Simaudio's Moon was to be found in several areas, their main listening room hosted by Brosseau.ca. They were displaying a 650D DAC/CD and 810 LP phono stage with a TransRotor Jr turntable flanked by a pair of Dali Epicon 6s. For the listening sessions, they arranged a classic challenge of live versus recording with artist Vincent Belanger playing cello to his own album through the Moon 280D DAC and 340i integrated through the Dali Rubicon 6s. This was a delightful exercise, entertaining to the audience and a credit to the fidelity of the playback chain.


Deep Space Audio were making an auspicious showing with their $20'000 DS-1 loudspeaker. There was a static display in the Canada Pavilion but the main action was in the large Verdun salon where the speaker was matched to Conrad Johnson and Audio Research electronics with a 3D Lab Millennium DAC. Analog was provided by the trusty Oracle table and an Ortofon Cadenza. The speaker’s crossover is outboard to eliminate resonant interaction and allow easy access. The Deep Space Audio is a musician-designed product guiding some very talented engineers. This combo showed it could tackle a large room with veracity and sonic flair, marking the Deep Space Audio as another homegrown Canadian product to watch out for.


Clae Cast is a fresh face on the market with an experienced face behind the name plate. Zdenko Zivkovic has long been a designing force to be reckoned with. If names like Sonic Frontiers, Magnum Dynalab and BFA ring a bell, you have either heard of or experienced his handiwork. His initial offering here was a $25'000 hybrid speaker, a panel array atop a hefty bass module, matched with his soon-to-be-released electronics. Source was a Sony DVP-S7000. The sound was extremely promising, fas”, transparent and robustly unafraid of macro dynamics. Although hampered by a less than ideal location, it showed strong potential to be a big High End player.



Tannoy had a large room to show off the many virtues of their Prestige line, with the Westminster Royal running in full voice, with Cary electronics from source to amplification providing tubular warmth to the proceedings. Here was audio to entice and caress, not assault the senses.



The Goerner Audio room was a step into some familiar territory, with a $1'875 London (DECCA) Super Gold cartridge showing why it remains a classic. Mounted on a hefty $9'000 Acoustic Signature Storm table and its $2300 TA-1000 arm feeding Grandinote electronics totaling almost $76'000 Canadian, it sounded glorious through the $20'000 Audio Physic Virgo loudspeakers: meaty, energetic and visceral. Also on display were the Funk Vector table at $2'995 with its $2'750 Funk FXR  tonearm, a very stylish offering.


Coup de Foudre Audio Video mounted an impressive large room filled with excellent equipment and glorious music. The magnificent $32'000 Vivid Audio loudspeakers were being fed by all Luxman electronics. Analog was provided by an EMT mounted on a Brinkmann Balance table. Digital was laptop based. On display around the room was a wealth of exceptional product from Opera, Shindo Labs, BAT, VTL, Rockport Technologies, Triode Lab, Unison Research and Devore Fidelity, all mouth-watering deserving acoustic morsels, all on display but all silent.


Audio Pathways held several rooms featuring different models by Raidho, from the diminutive but powerfully expressive C-1 model up to the D-2 floorstanders. These musically powerful products successfully marry lightning-quick ribbons to very responsive cones and in the case of the D series, diamond-impregnated cones. These speakers have garnered widespread acclaim and were well matched with combinations of Jeff Rowland and Bel Canto in one room and a Bel Canto/Bergmann turntable combination in another. With this level of pedigree ahead of the Raidhos, the performance was consistently quick yet warm, exhibiting convincing soundstage with focus to spare. Just to flaunt the depth of their equipment resource, luscious batches of Triangle Art turntables glittered on the sidelines.





Knut Skogrand of Skogrand Cables was manning one of the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" rooms. This was pure audiophile eye and ear candy filled to the brim with Raidho D-3 speakers, VAC, Sutherland, Bergmann, TA Apollo and Esoteric. Angie Lisi, head of Audio Pathways, was playing exuberant disc jockey, finding cut after cut of prime vinyl material that dazzled the audience. The system played all material thrown its way, switching scale from intimate to big power pieces with unfazed ease, showing why the expensive gear can earn its price tag.