Montreal Salon Audio/Audio-Fest & Being Featured in Stereophile!

Audio Shows, Elac, Emotiva, Stereophile -

Montreal Salon Audio/Audio-Fest & Being Featured in Stereophile!

 

We were lucky enough to be exhibiting at the first ever Montreal Salon Audio this past weekend. While the original organizers of the show pulled out and left the show in jeopardy, former organizers Sarah Tremblay and Michel Plante stepped in to ensure the staple Canadian show would go on.

So we packed our bags and headed off to Montreal! It was never going to be anything short of exciting, as we were showing off both Emotiva, and ELAC products for the first time in Canada. What we didn't know however, is just how overwhelmingly positive the response would be. 

It's no secret that Montreal is a city of culture, but perhaps even more so, it's home to more audiophiles per capita than anywhere else in North America (I might have made that statistic up, but it's probably true!).

With a turnout unlike ever before, we often had upwards of 20 people crammed into our 200 sq ft. hotel suite. Despite the lack of space (and possibly air to breath), the general consensus was as we (and Andrew Jones) had expected; "Incredible, especially considering the price!", as stated by Marc from Laval, QC.

It wasn't just the price we were concerned with though, it was the value. We tried to ensure that every piece we showed off punched well above it's weight. From the Emotiva XPA-1, to the ELAC B6, everything had to be a great value. As it turns out, our entire system ended up somewhere under $6,000, which was awesome, considering our neighbours had a power cable listed for slightly more than that.

 

As if sharing our products with the local crowd wasn't awesome enough, we had lots of press on hand to try and woo; amongst them was Art Dudley of Stereophile who was kind enough to pop by at the end of the day and spend some time with us. Art had the following to say:

"In my last stop of the day, at the very genially staffed Summit Hi-Fi room, I finally had a chance to hear the Elac B6 loudspeakers ($US280/pair) that Herb Reichert reviews in our April 2016 issue. Driven by Emotiva XPA-1 monoblock amplifiers ($CDN3200/pair), an Emotiva XSP-1 preamp ($CDN1499) and the same company's ERC-3 CD player/transport ($CDN749), these two-way stand-mounters sounded big, clear, and fun. If I owned a high-end audio salon, I'd stack a pile of these near the cash register and put up a sign advising customers: Take Your Change In Elac B6s!"

Finally, thanks aplenty to everyone who came out and lent us their time and ears. 

 

 

Read the full Stereophile show report here.