Montreal Audiofest 2024

Atelier Audio's room was buzzing the couple of times I'd passed by to peer inside, and I don't mean some sort of transformer noise. I mean with people. It was consistently abuzz with visitors. Luckily, I was eventually able to snatch a seat during an Atelier Audio demo; then I understood why this room was so popular.

Audio Note exhibiting at the Montreal audio show? Nothing new. Audio Note exhibiting an all-Audio Note system? Again, nothing new. Audio Note speakers that are not placed in the corners and are on tall stands? That's out of the ordinary.

"I'm back, back in the saddle again"—actually, I'm back at the Montreal Audiofest, held March 22–24 at its usual grand locale, the Bonaventure Hotel.

Soltanus Acoustics from Hungary and Brooklyn Audio from Nova Scotia [corrected] served up a seductive system consisting of a pair of electrostatic Soltanus Acoustics ESL Virtuoso Mkll speakers ($24,999/pair), an Auralic Aries G2.2 streamer ($8199), an Auralic Vega G2.2 DAC ($10,699), a Zesto Audio Leto Ultra Mkll preamplifier ($15,580), a mono/stereo Hegel H30A amplifier ($23,995), and a Synergistic Research router ($3000). Filling out the system were a variety of AudioQuest cables (various prices), an AudioQuest Niagara 5000 power conditioner ($7500), and a Quadraspire SVT audio rack ($3000).