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Salon Son & Image 2014 Report Montreal High-End Audio Show
Salon Son & Image Report 2014 -- Montreal High-End Audio Show
Part 1
Show Report By Rick Becker

Flipping from Old School to New School the Vivid Audio Giya G3 featured on the cover of the April issue of Stereophile was in one of the smaller Coup de Foudre rooms. A beguiling jazz version of Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble" revealed the intimate delicacy of which this speaker is capable. They then switched to a DSD copy of Paul Simon's original version, but boosted the volume, negating a fair comparison of the sound quality. Electronics included the Luxman DA-06 USB DAC, the new C 900u Ultimate control amplifier, and the new M 900u Ultimate stereo power amp. The Luxman turntable was shown spinning, but not playing at the time. While the sound here was certainly very good, unless you are enamored with the curly styling of the G3 ($39,990) you might want to take a listen to their K1 model for $24,990. Regardless, it is nice to see this fine sounding line from South Africa gaining recognition and acceptance with their outstanding atypical designs. With familiarity comes acceptance.

 

In the GTT Audio & Video room Bill Parish readily admitted that his presentation was more for the music lover than the audiophile, which is not to suggest that it was not audiophile quality sound. The Grimm Audio LS1speaker ($39,900 as shown with woofers) is really most of the system, incorporating digital preamp (with A to D converter), crossover (with DSP for driver correction) and amplification for the mid-woofer and tweeter (a 120 watt NCore Class D amplifier for each) in the upper cabinet and the optional woofer with a 400 watt Hypex Class D amplifier in the lower black base. Also included are a contemporary remote control which appeared to be user friendly after a brief learning curve — not your typical AV remote with dozens of buttons. The source was digital software from a computer via J River over Ethernet cable and analog from the new (#004) Kronos Sparta turntable ($21,000, plus $6500 for the 10.5" Andre Theriault tonearm). Power cables were from Kubala-Sosna Master Reference series. The music heard here was neutral, precise, transparent and tuneful, but not with the bloom and sound staging typically associated with tube gear. Just music that was very close to live; from a rig that was expensive, though not pretentious looking. As Bill said, this is not for the gear-head, but for the person whose focus in life is the music. I will come across the Kronos turntable again, later on.

 

  

Early in the show I passed up on the room with the Raidho C1.1 speakers ($18,000) because the room was jammed with people — and for good reason. On my sweep at the end of the show I had the room to myself and refreshed my memory of just how really good these speakers are. They were driven by Bel Canto's premium Black line and they were fast, transparent, dynamic and musical. Across the hall was their new baby brother, the K1 for $8000 on a much simplified stand, driven through Transparent cables by a Rowland integrated amp fed with a Bel Canto digital front end. I was expecting C1.1 sound from this little guy, which was foolish on my part. While the sound was very good, it ain't no C1.1 and at that price it has some serious competition both from other stand mounted monitors as well as floor standers.

 

In a large darkened room that housed the Totem corporate display last year, Muraudio set up their passive Domain Omni PX1speakers ($58,000) powered by the large Bryston 7B SST2 monoblocks and an emm Labs front end. I had raved about the active DA1 version of this speaker ($67,000) that premiered at the Toronto show last fall in a much smaller room. The all-black version I heard there were on silent display in the Canadian exhibition and frankly, I think the all black scheme is much better looking. The black and white is much too casual for this price and quality speaker. The other disappointment here was the sound. The bass, coming from three opposed conventional drivers, was muddy and disconnected from the more precise electrostatic midrange and treble of this speaker. It may not have been so much that the speaker was under-powered, but that the set-up was wrong. (82dB efficiency is a tough load to drive in such a large room.) Aligning the speakers on the long wall was probably not the problem as I know this often works very well — especially when you have the depth available as was the case here. But the speakers were equidistant from the side walls (I paced it out.) setting up reverberation nodes. The good news is that the midrange and treble were not affected and the clarity and omnidirectional dispersion gave a good taste of how this speaker is capable of performing. Walking around the room the music became softer or louder as I got further away or closer, but there was no shift in tonal balance or the believability of the sound. Moreover it was much more listenable with a more natural sounding treble than the harder sounding MBL room with the Class D amplification of their Corona line. A video projector served up the software selection and I requested Tracy Chapman singing "Fast Car" with which I am intimately acquainted. It was just right, sounding just about as it should in a large space as there is little bass in this cut. Muraudio is a new company and they've got a great speaker if music is important enough to you to justify the price and the omnidirectional nature of the design is relevant to your room and listening habits. I talked briefly with Murray Harman about the bass issue and how it might be improved. As they gain experience with audio shows I expect their future will be bright. The presentation at TAVES last fall with the active version was very impressive and I'm certainly looking forward to hearing them again.

 

Lest I give the impression that the show was all about the Big Guys, let me introduce you to Victor Kung of VK Music who came all the way from British Columbia to man his table of kit gear for the DIY crowd. And crowd there was — around his table near the base of the escalator to the lower level. Seen here is Victor explaining his TU-8200DX integrated amplifier kit ($725) shown assembled with a pair of the acclaimed Psvane 6L6GC Black Bottle tubes. The amp was driving a handsome full-range driver speaker with a wood cone that unfortunately is no longer available. Even in the noisy corridor it was easy to tell this was a very sweet little rig. Also in evidence was an upgrade kit with a handful of parts for early adopters to bring their older versions up to current form. His motto is undoubtedly "Leave no audiophile behind!"

I apologize to you for the delayed posting and the brevity of Part 1, but the stars are crossed against me with pressure from my business. I will return from the furniture show in a week and resume this report posthaste. There is a lot more fun to come! Until then, spin some vinyl and enjoy the music!

 

---> Click here to see part 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
 

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