This year, Canadian retailer/distributor Wynn Audio’s room at Montreal Audiofest 2026 served as the gathering spot for the show's Prohibition Night event, where several dozen participants partook in a collective whisky tasting accompanied by music hi-fi demos. Ken Micallef and I had hoped to savor whisky while gauging the sound of the demos, our seats were so far off-axis—and there were so many people between us and the music—that it was impossible to make any sonic judgments. So the next day I stopped by the Wynn Audio room alone. There were few visitors, and I had the choice of a sweet spot in front of either system.
The first system I listened to, from Audio Group Denmark, consisted of an Aavik SD-880 streaming DAC ($110,000), a 200Wpc solid state, class-A Aavik I-880 integrated amplifier ($110,000), Borresen M2 speakers ($290,000/pair), and a trio of power products by Ansuz including a Gold Signature PowerSwitch D-TC ($33,000), a Gold Signature PowerBox D-TC ($33,000), and a Gold Signature Mainz8 D-TC ($98,000). Rounding off this system were Darkz footers and Gold Signature cables by Ansuz and an Ultra-Gateway component rack by Critical Mass System. (All prices are in Canadian dollars.)
The sound may have offered the best 3D imaging and soundstaging at the show. Images, especially those created by studio effects in electronic music, were so precisely arranged, solidly air-sculpted, and bulging that it felt as if objects had materialized in front of my eyes, travelling at light speed through the space between me and the system, even around and behind me. It may have been the most concise imaging I've heard from an Audio Group Denmark setup. Maybe it's because of the speakers' zirconium driver baskets, an alloy Borresen cofounder Lars Kristensen said offers unparallel rigidity and minimal vibration and resonance.
The second system, which stood on the opposite side of the room, played less effects-driven, more natural music, and in both digital and vinyl formats sounded sweet, transparent, tonally pure. Instruments and vocals sounded visceral, present, and realistic. On a vinyl recording of acoustic guitar, double bass, and what sounded like a simple drum kit, I closed my eyes and was struck by how microdynamically expressive and lifelike the instruments sounded.
The system was configured with both analog and digital front ends, each driving the same Spain-made Avalos Ola speakers ($295,000/pair; one of them is shown above). The digital front end comprised a Kalista DreamPlay XC SACD/CD streaming player with volume control ($139,000) feeding a Vinnie Rossi Brama preamplifier ($70,000) and a Karan Acoustics POWERa monoblocks ($192,100/pair).
The analog front end employed a Thiele TT-01 turntable ($45,000 with a tangential TA-01 "zero tracking error" tonearm) with a Kondo Audio Note IO-XP cartridge ($15,000), and a Kondo Audio Note M7 Heritage preamplifier with phono stage ($90,000) connected to the amp stage of a Kondo Audio Note Ongaku integrated ($158,000). Also being shared by the two configurations were cabling by Crystal Cable, footers by Center Stage and O-BIT Audio, and an Entreq Olympus Hero ground box ($36,300).
The first system I listened to, from Audio Group Denmark, consisted of an Aavik SD-880 streaming DAC ($110,000), a 200Wpc solid state, class-A Aavik I-880 integrated amplifier ($110,000), Borresen M2 speakers ($290,000/pair), and a trio of power products by Ansuz including a Gold Signature PowerSwitch D-TC ($33,000), a Gold Signature PowerBox D-TC ($33,000), and a Gold Signature Mainz8 D-TC ($98,000). Rounding off this system were Darkz footers and Gold Signature cables by Ansuz and an Ultra-Gateway component rack by Critical Mass System. (All prices are in Canadian dollars.)
The sound may have offered the best 3D imaging and soundstaging at the show. Images, especially those created by studio effects in electronic music, were so precisely arranged, solidly air-sculpted, and bulging that it felt as if objects had materialized in front of my eyes, travelling at light speed through the space between me and the system, even around and behind me. It may have been the most concise imaging I've heard from an Audio Group Denmark setup. Maybe it's because of the speakers' zirconium driver baskets, an alloy Borresen cofounder Lars Kristensen said offers unparallel rigidity and minimal vibration and resonance.
The system was configured with both analog and digital front ends, each driving the same Spain-made Avalos Ola speakers ($295,000/pair; one of them is shown above). The digital front end comprised a Kalista DreamPlay XC SACD/CD streaming player with volume control ($139,000) feeding a Vinnie Rossi Brama preamplifier ($70,000) and a Karan Acoustics POWERa monoblocks ($192,100/pair).
The analog front end employed a Thiele TT-01 turntable ($45,000 with a tangential TA-01 "zero tracking error" tonearm) with a Kondo Audio Note IO-XP cartridge ($15,000), and a Kondo Audio Note M7 Heritage preamplifier with phono stage ($90,000) connected to the amp stage of a Kondo Audio Note Ongaku integrated ($158,000). Also being shared by the two configurations were cabling by Crystal Cable, footers by Center Stage and O-BIT Audio, and an Entreq Olympus Hero ground box ($36,300).
