issue as the random
conversations. A step-up rig, also with a $5k logo, was to the left with
better BC speakers, subwoofer and electronics. And near the entry to the room
was yet another sub-$5k rig for smaller rooms—this one with stand mounted
monitors and a subwoofer. There was even signage for a complete rig at $1247 +
tax, well, probably not including decent cables, but a least an entry level
price point to get started.
Lined up in the small hallway at the opposite end of the
lower level from the escalators was a lot of interesting gear sitting on
tables. A Rega $5k rig here
included their Apollo CD player, Brio-R integrated amp with MM phono stage and
floorstanding speaker. Also on display was the Music
HallIkura turntable ($1495) shown here with the optional $85 Texas
Longhorn Moo Mat. The plinth has a series of dots giving it the semblance of
carbon graphite. Gotta love Roy Hall—ever the marketing maven. I thought his
mmf 5.1se turntable for $1099 looked very handsome. The mmf 11.1 turntable,
shown here with a Holstein Moo Mat, looked a bit complex with three pulleys,
two speeds and a multi-layer plinth. A Rega RP6 ($1699) was disguised with a
painted LP on its platter and the new Rega RP10 which I heard earlier
upstairs, with ceramic platter ($6199, $7299 with their Apheta cartridge) was
on display.
The Pathos
display included the attractive Converto DAC (($1295) with coax, optical and
USB digital inputs and RCA analog input. Shown on the bottom, here, it
includes a headphone amp and on the rear are knobs for headphone gain and
balance. The circuitry is entirely balanced. Above it is the Aurium headphone
amp ($1495) with pure Class A tube input stage and MOS-FET power stage with
3.6W at 32 Ohm. Adjustable output impedance from 16 to 1000 Ohms will help you
mate it to most any headphone and it features both balanced and RCA inputs and
balanced and RCA outputs for Tape. (Does anybody still use tape?) This is a
very nice looking desktop unit.
Also on display were the Pathos Classic One MKIII hybrid
integrated amp, which at 70 wpc @ 8 Ohm, 130wpc @ 4 Ohm is like a beautiful
woman who is also a master of martial arts. The sleeper here was the Ethos
hybrid integrated amp/DAC (100 wpc @ 8 Ohms, 200wpc @ 4 Ohms) with digital and
analog inputs, both balanced and unbalanced. It includes a preamp and
subwoofer output for stereo home theater use. This is a svelte looking unit
with their logo heat sinks on the side. There are also downloadable drivers
for streaming music from MAC and Windows.
Tucked in the back in K8, one of several rooms sponsored by Plurison
was a trio of Focal's new Aria
900 series with the new flax cone drivers that I raved about at the Toronto
show. Here I saw the small Aria 906 two-way stand mounted monitor for about
$1000-$1200 with vinyl wrap sides and glass top. From there the display jumped
to the Aria 936 ($4399) three-way with three bass drivers and a separate
midrange, and finally to the Aria 948 ($5400) three-way with a pair of larger
woofers. Also in this room I had a chance to look at the very nice looking and
very affordable Wharfedale
Diamond 10.0 in a traditional block shape at $279 in a black wrapped chassis
with gloss black front, and the larger 10.1 model in a curve-sided cabinet in
wood vinyl wrap and gloss black front at $399/pr. Both of these speakers have
received very favorable reviews over the years in their continually evolving
iterations, but since they are marketed primarily in mid-fi venues I've
never had a chance to listen to them. They looked more expensive than they
really are.
To hear the new Focal
Aria 926 I had to slide around the corner to the St. Leonard room that doubled
as the display for Devialet,
which now sports four different models. In the room they were using the $7000
entry level model 110 to drive the Aria 926 ($3200). As you can see, it makes
for a pretty minimally invasive system, although other smaller speakers would
make it virtually disappear. I really like the sound here from the 926 which
seemed to go sufficiently low with a -6dB point of 37Hz. Like the Grimm system
mentioned in Part 1, this is a system for music lovers, not for an equipment
junkie who needs a dozen components connected with twice as many cables. It is
pretty much a "one and done" rig—you write your check and then enjoy the
music. Perhaps once in a while you hit the Devialet with a little polish,
unless, like me, you appreciate the smudges as a living work of art. The
models range from basic to complex, and lest you think this concept is some
kind of toy, let me whisper...S/N 130dB.
Immediately across the hall from Devialet/Focal was this
brigade of Rega turntables atop painted mannequins. Talk about a show
stopper! What do you want to bet Devialet shows with one of these under their
unit next time? Or perhaps a chrome mannequin with black fishnet stockings?
Hell, the analog revolution would surge if they took this idea seriously and
made the tops level for actual working turntables. What real man cave could be
without one? I picked up a free Rega sticker, but I'm not sure whether I
want to put it on my piano black Kharma speaker or the bumper of my
rust-bucket Tracker. The bright green sticker kind of reminds me of The
Incredible Hulk comics.
Off in the corner I caught a glimpse of the lovely Anne
Bisson signing and selling CDs, LPs and USB
cards of her music. A copy of her new "Tales from the Treetops"
LP was visible under the raised top of the piano behind her. Did I miss an
impromptu concert? Tom had picked up a copy so maybe I'll get to hear a few
cuts next time he visits. Her music is available directly from her website and
the usual audiophile LP outlets.
Swinging from Beauty to the Beast, I ducked into the Martin
Logan home theater demonstration where the barbarians looked and
sounded really fierce. When they started asking about my wallet I got up and
ran. I prefer almost any kind of music to plundering barbarians, but the sound
here was admittedly very good.
---> Next Page.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
