ARTIST CLONER
Once again this year, Sylvio Comtois and his charming wife Isabelle Fortin impressed us with their Steam Punk decor.
For the occasion, Sylvio had concocted a most original loudspeaker whose look was directly inspired by George Orwell‘s film 1984. The Mekanika is a two-way loudspeaker with a D’Apollito configuration.
The crossover is located on the outside at the base of the loudspeaker. It can be seen uncovered, which further enhances the mechanical and intriguing look of the piece. The components are an AMT-type tweeter made by Mundorf and the two 17 cm woofers come from the renowned manufacturer Scanspeak.
The Mekanika loudspeakers were powered by Luceo tube preamplifiers and Coleo mono amplifiers. The source was an in-house music server including a DAC. All the devices in this chain, as well as the wiring, were of course from Artist Cloner, and the whole was plugged into a Pteros V4 power distributor. The sound of this set was, as usual, exceptional.
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ASONA
The Asona distributor is back this year with a host of products ranging from headphones and amplifiers to high-end electronics and loudspeaker brands. Here are just a few examples of the brands imported and / or distributed by Asona: Analysis Plus cables, BC Acoustique electronics, Cayin and Synthesis tube amplifiers.
As for headphones, you can count on brands such as Aune, Dan Clark Audio, Kennerton Audio, Meze, Stax and Takstar. Innuos network music players are part of the Asona catalog, as are Hegel and Pathos Acoustics electronics. As for vinyl turntables, Michell Engineering products are on the list. M2Tech D/A converters are also available as digital sources. Loudspeakers are currently represented by brands such as Cabasse, Fonica International and SA.
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ATOLL CANADA-HIFIPRO
This room featured products from French manufacturer Atoll Électronique, as well as D/A converters from Swiss manufacturer Merging Technologies. The latter were combined with electrostatic loudspeakers Model12 by Final Audio from Holland.
However, the novelty came from France with the new The Wall acoustic loudspeakers from Davis Acoustics. We’re talking here about an imposing piece of cabinetry weighing 88 kg, featuring a 20 cm midrange driver used in full-range and unfiltered mode. This is equipped with a Kevlar cone and a TiCoNal magnet. It is accompanied by a conical tweeter, a transducer renowned by Davis Acoustics for its high-frequency energy. For low frequencies, two 20 cm carbon fiber woofers are used, opposed to each other to work in a push-pull configuration. The Wall loudspeakers are available in three finishes: walnut, white ebony and a dark ebony called Iceball.
For the occasion, they were powered by a Conrad Johnson set including the ET7 preamplifier and ART 27A amplifier. I heard this pair of loudspeakers briefly, and I can assure you that they are impressive not only physically, but also sonically. Reproduction quality is no less faithful and pleasant.
To be followed…
