Montreal Audiofest 2026 reaffirmed a conviction we have been refining for years:
There is more than one path to musical truth, but very few systems truly achieve it.
This year, Lemay Audio presented two distinct systems in Rooms 1216 and 1218
This year, Lemay Audio presented two distinct systems in Rooms 1216 and 1218
In Room 1216, we presented a fully realized reference system, pushed to its limits through the meticulous selection and optimization of every component.
In Room 1218, the approach was almost the opposite: a radically simplified, fully integrated Grimm Audio system designed around coherence, precision, and ease of use.
Far from being two variations on the same theme, these systems demonstrated fundamentally different ways of pursuing the same goal: getting closer to the music.
At the heart of Lemay Audio’s main room were the Dayton Wright Hommage 7.3 electrostatic loudspeakers, driven by Tenor Audio amplification, with the Grimm Audio MU2 serving as network streamer, D/A converter, and preamplifier.
The system was complemented by Entreq grounding solutions, Inakustik power conditioning, Silversmith Fidelium, XACT and Synergistic Research products, along with Modulum equipment supports.
But the story of this room was not really about the number or cost of its components.
It was about silence, silence, transparency, and realism.
The Hommage 7.3 loudspeakers presented at the show incorporated the latest evolution of their design. Paired with Tenor amplification and the Grimm MU2, the objective was to preserve the speed and transparency inherent in electrostatic reproduction while enhancing dynamics, physical presence, and musical scale.
The addition of Entreq grounding systems represented another important step. By further lowering the perceived noise floor, they allowed low-level detail, tonal nuances, and spatial relationships to emerge more naturally.
And the response from the audio press confirmed what we were hearing.
Le Montréal Audiofest 2026 a également donné lieu à plusieurs reportages vidéo consacrés à la salle Lemay Audio.
The first report offers a firsthand look at the system in the context of the show. The segment devoted to Lemay Audio begins at 9:37 and presents the room, the equipment, and the listening experience offered to visitors.
Another report goes considerably further: an approximately 18-minute visit and interview devoted entirely to the Lemay Audio room.
This video is one of the most comprehensive accounts of Lemay Audio’s participation in Montreal Audiofest 2026. It not only shows the Hommage 7.3 / Tenor Audio / Grimm Audio system in its actual environment, but also gives viewers an opportunity to hear François Lemay explain his approach, his choices, and the philosophy behind the system presented this year.
Robert Schryer of Stereophile devoted an entire article to the Lemay Audio room.
Sa description des Hommage 7.3 nous a particulièrement touchés :
« un son vif, presque onirique »
Il poursuit en décrivant la présentation comme étant :
« nettement définie, spectaculaire et d’un réalisme convaincant. »
Schryer souligne également les microdynamiques du système, la pureté des timbres, l’étagement des plans et la précision de l’image sonore, tout en notant que les Hommage 7.3 produisaient une puissance et une présence dans le grave bien supérieures à ce que l’on pourrait attendre d’enceintes électrostatiques utilisées sans caissons de graves.
Stereophile also recorded a video interview with François Lemay in the room, discussing the Hommage 7.3, Tenor Audio amplification, the Grimm Audio MU2, and the philosophy behind the system’s design.
Hugues Morin of PMA Magazine approached the room from a different perspective.
He initially noted the imposing scale of the system within the relatively confined space of a hotel room. But once seated in the precisely defined sweet spot created by the directional nature of the electrostatic loudspeakers, his impression changed completely.
He described the sound as:
“deeply transparent”
before concluding simply:
“the sound was transcendent.”
Morin also highlighted something of particular significance to us: four consecutive Best Sound distinctions at Montreal Audiofest.
For Lemay Audio, these recognitions are not an objective in themselves. Rather, they confirm that the same fundamental approach, refined year after year, continues to deliver results.
À Rick Becker, d’Enjoy the Music, a une fois de plus passé du temps dans la salle 1216.
