Ed Stone of Executive Stereo has led an interesting life, particularly from an audio perspective. Let’s start with that name—Ed Stone. It sounds rock ‘n’ roll verging on bad-ass, like a made-up rock star alias. Except it isn’t, as Ed confirmed with me during our interview over the phone, in which he jokingly added, “At one point, I thought it would be nice to work with (Canadian music producer) Bob Rock so the album credits could read ‘engineered by Stone and Rock’.”

Work with Bob Rock? Therein lies a clue to Ed’s intriguing audio life story. See, before Ed bought Executive Stereo in Toronto in 1998, he spent over twenty years, from age 19 to 40, as a recording engineer at Toronto’s Sounds Interchange Studios, where he worked with the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Oscar Peterson, producer Eddie Kramer (Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones), and Triumph, among others. Triumph’s Gil Moore founded Metalwork’s Studios in nearby Mississauga, where Ed worked for 10 years. Ed knows what the music sounded like when it was laid to tape, because he was there, exposed daily to the sound of electric and acoustic instruments. While Keith Richards was waiting for his court case to proceed after his drug bust at the Canadian border, he recorded several country music demos at Sounds Interchange, in which Ed was involved. I asked Ed if his time with the acts he recorded ever got a little rock ‘n’ roll-lifestyle wild? “Just 5% of the time”, he said with a snicker.

Ed always loved sound reproduction. At 15 years old, he had a multitrack recorder. He then worked part-time at a hi-fi store so he could surround himself in high fidelity. It’s also why he got into the recording biz, because that’s where sound reproduction begins. Just listen to Ed’s studio chops on Triumph’s album Thunder Seven or the band’s other albums, in which he was involved in every step of the recording process.

After 20 years, the recording biz took its toll. Ed blames the long hours and travelling it took to do his job for costing him his first marriage. It was a turning point. He stopped travelling to studio gigs and began looking for other work, egged on by his then-wife’s advice to ‘do something you love. I don’t want you to be miserable’. Then fate intervened in the form of a wanted ad for used audio equipment. It spurred Ed into bringing a bunch of empty recording reels to a place called Executive Stereo, where, after a long chat with the owner, he was offered to buy the place. Six months later, in 1998, Ed took up the offer. That was 26 years ago, an eternity in retail.

At any point, had business ever gotten so hard he considered selling the store? “Not really,” he said. “I was determined to make it work. I told myself, ‘I can do this. I know this stuff. I’m not a great businessman, but I’ve got personality and I can talk to people.’ And I had knowledge from my recording days that allowed me to say to people ‘this is how it should sound’, and people respected that history. It was great credentials to have.”

When I asked him what he tells people who come into his store looking for audio-purchasing guidance, he said: “I ask them what source they have or want to listen to, the size of their room, how loud they listen, what kind of music they listen to. That will usually give us (him and salesman Ryan Miller) enough information to suggest something. I don’t really ask about price. I just say ‘this is what I suggest for your needs or your system’. At that point, they might ask what it costs, and if they say the amount is a bit rich, at least I’ll know where to go from there.”

“So the gear fits the personality?” I asked.

“I try to do that,” Ed said. “I don’t say, ‘this is it, you have to buy this.’”

What was his favourite part of owning an audio store?

“I get to listen to music all day,” he said. “I get introduced to all this new music from people walking through the door. I love hearing stuff I’ve never heard before. My musical tastes have grown so much. I never used to be that into classical, or jazz—it was always rock ‘n’ roll for me—but now I really enjoy them.”

Can a good system make it easier to get into certain genres?

“I think so,” he said. “Because if you hear music on an average or bad system you won’t be able to hear all the intricacies or the talent that went into composing these pieces. I think that’s especially true of classical music because there’s so much going on in it. So, if you hear it on a nicer system, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll get more from the music.”

Even though his studio days are long behind him, Ed knows intrinsically what instruments sound like, and he knows what certain recordings should sound like. He recognizes true-ness in sound reproduction. It helped inform his decision on the contents of his $30,000 system.

It included a pair of 3-way, active Kii 3s, a Melco N100 streamer, an EAR Phonobox phono stage, and a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Pro turntable. An interesting facet of this analogue- / digital-based system is the amount of hardware it made unnecessary: most cabling—all that was needed was a USB cable between the Melco streamer and the Kii controller, and a pair of balanced cables from the phono preamp to the balanced input on the back of each speaker. Also unnecessary was having an external amplifier, preamplifier, or DAC—the speakers had all those built in, plus DSP, which allows them to be placed anywhere in a room and still deliver great sound. The Kiis are suitable for condos or smaller listening areas, but also for huge spaces; each speaker is equipped with 6 drivers, each separately powered by an internal 250W Ncore class-D amplifier, with a low end said to extend to 20Hz (+/- 0.5dB).

Due to the 8-hour drive-time between us, I didn’t audition Ed’s $30,000 system, but I had heard the Kii 3s at the Montreal Audiofest a few years back and was floored by their bass power and how transparent, effortless, and full they sounded.

Why did he choose this combination over others?

“It’s a system that I really like as an ex-recording engineer,” he said. “It offers world-class sound for the music lover who just wants to listen, instead of tinkering. It’s set and forget.”

He added: “And the Kii 3s are exceptional for their detail and ability to pick apart the music and let the listener hear all the inner details and layers.”

If an owner of this system wanted to eventually upgrade, what would he recommend as a first step?

“I’m a huge fan of power conditioning,” said Ed. “I would add a power conditioner, like something from PS Audio or Torus. Any good one will do a better job than plugging a component straight into a wall. Some people say that using a power conditioner is going to limit your power, but I say get the power conditioner that works with your particular system. You just have to match it properly.

“Another thing is the room,” he said. “A lot of companies are doing acoustic treatment, so people are finding that the room plays a huge part in the sound. If you buy thousands of dollars worth of equipment and put it in a room that doesn’t help, you’re going to get average or worse sound.” And nobody wants that.

2076 Avenue Rd, North York, ON M5M 4A6

(416) 927-1400

executivestereo.com

Price List (in CA$):

• Kii 3 speakers with controller – $23,500 in white or black. (Matching stands add $2500.00 )
• EAR Phonobox -1695.00
• Pro-Ject Debut Pro Turntable with Project Pick it pro cartridge – $1189.99
• Melco N100 Music Server/Streamer w/ 2 TB Storage – $3395.00
• Cardas HiSpeed USB Cable 1.0 Meter length – $690.00
• Cardas Clear Reflection 1.5 meter interconnects (from Phono box to speakers) – $2410 pr.

Total Cost: $32,879.99, cables included.