2006 Festival Son&Image Coverage

The 2006 Festival Son & Image (FSI) took place from Friday March 24th to Sunday March 26th, in Montréal. This was the 19th edition of the home theatre and hifi show. It marked Canada HiFi's third time covering the event and our first as exhibitors.

The show had previously been held at the Delta Hotel. This year the show moved to the Sheraton Hotel. The change in venue also marked a change in reach and diversity for FSI. There were several larger and medium sized halls that showcased products from more mainstream electronics manufacturers. Among them were Apple, Epson, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Yamaha.

Even though the show grew in size, it was contained under one roof and the location was more central. Our thanks go out to the Sheraton and event staff who were very friendly and helpful, especially the shipping and receiving staff who maintained their friendly demeanor during the organized chaos that was the loading dock.

One of the Festival's highlights was our (and no doubt many attendees') first opportunity to demo high definition DVD. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD were represented. Although Sony did have various HD displays they did not have any Blu-ray players. Samsung did have their soon to be released Blu-ray player hooked up in one of the main halls. Toshiba had an HD DVD player in the main hall and they also conducted a more intimate presentation in a smaller room, upstairs in the hotel.

Both companies were playing split screen demos. The image on the screen was divided in half by a thin vertical line. One side featured the HD image, while the other had a "simulated" 480i filter. The difference in image quality was astounding, but slightly misleading. A more appropriate comparison would have been high definition versus standard DVD. No one needs to be convinced that HD is better than a standard cable signal. The movie enthusiasts need to be convinced that upgrading their standard DVD player to a Blu-ray or HD DVD player is worth the considerable investment. Most enthusiasts were too polite to point out the exaggerated comparison to the reps, while less knowledgeable show attendees were left confused as they could be overheard later saying, "my DVDs don't look that bad at home." A little more clarity would go a long way to educating the public.

The Samsung Blu-ray player was connected to a 1080i display and was outputting a 720p signal. The picture looked fantastic but I asked the Samsung rep to switch the video signal to 480p, then, back to 720p. The difference in this case wasn't nearly as dramatic as the demo of 480i versus 720p, but it was very apparent nonetheless. Any early adopters of either HD optical disc technology will have a hard time watching their standard definition DVDs once they've spoiled themselves with HD.

Of course FSI also offered the opportunity to experience audio set ups by a vast array of manufacturers from North America, Europe and Asia. Listening rooms were set up in hotel rooms that were cleared of beds and furniture. These rooms were smaller than those at the Delta hotel in previous years and there was definitely more sound bleeding from room to room. Surprisingly there were relatively few exhibitors who used any acoustic treatments in their rooms.

Still, the FSI was a one stop shop to audition equipment until your ears were content. If you plan on attending next year, make sure to bring your favorite CD, SACD, DVD-A or vinyl recordings. Exhibitors will be more than pleased to play your selection.

One of the show highlights was at the booth right next to us. Mirrored Nature Recordings had several listening stations, one of which featured a Sennheiser Orpheus headphone amplifier matched with Sennheiser electrostatic headphones. We were surprised that there wasn't a puddle from all the drool the amp/headphone combo excited. Mirrored Nature had their first three hybrid disks (one side CD, the other SACD) available for demo. Nata Belkin, the cellist on two of the CDs, was also at the booth and it was a pleasure having her and producer Joseph Paterson as neighbors.

Our other neighbor was the Audio Product International showing Energy and Mirage speaker brands. They featured AC/DC at high volumes and we were (thunder) struck at their love of the Ozzie rockers. They shook us all weekend long. All kidding aside, pictures of the new Reference Connoisseurs don't do the laminate-finish justice. The room itself also sounded fantastic.

Another multi-channel room that we thoroughly enjoyed was the Arcom room. They had an Acoustic Energy speaker setup that sounded very good while playing the "Jarre in China" multi-channel DVD; in fact we liked the DVD so much that we ordered one as soon as we got back from the show.

We also scored Les Disques Justin Time (a Jazz disc) from Franco Moggia, publisher of Québec Audio & Vidéo, who was quite amicable and made us feel right at home from the moment we started setting up our booth. It is this type of welcoming fraternity that we truly enjoy about the audio video industry.

While on the topic of CDs we should mention there was an official FSI CD available for $10. It was recorded in large part by Rene LaFlamme of the highly regarded Fidelio Audio Recordings. This classical and jazz CD offers a nice range of music to use as reference for auditioning or enjoying your own equipment. All proceeds from sales of the CD go directly to the Foundation for research into children's diseases.

One of the most bombastic exhibits was that of McIntosh. Their setup was blowing people out the door, or it might have been the $200,000 (plus) price tag. Crazy, but where else are you going to experience a setup like that?

Bang and Olufsen had various pieces on display, and we call them pieces because the design aesthetic of their products could be considered functional art, including the out of this world Beo Lab 5. They were showing their strengths, playing the still very popular Buena Vista Social Club album.

Another popular album that we heard many exhibitors playing was the Blue Man Group DVD Audio disc. Their special effects laced performance art/musical style lends itself well to multi-channel audio. They are also quite entertaining live and their current show at the Panasonic theatre in Toronto is well worth checking out.

Another out of this world design was the Edgarhorn Titan II. These horn speakers are designed by Dr. Bruce Edgar and should be on the list of any fan of horn loaded speakers.

In a darkened room, Epson showcased their latest line of home theatre projectors in a couple of separate, well designed setups

Yamaha, another name brand exhibitor, had theirYSP-1000 Digital Sound Projector playing. This speaker simulates multi-channel audio from a single component. The YSP-1000 combines 42 digital amplifiers powering 42 drivers that project delay-controlled beams of sound at the walls of a room. It is housed in a single elegant unit that mounts nicely under a plasma or an LCD television.

Raysonic proudly demoed its new tube-based up-converting CD player, the CD128. This player should be a nice match for their line-up of integrated tube amplifiers, also presented at the show.

On the more esoteric and wallet pummeling end of the spectrum was the Wavac HE-833 tube amplifier. Coming in at a mere $140,000 per pair, it's a steal compared to the $350,000 per pair SH-833.

All in all the show was a success. It provided a central location for audio video enthusiasts and industry types to meet and get to know each other. It was a great way to experience the best that the market has to offer as well as in many cases meeting the people behind the products we all enjoy so much. The 2006 Festival Son & Image catered to the audiophile and made a bold step forward with its inclusion of more mainstream electronics.

We at CANADA HiFi thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the show and the city of Montréal itself. It was a pleasure meeting some of our readers and hearing the great feedback. Please stop by and say hello next year, as we will no doubt return in partnership with FSI.