Having selected Lemay Audio among his Best Rooms in 2024 and 2025, Becker recalled that Lemay had ranked among his favorites during the previous two editions and included the 2026 presentation among his Honorable Mentions at Montreal Audiofest.
His report also paid particular attention to the Entreq Olympus grounding systems and their contribution to lowering the system’s noise floor.
For us, this observation was significant. Entreq represented one of the important discoveries we wanted visitors to experience this year, and its contribution became increasingly apparent as the system was optimized throughout the weekend.
Just a few doors away, Room 1218 presented an entirely different vision of high-end audio.
The Grimm Audio system brought together the LS1c active loudspeakers, SB1 subwoofers, and Grimm digital source in a remarkably compact architecture.
Where the Hommage system relies on the meticulous selection and optimization of individual components, Grimm approaches the same challenge through integration.
Digital signal processing, D/A conversion, amplification, and loudspeaker performance are conceived as parts of a single system, rather than independent components that must subsequently be made to work together.
The result: fewer components, fewer cables, and fewer variables.
But certainly no less ambition.
The Grimm system presented at Montreal Audiofest was also the subject of a complete video report devoted to Grimm Audio.
C’est un complément particulièrement intéressant à l’expérience de la salle 1218, puisqu’il permet d’aller au-delà de l’écoute effectuée pendant le salon et de mieux comprendre la philosophie d’intégration qui distingue Grimm : source numérique, traitement du signal, amplification et enceintes conçus comme un ensemble cohérent.
What makes the Grimm concept particularly compelling is that simplicity is not achieved at the expense of performance.
Instead, it results from integrating functions that would normally require an entire collection of separate components.
The objective remains exactly the same as in Room 1216: coherence, transparency, dimensionality, and musical involvement.
Only the path to achieving it is different.
The contrast between the two rooms thus became one of the most interesting aspects of our 2026 presentation.
One system demonstrated what becomes possible when every component is carefully selected and meticulously optimized.
The other demonstrated what becomes possible when those same variables are engineered from the outset to work together.
Lemay Audio’s second room was also the subject of a dedicated article in Stereophile.
Robert Schryer described the Grimm presentation in terms of “seamlessness, coherence, and balance,” while highlighting its rich sonic presentation, stable and layered soundstage, realistic tonal qualities, and precisely defined imaging.
Stereophile also recorded a second interview with François Lemay, this time devoted entirely to the Grimm Audio system.
Enjoy the Music also visited Room 1218, noting that the remarkably compact Grimm presentation attracted considerable attention throughout the show.
Two Philosophies. One Destination.
Après trois jours de démonstrations et des centaines de séances d’écoute, le contraste entre nos deux salles est venu renforcer une conviction que nous partageons depuis longtemps :
la conception d’un système compte davantage que sa taille.
There is no single formula for creating an exceptional music reproduction system.
With the Dayton Wright Hommage, Tenor Audio, and Grimm MU2 system, the approach involves carefully selecting each element, eliminating weaknesses one by one, and extracting everything each component is capable of delivering.
With Grimm Audio, much of that work is accomplished before the system ever enters the listening room. The individual components are designed from the beginning to operate as an integrated whole.
One approach is based on meticulous selection.
The other on extensive integration.
Yet both ultimately pursue the same objective: to make the system disappear, leaving only the music.
Montreal Audiofest remains a unique opportunity for us to share these systems with music lovers, audiophiles, manufacturers, and members of the international audio press.
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to listen with us in Rooms 1216 and 1218, as well as the journalists, videographers, and media outlets who devoted articles, reports, interviews, photographs, and videos to our presentations.
Above all, thank you to everyone who sat down, listened, asked questions, returned for another listening session, and shared their impressions with us.
After all, that is what an Audiofest should be about.
The music.
A hotel room at an audio show can offer only a glimpse of what these systems are truly capable of.
For those wishing to experience the Dayton Wright Hommage, Grimm Audio, Entreq, or any of the other products presented at Montreal Audiofest 2026 under more controlled conditions, private listening sessions can be arranged by appointment.
Lemay Audio
