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The 19th edition of the Festival Son & Image de Montréal ran under the banner of new technology, multimedia and of course, sound and image.

With a new setting at the Sheraton Centre in the heart of downtown, a new concept with a real accent on new technology and multimedia, Apple Computer onside as well as Sony’s digital photography division and Panasonic with their LCD screens, Archambault as CD and DVD distributor, the Stéréo Plus chain and many others, the goal of the show was doubtless to reach a wider range of customers.



The FSI linked itself to a good cause by sponsoring a silent auction to which many manufacturers, distributors and retailers contributed one or more high-quality items. The names of the generous donors will be released soon.

The auction’s profits will go directly to medical research, and I can only congratulate Mme. Marie-Christine Prin, the Festival’s chief officer, on this happy idea.

Monsieur Rémy Girard, a Canadian actor well known to Quebeckers, was the event’s spokesperson. He addressed Friday’s press conference along with Monsieur Victor Droury, president of the Foundation for Research into Children’s Diseases.

Now let’s cut to the chase ...

This new setting for the festival was different from the one of years past.

The large area devoted to the big salons A, B and C up to the fourth floor was impossible to fault, but on the other hand the exhibition rooms on the upper floors were too small... both from my point of view and from that of many of those present, including the ones we specifically asked about it.

Nonetheless, the party went on, visitors arrived in large numbers to see what this 19th edition of the FSI had to offer.

I can’t say I was disappointed by the variety of products on show, either audio or video, and you’ll see why when you look at the pictures I took.

Come with me on a little trip through the heart of the show, as though you were there yourself, just to get a look at it. You’ll see that it was worth the time.

It took me more than two days to visit the exhibitors one by one and take in their presentations. I saw and heard things that were incredible, unheard-of, dreamlike, esoteric, beautiful, superb, splendid, curious... and a few others that were less interesting as well, but I’ll only mention what caught my attention.

I may make no comment and let the picture speak for itself... a thousand words, they say.

I’ll be revising the text to fill in a few holes, so thanks for your patience and please accept my invitation to drop back from time to time.

Finally, I’ve chosen a few companies that stood out especially by awarding them a "Best of Show 2006" for musical quality, the success of the presentation or just for beautiful or even outstanding aesthetics. These things are not always compatible, I know, the best-looking systems are not always the most musical, in spite of expectations. I was even a bit surprised by what I heard sometimes...

Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to follow me on a guided tour of the 2006 FSI, presented by www.magazine-audio.com and your humble servant:

Our friends of the AMA (Association Montréalaise des Audiophiles), with Monsieur Serge Jobin, President, on the right.




Here we go around the storeys of the Sheraton...

Audiopathic, an Ontario-based company




AudioShop, a store with a 20-year history, located in downtown Montreal a block away from the Sheraton Centre. The AudioShop people were showing exclusive tripod furniture and acoustic panels from the inovaudio line (Canadian), Mimetism electronics (Franco-Swiss), a CEC transport and amplifier (Japanese) and cabasse speakers (French).











Audioville, a boutique situated in Montreal’s Chinatown, was showing a system made up of a Chord converter with Conrad-Johnson amplifiers and a pair of Totem Mani-2 speakers.





Audiyo Inc, from Ontario, imports and distributes the Furutech and Mundorf brands. They were showing a new range of rather unusual accessories.



Here’s a first "Best of Show 2006", for Aurum Acoustic, whose original all-active system design (the work of the talented Derrick Moss) offered peerless musicality in spite of the unfavourable acoustics. I really enjoyed this high-end setup, with a special salute for the integration of the bass with the rest of the audio spectrum. There was no hangover, and a lovely energy which still left room for the voices’ emotion.

I have to mention that the bass units are fed by solid state amplification and the mids and highs with tubes, giving the best of both worlds in a sense. The whole system costs $48,000.00 in Canadian dollars.



Coup de Foudre Audio Vidéo is a high-end store in the heart of Montreal. Jennifer and Graeme know what the word “show” means... we got an incredible presentation of the best makes in audio gear... I’ll let you judge for yourself. The most observant will notice speakers by Avalon and Audio Physik, VTL amplifiers and more.









Another "Best of Show 2006" for the presentation by Charisma Audio and their high end system from Audio Space. Tube amplifiers, piano lacquered speakers... splendid things, words fail me, I was gripped... this was the first time I had heard a system of this calibre from Charisma and once again, in spite of unfavourable acoustics, the potential was very much there, beautiful emotion.



Soon as possible the review will be back for the following story

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Dimexs imports the Naim, Atoll, Nagra, Highland Audio and Norstone brands...







Rachel Crospal, originator of the Highland Audio line along with Philippe Carré, was present for the demonstration. Bravo, I’m a fan, I spent 30 minutes in the home theatre room watching and listening to Phil Collins and U2... then 20 minutes more in the next room to hear the Oran 4305 speakers in stereo... amazing reproduction of the bass considering the size of the drivers, I could hardly believe it... this would be my choice for setting up a home theatre in a small room, with a budget the same size as the speakers: mini, mini. The match with the Atoll electronics was simply ideal.





Dynaudio



Eben





Empres



Fidélio and Vérity Audio get a "Best of the Show 2006" for two reasons.



First, Fidelio make recordings of incredible quality. They participated in the creation of the 2006 Festival Son & Image CD, the profits from which go directly to research on childhood diseases. This CD is excellent in itself, and it is still available from the Fidelio Web site: www.fidelioaudio.com

Second, the system on show was so beautiful I couldn’t resist... I gave in to temptation... Marq if you are reading this, it’s all your fault again

Filtronique, the well-known Montreal sound store came within a hair or two of a “Best of Show” but... for goodness’ sake, what possessed you to “set up” that superb Ayre amplifier smack on the broadloom, and separate those magnificent Sonus Faber Amati Homages so much? The sound quality was far from typical of the musical capacity of the system...







