Part 5 — Lower Level, And Left (Outremont / St. Laurent Rooms) At The Montreal Audiofest 2026 Show
Major demos, new high-end audio tech, and very interesting audiophile innovation.
Montreal Audiofest Show Report By Rick Becker

S6  The Sound Choice And Tri-Cell Enterprises
The Sound Choice is a boutique retailer in Manotick, just south of Ottawa, that works by appointment only. Tri-Cell Enterprises is a major Canadian distributor. They put together a very fine-sounding room with two slightly different, but similarly priced systems.

One system used Fezz Audio Mira Ceti monoblocks, each with a matched pair of Western Electric 300B tubes, to drive Fyne Audio Vintage Ten speakers with Fyne SuperTrax super tweeters.

The other system used Fezz Olympia monoblocks with KT88 tubes to drive a Mon Acoustic PlatiMon VC One + VC Two Mk II speaker system, shown in anodized blue.

To reiterate, the Fezz monoblocks at the front with the Western Electric 300B tubes drove the wood Fyne speakers. And the Fezz monoblocks set to the rear with Gold Lion KT88 Russian tubes drove the blue Mon Acoustic speakers.

The front end for both systems was the Matrix Audio NT-I Network Transport and SC-I Clock Source on the top shelf. Below that was the Fezz Equinox Prestige Balanced DAC designed by LampizatOr ($4250), and further down was the Fezz Sagita Prestige preamp ($3650). The bottom shelf contained a Synergistic Research PowerCell 8 SX, which I have reviewed, and a stack of Synergistic Research LPS linear power supplies and Ethernet Switch UEF Mk II. In front of the rack was the Synergistic Research Vibratron, which I have also reviewed. And on the top shelf was a Synergistic Research FEQ Carbon. The entire rig was connected with Synergistic Research Foundation SL cables, plus the Synergistic Mater and Synergistic Pink fuses were used in the components. I have reviewed and highly recommended Synergistic fuses with each new generation.

The high-rez photos have been compressed for publication, so you will not likely see the Synergistic Research HFT speaker kit—little silver doobies on the Fyne speaker. There was also an SR Active Ground block and cables in the system, though not visible in the photo.

During my visit here, they were playing the system with the blue Mon speakers, which sounded very good. Coming from South Korea, these aluminum speakers are an affordable alternative to YG speakers of comparable driver configuration. The pair here were $31.1K. The two systems, having many components and accessories in common, were closely priced at $165K+ with the Fyne speakers and $153K+ with the Mon speakers. I've heard the Fyne speaker at other times, and they will sound a little warmer and a bit more dynamic than the Mon speaker, but each rig would be in the same league at this price range.

The Mon Acoustic Super Mon Mini speakers looked to be small powerhouses and were very attractive in red. I believe I heard a price of $2500, but I'm not sure if that was CDN or USD.

Likewise, the LAiV components from Singapore, seen on silent display, are getting very positive reviews as I predicted when I first spotted them a year or two ago. Particularly, the DAC and the GaNFET monoblocks.

On the left was a small desktop DAC from LAiV on top of a master clock. And on the right was a larger DAC from LAiV.

At the side of the room were banners depicting many of the Synergistic Research products in the rig, and all of the Fezz components. These helped sort out what I was looking at since the entire rig was roped off, preventing closer inspection.

S7  JVC Kenwood Canada And Paradigm/Anthem Electronics
Enjoy the Music.com does not cover much in the way of Home Theater, but the smell of popcorn drew me into this room. Only my resistance to getting butter on my cameras kept me from indulging, but I assure you, I wanted to. The kids on the left could hardly wait to dig into it.

It was pretty dark inside, but the automotive racing movie was fast, bright, and dynamic. It looked like the visitors were camping out for the duration of the film. I heard a kid call out, "More popcorn, please!"

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