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American Sound of Canada featured the Vienna Acoustics Klimt The Music speaker in a system comprised of VAC, Bel Canto and YBA for high-pedigree refinement with an enveloping soundstage.


They also trotted out the $7.995 RJH Audio Reference One retro-styled widebanders complemented nicely by similarly vintage-styled Quad tube electronics. These components aimed at the art of simple musical enjoyment. In the corner was the smaller $5.995/pr RJH Audio Songbird looking quite at home with a parade of NAD components.


In the Audio Pathways room there was a wide assortment of Bel Canto and Sutherland product. It was a pleasant chance to chat with Michael McCormick from Bel Canto about the history and direction of the line and see Mr. Sutherland’s latest phono stage, a smartly engineered product cleanly laid out and promising substantial performance at a reasonable mid thousand dollar level if memory serves correctly. In a moment of relaxation Angie Lisi of Great American Sound of Canada joined in a group shot with Michael McCormick, Ron Sutherland and Brad O’Toole of Transparent Cables.


Rutherford Audio showed a wide variety of product throughout the building. Burmester ran the gamut of a $5.000 car audio set up in a Porsche...


... to a massive double pair of Reference B100s driven by their Reference Series electronics in the Sovereign Ballroom.


In between those extremes there was a happy pairing of their electronics with the Genesis 5 loudspeakers. Genesis designer Gary Koh was on hand to greet attendees. As usual his sonic presentation was tight and energetic, manifesting good dynamic life with precision and control.


Still from the Rutherford Audio stable was a wonderful Elac demonstration in an adjoining room, with the Elac 507 VX JET in a unique gloss wood finish matched with Primare components.


The dual-concentrically embedded and front/back adjustable Heil-based JET tweeter acquitted itself with an incredible combination of detail and sweetness and the woofers did an excellent job keeping pace and character intact. This was a good balance between the virtues of transparency and organic solidity. Soundstaging was broad, deep and dimensional.



To continue on the Elac trail Atoll Electronique was demonstrating its electronics with two different speaker models. When I was there, Atoll got impressive performance...


...from the smaller popularly priced FS 248s through its IN200 integrated, sounding far bigger and deeper and more dynamically capable  than they had a right to. The system was both musically satisfying and engaging.


And following the Elac trail yet further led me to the Nordost room...


... where Rune Skov demonstrated the importance of power cables in a Sim Audio Moon-based setup into a pair of FS 509 VX-Jets.


Tri Cell Enterprises featured the Joseph Audio line of speakers in a number of rooms in a variety of combinations. Making the rounds of those rooms revealed a consistency of good sound and signature that always stayed on the musical rather than analytical side yet never sounded deprived of detail or control.


In one room Jeff Joseph demoed his $12.200 Perspective with ModWright Instruments KWI 200 integrated and Aesthetix Romulus CD player. On the last day he switched to the $7.200 Pulsar 2-way speakers for a touch of variety.


In another room the $29.000 Joseph Audio Pearl 2 was paired with Ceol Audio, another fresh Canadian face from veterans Glenn Dolick and Matt Brazeau who bring to the table design expertise from Sonic Frontiers. Their 70wpc power amplifier with single gain-stage ECC803S drives bipolar outputs.


Another Tri Cell offering were the Chario Constellation Ursa Major driven with Accustic Arts electronics, a premium priced setup with refined sonics to match.


Also featured were the Opera line of speakers driven by Unico electronics. Nasta Bartolomeo came by to explain the virtues of the stylish Simply Italy Class A integrated amplifier from Unison Reseach.



Executive Stereo brought out the Vandersteen Quatro A16 at $13.000/pr flanking simaudio Moon components and a plentiful array of Michell turntables for analogue.


The presentation was warm, effortless and powerful. Lionel Goodfield from Simaudio and Ed Stone from Executive were present to field questions.


Ovation Audio was demonstrating the prodigious abilities of the Proac Response D40 with Electrocompaniet equipment...


...and designer Sum Chung Ma was on hand with Ricky Yan of Ovation to introduce his heavyweight new VIF vacuum tube amplifiers.



Mike Hamelin of Audio Eden had assembled a system that was making some fine music with a pair of upper line Element speakers from Totem Acoustics supported by some very hefty and attractive electronics from simaudio and Mark Levinson.


Audio Excellence wheeled out the always excellent Wilson Audio Sophias for an Ayre Acoustics system with a pair of PMC 24 speakers waiting alongside.


In the Cary Audio room were some true audiophile eye-candy pieces. The KEF Blades were not hooked up but the Magnepan 1.7s sounded lusciously big, open, and detailed. The smaller Maggies were also on display and prompted panel veterans to reminisce and neophytes to ask where the speakers were. Adrian Low and Lawrence Mittler from Audio Excellence fielded questions.