SSI 2012 in Montreal

[tunes]

Just noticed an addition to the "events" page of the montreal show - Joe Harley (of Audioquest and Music Matters) discussing the history of Blue Note Jazz. I'll be going to the Friday lecture.
Chris

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by tunes

Just noticed an addition to the "events" page of the montreal show - Joe Harley (of Audioquest and Music Matters) discussing the history of Blue Note Jazz. I'll be going to the Friday lecture.
Chris

A huge .

[JohnK]

Originally Posted by BlueChiaro

Not going, but anything in Montreal is a flat-out, good time!

+1


Yes, so Wanda says.

Montreal is a great city - really need to get back up there. Jazz/blues fest in late June...

[tunes]

Trade professionals only today and then open to the public tomorrow through Sunday. Vinyl lovers bring your plastic as Aux 33 Tours, a wonderful record shop from the plateau area in Montreal, will be there again this year selling great music. That's usually my first stop.
Chris

[tunes]

Originally Posted by tunes

Trade professionals only today and then open to the public tomorrow through Sunday. Vinyl lovers bring your plastic as Aux 33 Tours, a wonderful record shop from the plateau area in Montreal, will be there again this year selling great music. That's usually my first stop.
Chris

Great show again this year. Aux 33 Tours actually decided NOT to haul their vinyl to the show but to offer a free hourly shuttle to the store. Great idea as they have tons of used lps there as well. They are also located on a great street for food and cafes.

Was excellent to connect with Bill in the Filtronique room. He has a wealth of good advice re sonus elipsa se design and corresponding appropriate room size and placement.

The SE's were sounding fantastic and i went back several times to hear them again with different music. The Filtronique guys are wonderful and it was one of my favourite rooms.

Only two complaints - I was disappointed that they were only running music through the laptop via DCS so i couldn't listen to the elipsa's with familiar tracks that i had on CD (this was the case at several exhibitors rooms) and i wished that the ARC reference gear on static display had been used on day 2 rather than continuing with Boulder. Apparently, this decision was political and driven by $$ for 'product placement'.

Other standout rooms included the coup de foudre rooms (one leben, devore, auditorium 23, and the other a pairing of VTL monos with Wilson Sophias) and the Tricell room HRS / Aesthetix.

Had a great conversation with Mike Latvis of HRS and he had a prototype of a furniture grade-ish economical rack that looked good. Should be available later this year and cheaper than the SRX series.

Joe Harley did several talks on Blue Note jazz which were interesting and entertaining. He swapped original pressings with the Music Matters 45 pressings on several titles and showed some of Wolff's awesome b&w photos from the sessions at RVG's parent's house in the 50's.

The show runs till tomorrow.
Chris

[Masterlu]

Mike Latvis is a Super Guy, and his products aren't bad either.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by tunes

Great show again this year. Aux 33 Tours actually decided NOT to haul their vinyl to the show but to offer a free hourly shuttle to the store. Great idea as they have tons of used lps there as well. They are also located on a great street for food and cafes.

Was excellent to connect with Bill in the Filtronique room. He has a wealth of good advice re sonus elipsa se design and corresponding appropriate room size and placement.

The SE's were sounding fantastic and i went back several times to hear them again with different music. The Filtronique guys are wonderful and it was one of my favourite rooms.

Only two complaints - I was disappointed that they were only running music through the laptop via DCS so i couldn't listen to the elipsa's with familiar tracks that i had on CD (this was the case at several exhibitors rooms) and i wished that the ARC reference gear on static display had been used on day 2 rather than continuing with Boulder. Apparently, this decision was political and driven by $$ for 'product placement'.

Other standout rooms included the coup de foudre rooms (one leben, devore, auditorium 23, and the other a pairing of VTL monos with Wilson Sophias) and the Tricell room HRS / Aesthetix.

Had a great conversation with Mike Latvis of HRS and he had a prototype of a furniture grade-ish economical rack that looked good. Should be available later this year and cheaper than the SRX series.

Joe Harley did several talks on Blue Note jazz which were interesting and entertaining. He swapped original pressings with the Music Matters 45 pressings on several titles and showed some of Wolff's awesome b&w photos from the sessions at RVG's parent's house in the 50's.

