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Salon Audio Montreal / Audio Fest 2019 Show Report Part 3

Published: April 13, 2019




  Further down the hall in the very large St. Laurent 1 room was a very nice treat for me. EMM Labs equipment was spaced out and beautifully displayed on thick platforms of solid wood and translucent polyester supported by large pod-like feet. The power amps were highlighted by blue led lighting on the bottom of their chassis.






The speakers were the Tetra Phoenix 707 from Adrian Butts, shown here with one of his main men (Jamie Sabourin) who gravitated to speaker building after an injury forced him out of his kick-boxing career. I've raved about Adrian's Tetra speakers many years ago, claiming they were far under-priced. Keith Richards (yes) even picked up a custom pair for the system he takes on tour. Adrian has returned to the show circuit more recently and unfortunately, his speakers are no longer under-priced at $78k/pr as shown. That said, Stevie Ray Vaughn playing "Tin Pan Alley" doesn't get any better than what I heard. These speakers performed way beyond what you would expect from a speaker this size in such a large room driven by the EMM Labs amps. Their simplistic styling belies the interior complexity of the design, I'm told. This was easily one of the Best Rooms at the show. Next time Adrian promised me he would have some spotlights on the speakers so I can photograph the fine finish more clearly.