Series 2
All prices in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

Wilson Audio's Montreal dealer, Audiocentre, put on the largest-scale display at Son & Image, demonstrating three different pairs of Wilson Audio speakers along with a number of Mark Levinson, Spectral and Bryston products. At one end of the room were MAXX 2s and a WATCH center-channel speaker...

...and at the other Sophias and WATT/Puppy 7s. From where we were sitting, the smaller speakers had some room-related bass problems, but the larger MAXX 2s sounded very good. [www.wilsonaudio.com]

SoundStagers John Crossett (left), Jason Thorpe (center) and Marc Mickelson (behind Jason), and Ultra Audio writer Ken Choi (right) listen to a demo in one of the large rooms at the Holiday Inn.

Vince Scalzitti of Tri-Cell is as proud as a new father of the ELAC speakers he will begin distributing in Canada. He holds an ELAC 310 ($2500 per pair).

Finally we caught up with Klaus Bunge of Odyssey Audio to present him with the SoundStage! Network Reviewers' Choice award for his Khartago amplifier. Congratulations, Klaus. [www.odysseyaudio.com]

We have seen and heard the Aurum Acoustics complete system evolve, and it is now near complete production and sounding better than ever. The Integris CDP CD player ($11,000) acts as source for the Integris 300B active speaker system, which includes SET tube and solid-state amplification ($30,000). The outcome is a musical and dynamic system.

Cable manufacturer Poth Audio used a pair of custom horn/dynamic speakers in its display. Manufactured by Mitch Despaw of Middlebranch Furniture, the 100dB-sensitive speakers were triamplified. If you want a pair, you'll need a big room and $10,000.