The show runs till tomorrow.
Chris

Chris...thx for your update. For those interested, here is Stereophile's coverage of the SSI 2012 audio show: SSI 2012 | Stereophile.com

[tunes]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Mike Latvis is a Super Guy, and his products aren't bad either.

Definitely agree Ivan. I've spoken with Mike a few times and he has this wonderful character - laid back but full of info if you want it. Low pressure sales to be sure and Mike creates these superbly crafted product that keeps me coming back for more. I'm a convert and owner of record weights, damping plates, nimbus and M3X platforms. Haven't gone the HRS rack route yet for a number of reasons but I keep lurking around them They are very carefully thought through. As I admired the SXR rack, Mike was saying that the SXR had taken him 2 years to perfect. For those interested, there is a Signature version of the SXR which is reinforced and close to the MXR rack in performance but approx. 25% less expensive.
Chris

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by tunes

Was excellent to connect with Bill in the Filtronique room. He has a wealth of good advice re sonus elipsa se design and corresponding appropriate room size and placement.

The SE's were sounding fantastic and i went back several times to hear them again with different music. The Filtronique guys are wonderful and it was one of my favourite rooms.

Only two complaints - I was disappointed that they were only running music through the laptop via DCS so i couldn't listen to the elipsa's with familiar tracks that i had on CD (this was the case at several exhibitors rooms) and i wished that the ARC reference gear on static display had been used on day 2 rather than continuing with Boulder. Apparently, this decision was political and driven by $$ for 'product placement'.

Chris

Chris,

When you do a show like this with a dealer, the dealer often makes arrangements to play certain products there. The system being played was decided upon by Sonor and then manufacturers were contacted to participate. This is always the way they do it.

I have been doing this show with Sonor since before I worked for Sumiko and I have never seen a manufacturer turn down a request to participate. We are always here and willing to do whatever they ask. They are one of our most supportive and successful dealers.

Sometimes too, we are fortunate enought to work with Rene LaFlamme of Fidelio. Rene has often used Sonus faber and ARC, as was the case last year when he drove Strads with an ARC REF system. At the same time, we had Futuras with Boulder and DCS in the Sonor room.

Hopefully you will be able to vist the shop and Dany can set up the ARC gear for you there with Elipsa SE.

BTW the system is sounding better today than it has the entire show. Stop by again if you can.

Bill

[tunes]

Originally Posted by metaphacts

Chris,

When you do a show like this with a dealer, the dealer often makes arrangements to play certain products there. The system being played was decided upon by Sonor and then manufacturers were contacted to participate. This is always the way they do it.

I have been doing this show with Sonor since before I worked for Sumiko and I have never seen a manufacturer turn down a request to participate. We are always here and willing to do whatever they ask. They are one of our most supportive and successful dealers.

Sometimes too, we are fortunate enought to work with Rene LaFlamme of Fidelio. Rene has often used Sonus faber and ARC, as was the case last year when he drove Strads with an ARC REF system. At the same time, we had Futuras with Boulder and DCS in the Sonor room.

Hopefully you will be able to vist the shop and Dany can set up the ARC gear for you there with Elipsa SE.

BTW the system is sounding better today than it has the entire show. Stop by again if you can.

Bill

Bill,
I absolutely loved the elipsa's and filtronique's room this year and in previous years. I should have said it was not a complaint but a disappointment for me to not have heard the ARCs paired with the elipsa se. The boulder was great but is not likely in my system's future. I will be following up with Dany re the shunyata PC that i bought at the show and hope to make it to Montreal again soon.
The sound of the Filtronique rooms is always a highlight. Rene's room last year with strads, arc, the Kronos table and fidelio vinyl was also outstanding!
Wish i could stop in again! I am currently in Western quebec boiling sap for syrup The elipsas must be very very good to be better than what i heard fri and sat. I sure hope to have the benefits of the superb advice of the speaker whisperer in my system's future
Before you go, be sure to check out Todd from MA Recordings in the lower level. He has some outstanding releases that would absolutely sing on the Elipsa SE!
Chris