Les prix sont indiqués en CA$.

Atelier Audio, which is French for audio workshop, is a cozy boutique ensconced inside the home of the store’s owner, Samuel Furon, a French national based in Montreal, Quebec, for reasons both familial—his wife is from Quebec—and professional. Samuel began his audio career in France, where his company Ocellia continues to build speakers and drivers. In Canada, he wears three audio hats, so to speak, as manufacturer of Ocellia-brand cables and electronics, importer of several audio brands sold across Canada, and as retailer of those same brands via Atelier Audio.

Il ne s'agit pas du matériel audio habituel que je trouve dans les magasins audio locaux - ce matériel se situe plutôt à l'extrémité exotique du spectre audiophile, ce qui signifie que les entreprises qu'il représente ne fabriquent ni des produits à prix modique, ni de nombreux modèles différents. Leurs produits sont artisanaux et peu nombreux, et leur prix est en conséquence.

“There’s a level of quality I insist on,” Samuel said. “So coming out with a system for me at $10,000 or even $20,000 just wasn’t feasible. If someone is cash strapped, I’d rather suggest to that person that they buy a quality product on the used market than sell them a $1000 DAC that can’t play music.”

Samuel officially introduced himself to the North American audio public when he exhibited his Ocellia line of products at the 2010 Montreal Audio Show. In the following years, Samuel’s role in the audio industry gradually changed. He’s now, foremost, an importer who also happens to have a retail business.

I asked if there were significant differences in the Quebec and French markets. “There are a lot of similarities here,” he said. When I asked if he meant product-wise, he replied, “In how people conduct business—the stores, the distributors, the resellers. Audiophiles on both sides are generally the same. What was different for me here compared to France is I came to this market as a foreigner, so like all foreigners I felt I had to prove myself, to show through my work what I can bring to our profession.

“And bit by bit, people are putting their trust in me. They discover unique products. And they’re learning to know me. My passion for music and audio is what comes through.

“I’m in my fifties and I was lucky in this industry to have met professionals, audiophiles, and music lovers who knew how to listen to music and influenced me. These people gave me a clarity of vision that was reassuring, because it helped me choose my path.

“And that path started when my father gave me, like many fathers with their own kids, my first sound system. Later, I built my own loudspeakers because I didn’t have money to buy a pair. I worked in a hi-fi store, then studied electronics and mechanics. I got into this hobby from a more technical side, but I always loved music. My mother listened to music all the time, and she passed that love on to me.

“Professionally, I became a manufacturer, then a distributor and retailer. I’ve been living a 40-year passion, and in this period I’ve learned to find a happy medium. I prefer a system that performs less well sonically than musically. Focusing on bass and highs, it’s always the same thing. When we go to a concert, we don’t hear that much bass or highs. The important question is, can the system convey the intention of the artists, the rhythm, the emotion in the music?”

Je lui demande s'il préfère vendre des systèmes complets ou si, comme la plupart des magasins, il se contente de vendre des pièces détachées.

“I’m happy selling separates, but it’s important to me that the buyer ends up satisfied with having my component in their system. Often, we can have good components but that, for whatever reason, don’t work well together. Synergy is important.”

L'importance de la synergie a été mise en évidence par le système que Samuel a assemblé dans sa salle d'écoute située dans l'alcôve inférieure. Connecté à trois circuits CA dédiés, le système comprenait un serveur musical AEON 432Hz à gravure de CD, un DAC Aqua Acoustic La Voce, un commutateur numérique Silent Angel N8 Pro, un ampli intégré hybride Kora TB140 de 70Wpc, une paire d'enceintes Diptyque 107 à deux voies de 86 dB, un conditionneur de puissance Puritan PS156 à 6 sorties, un câble Ethernet SOtM, et divers câbles Ocellia.

On a cross section of music that included Japanese instrumentals, folk music, Chinese drums, jazz with and without vocals, and pop music, the sound of Samuel’s system shared characteristics with a system I’d recently heard that left an indelible mark on me. That system was fronted by the mighty Dayton Wright Hommage electrostats, another model that, like the Triptyque, is dipolar and uses magnets and a Mylar film to project sound. As with the Dayton Wright system, what stood out most for me about the sound of Samuel’s system was the illumined quality of the vocals and how intensely focused the images appeared inside the soundstage. The effect was akin to being able to zero in effortlessly on the instruments and vocals inside the physically “visible” parameters of the sound room or venue. There was an almost heightened sense of reality—an intimate, close-up proximity between me and the musician—that sounded utterly natural and truthful. Going back to Samuel’s comment about bass and highs, I just didn’t think about “frequency extensions” while I was listening to the music—they didn’t occur to me, which is good, because it means they didn’t draw attention away from the music. And if you think this is my way of sweeping deficiencies in those areas under the rug, I’d like to point out that the Diptyque’s frequency range is specified at a very respectable 40Hz-19kHz. It’s just that this system was less about compartmentalized things like bass and treble, and more about being able to deliver a realistic impression of hearing music being made by real people in real time.

Si tout cela vous semble un peu trop vague, permettez-moi d'en parler autrement. La présentation était très transparente, vivante et, excusez le jeu de mots, magnétique. Je me suis sentie attirée par la musique - mentalement, mais aussi physiquement. Sur un CD de Blue City de Yoshiko Goto, la voix de cette dernière était pulpeuse, rayonnante et tendre comme de la chair. Elle avait également une présence tangible, une tactilité et une forme holographique, tout comme la guitare et la contrebasse. La musique était raffinée sur le plan sonore et visuellement.

On another jazz track, piano notes had the ring of authenticity. Decays lingered forever. Echoes mingled. Cymbals were soft and textured. Sax sounded rich and corporeal—and that’s the thing. This system excelled in replicating fully-formed instruments in space against a physically delineated background.

Sur la piste des tambours chinois, les tambours étaient dynamiques et frappaient avec un impact puissant. La trompette de Chet Baker sur un morceau de son album Lyrical Trumpet Of Chet Baker a donné lieu à une tonalité, à une liquidité et à une texture sensuelle.

Je pourrais continuer à décrire ce que j'entendais, mais je me contenterai de dire que ce système offrait une présentation qui semblait tout à fait réelle et pure. Oh, et pas numérique.

En tout cas, ce n'est pas du numérique au sens où j'entends ce terme depuis l'apparition du CD. Pourtant, ici, la musique sonnait de manière absolument naturelle. Pour autant que je puisse en juger, la plupart des concepteurs numériques compétents semblent avoir trouvé un moyen de faire sonner le numérique de manière analogique - en termes de flux et de continuité, en tout cas.

A ce propos : Lorsqu'on lui a demandé ce qu'il conseillerait à quelqu'un qui souhaiterait ajouter un système vinyle à ce système, Samuel a proposé l'un des ensembles vinyle de Pure Fidelity, parfait pour être utilisé avec la section phono intégrée du Kora.

La synergie ? Absolument.

Liste de prix des composants :

• Serveur de musique AEON 432Hz ($9000)
• Aqua Acoustic La Voce DAC ($5890)
• Commutateur numérique Silent Angel N8 Pro ($1650)
• Amplificateur intégré Kora TB140 ($6900)
• Haut-parleurs Diptyque 107 ($8900 / paire)
• Conditionneur d'alimentation Puritan PS156 ($2600)
• Câble Ethernet SOtM ($700)
• Câbles Ocellia (divers) ($4500 au total)
• Installation vinyle Pure Fidelity (à partir d'environ $6000)