On the other hand, the room was set up so visitors could easily appreciate the sound and the range of products on show... and what materials were used, a real treat for the eye.

Fix Audio is a new company based in Ste-Thérèse, north of Montreal. They teamed up with another young enterprise, the speaker manufacturer Harmonie Audio. I enjoyed the system, made up of a pair of 2-way S180s, particularly the coherence of the timbres and the overall price/quality/performance package, a very interesting one.



Full Range System, simple and very attractive




Gershman and Linar teamed up once again. I have to admit, however, that even though the Swans are my favourite speaker, or one of the ones on my wish list at least, I was not bowled over this time. The room was too small to do justice to the magnificent rig which should have had a room four times the size to do all it can do.

Linar is Victor Sima’s new company, Sima having become a well-known brand itself before being sold to foreign capital and becoming Simaudio.



Hansen, finally a pro outfit which took care to treat the acoustics a little. That’s a Schroeder diffuser. It’s not placed where it should be but isn’t it the thought that counts? I like it... worth mentioning too that exhibitors often come along way, with all their gear...




Quinceton Corporation, distributor of Air Tight tube electronics, IsoClean fuses and AC power accessories ... I noted unusually fine finish work. (amazing - superb)





Jadis and Pierre Gabriel, another "Best of the Show 2006" but they came within an inch of being passed over. On Friday and Saturday the system was far below its full potential, and it was only during the day on Sunday that the superb system they had brought begain playing faultlessly. It turned out to be the most dynamic setup I heard over the three days.





Jungson and Xindak, a new enterprise from the States, whose Asian-built products are just beautiful and whose (song)book is just as good as its cover, if I may put it that way...







KébecSon, the Montreal company we had the honour of visiting one evening when the AMA as a whole stirred itself from home and was shown B&O and Canton gear.




The turntable world is in full growth



Martin Logan showed a system on one hand and on the other some new home cinema equipment



McIntosh ... I hardly know what to tell you ... it’s gorgeous but it should play music too.



Multiélectronique, from Beloeil near Montreal, showed us a home theatre system which struck us rather... forcibly. We were left with the feeling that we would like to enlarge our horizons, push the walls of our apartment back and move in a system just like the one we were shown.



Newform






Orelle and BC Acoustique... again this year I really enjoyed the musicality of Orelle electronics, made in the UK and matched with BC Acoustique speakers to form a very interesting combination.



Pathos Acoustics and Kubala Sosna, "Best of the Show 2006", in the sought-after category of most beautiful musical reproduction. Quite simply, I liked this system very much. From its looks, you wouldn’t expect it to provide the great pleasure and feeling it gave us.






Révélation Audio from Mascouche in Québec is a speaker builder who makes an active woofer with its own built-in power amp, a bit like what Genesis does with the 500 and One... here, though, the cost is much more reasonable.




Sound Fusion ... and now, the star of the show ... Mr. Marlen Mogilever is the director of R&D and he has obviously tried out everything there is to try; I tell you I have never seen such an accomplished body of work over 20 years... judge for yourself.
Most of the work has been put into the decoupling of the stands and the electronics, it was just amazing to see.
The speakers were just as well done from the finish and technical points of view, I even found them quite interesting as sound reproducers... !

"Best of the Show 2006" for the incredible work involved in perfecting and setting up this system, the most esoteric I have ever heard or seen. In the next few months I will be trying out a few of the stands and other decoupling systems made by Mr. Mogilever and I’ll be sure to give you a complete and substantial rundown.













Next and last part 3 ... soon as possible 

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Totem, the famous Canadian speaker builder, had set up two distinct spaces for the occasion, one for enjoying stereo and the other for a home theatre system, well-chosen and matched... Totems are beautiful, I love ‘em...




Acco, a Montreal company, is also the maker of our absorbent acoustic panels. François and Yves are better known in industrial and movie circles, but that doesn’t prevent them from working with hi-fi and home theatre people occasionally.



I have all our absorbent panel designs made by Acco.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit with us.
(I’ll be updating this report gradually in order to add pertinent information.)

To conclude, I enjoyed this Festival of Sound and Vision 2006, even more so since I was also an exhibitor, via the Audio Shop room. Audio Shop asked me to do the acoustic treatment of their room (1026), and to supply two inovaudio Tripod racks so they could show their Mimetism electronics, CEC CD player and Cabasse speakers under the best possible conditions. By the way, the result was pretty musical... to tell you the truth I had never heard Cabasses sound as good and I wasn’t the only one who thought so...

You’ll say I might be biased... that’s certainly possible, but there’s no point telling anything but the truth... the “small” Cabasse bookshelves amazed me...

The organization of an event like this requires an incredibly complex “machine” which demands constant attention and energy. I witnessed first-hand some of the problem situations which the personnel had to deal with calmly and professionally.

I also witnessed the departure of all the participants, especially the packing and transport procedure... it’s a precision operation, very smooth... you can believe me when I tell you the exit doors were a bit too small at one point.

I really appreciated the unfailing smiles and friendliness of the administrative team, at the reception level and on all the floors at the elevators... bravo to everyone, this attitude is certainly one of the things responsible (also) for the success of this 19th, 2006 edition of the FSI.

Copyright 2006. Text and photos are the property of Marc Philip, independent editor of www.magazine-audio.com. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without the express permission of the author.