Part 1 — 1200 & 1300 Hallways: Montreal Audiofest 2026 Show Tour And Sound Impressions
Exhibitor room and gear reviews, technical observations, and practical notes for serious listeners and music lovers.
Montreal Audiofest Show Report By Rick Becker

1320  AudioShop
McIntosh amplifiers (from New York State) are often paired with Sonus Faber speakers from Italy at shows. AudioShop, a dealer that has been in Montreal since the beginning of high-end audio, displays all of McIntosh's amplifiers, as well as a very broad range of well-known high-end brands.

The system here was modest with the new MSA5500 two-Channel Streaming Integrated Amplifier on top, and the MPC500 Power Controller below for both surge and low-voltage protection.

1321  Auralis Distribution And Madly Audio (MACO)
Deborah Ann and Armando, of MACO Audio, whose Macaria loudspeaker I reviewed very favorably late in 2024, have opened up a retail store, Madly Audio. It's located in Etobicoke, ON, nestled between Toronto and Mississauga, next to an authentic Mexican restaurant. The room here was co-sponsored by Auralis Distribution, which carries numerous hot new high-end lines such as Matrix Audio, LAiV, MON, and Fosi Audio. I loved the giraffe!

The rig here was comprised of a Matrix Audio streaming front end, Auris Audio, and Burmester amplification to drive the Macaria open baffle speaker with an Ash baffle. Armando says Ash is rapidly becoming the best and most popular wood version of the speaker. I had reviewed the more expensive granite version and found it sounded very good, driven by 18 to 20 Watts of Class A tube amplification, as well as when bi-amplified. The cabling and cable lifters were from Viablue in Germany.

1326  Atelier Audio
Atelier Audio is a boutique dealer and distributor on the north side of Montreal by the Rivière des Prairies. They carry some very esoteric lines and work by appointment only. They are happy to pick up customers from the Trudeau airport or the nearby Metro station. They have always had one of the most interesting rooms at the show. This time, they featured speakers and an amplifier from Voxitiv in Berlin, Germany.

The Voxitive T-211 integrated tube amp is gorgeous with very smooth volume control. The larger horn-loaded speaker, the Ampeggio 2026 with the AC-1.9 full-range driver, was likely the most transparent speaker at the show. Louis Armstrong, on the classic "St. James Infirmary," was familiar enough to stake that claim.

This was the first time I was able to hear the YUKI AP-01 turntable in action. It was sitting on the highly acclaimed Seismion Reactio 2.0 vibration-cancelling platform and was fitted with a periphery ring and the DS Audio 003 phono cartridge. A Phasemation EA-1500 tube phono stage with a separate power supply handled the DS Audio phono cartridge. While there are more expensive DS Audio optical cartridges, this was a formidable front end. I've seen the YUKI at several shows, but this was the first time I've heard it in action. The design is unique with a magnetic bearing that has only a single point of contact at the bottom of the shaft. The sides of the shaft do not touch any surface, being held vertical by magnetic forces. The lack of bearing noise may well have been a significant contribution to the outstanding transparency and resolution of this system.

The digital front end, which some may have heard, included the Master Fidelity Nadac D DAC, and the 432 Evo Master Reference Server with separate power supply, not the Aeon Mk 3 server listed on the price sheet below.

Note the thick wood blocks beneath these components. They were not solid maple, but rather large slabs of cross-cut Baltic birch(?) plywood with heavily compressed thin layers, almost like panzerholz.

The triangular object is an Ungnoi Crown Carbon vibration-absorbing device from Hong Kong that is filled with tiny ball bearings. Resolution is in the details. 

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