Montreal Show?

look depress to me like the weather
22 exhibitors less then last year, big players did not show.....

I think the number of responses here reflects the importance/interest of the show itself.

Yawn.

While the show has been well attended and written about in the past I don't think this year is any less important. I haven't been in 5 years (no longer live anywhere close) but I have read on other boards that there are a number of missing exhibitors which could very well be due to the economy and that the new venue being used doesn't appear to be as appealing to attendees.

Also its entirely possible that the low number of responses are due to the fact that attendees are enjoying the show getting in as much as they can as opposed to spending time here commenting on it.

I think as the week progresses one will find reports surfacing on other boards or from attendess and reviewers from on line audio "e-zines". Stereophile has an ongoing blog if someone is interested.

I thought the show was very well attended and the people enthusiastic, especially Saturday. There were the usual group of great sounding rooms and interesting diplays. The level of enthusiasm among attendees at least rivals that of the Denver show and has always made this a fun show to attend. This year was no different.

Many of the manufacturers and dealers showing also seemed pleased. The Montreal show has never been as much about generating commerce and sales as it is about music and the fun of the shared experience.

There were many good sounding rooms to enjoy of all sizes. The large Focal EM Grande Utopias sounded impressive in their formatted timed demo and next door the Wilson's MAXX 3's were in great form driven by Pathos giant reference amps. Totem put on their usual professional, customized demos. Crystal Cable showed their striking new all glass speaker design which sounded amazingly balanced for a design using all glass construction and a ribbon tweeter--driven by fine quality SIM Audio gear. SIM's own room sounded superb as usual with the Dynaudio speakers. All the rooms using Verity speakers had a musical signature, especially Fidelio Audio's room with the Sarastro's and Filtronique's small room with the ARC Integrated amp driving what looked like the Tamino or Fidelio model. The Thiel room also sounded very impressive given a short listen.

All in all the show was a great way to relax, mingle with music minded folks and listen in on what's new as well as catch up with some of the best Canada has to offer. The general mood of those I spoke to was upbeat if cautious given the economy. The food locally was amazing. Overall everyone seemed to be having a great time. I'd highly recommend the Festival Son Image show to anyone into music and high end that can afford the time and travel. Let's not forget that Montreal itself is a great destination city, even when the weather does not cooperate 100%.

I have been to the show several times.

I enjoyed the Coup Defoudre rooms on the 8th floor. In particular room 802 with the DeVore 9's, and retro looking Leben amps using a Clearaudio TT.

Defoudre also had a nice room in 830 with Avalon Acoustics speakers and VTl amps.

The Parasound amps with the Oracle turntable in 822 was a good combination. I enjoyed the PMC speakers for the first time in that room.

Herald Audio in room 722 had good atmosphere and sound. Perhaps a little too much bass due to the hybrid monoblocks that use 300B's for the treble and 400 watts solid state for the bottom end but still it was a good room. The $1300 dual mono pre-amp was nice.

My favorite sound of the show was the Rossner and Sohn amps and turntable in Salon Frechette (Niveau/Level A). It had it all.

Outside the room, Larry Denham from TTweights Audio was showing his high quality and affordable record clamps. Great demonstration, not sure if they would work with my Michell Gyro SE MK2 but I may try them.

Another good room had a SME turntable, Artemis Labs phono stage with Audio Research amps, I think it was 701. They also had the DCS Scarlatti, which I didn't care for.

I can see why people complain that there isn't a huge variety of manufacturers, etc, etc. but I had a good time. There were enough rooms that had it right to make the 2 1/2 hour drive each way worth it to me.

As is usually the case I left the show feeling that my own humble set-up isn't too bad!