Prices listed are in CA$.

The Sonic Artistry room blew my mind—as much for the sound as for the stunning visual backdrop of the Long Room in the library at Trinity College Dublin. No photo can do that backdrop justice, but when I sat in front of it, it was a 3D, trippy experience—I could swear the rows of books stretched back a hundred feet. That begs a question: was the soundstage depth I experienced during the demo really there, or was it a mind trick?

I’ll say it was really there, with some enhancement by the perceived depth of the library image. The system consisted of a pair of Acora Acoustics 2.5 way MRC-2 speakers ($16,995/pair), a Kora TB200 integrated amp ($15,790), a Grimm Audio MU2 analogue preamp/DAC/streamer/Roon Core, ($23,995), a Nordost QBase Reference power distribution centre ($21,599), Seismion Reactio 2 active isolation bases ($19,750 each), and cabling by Nordost.

The resulting sound was incredible: beautifully layered and richly detailed. Rarely have I heard a soundstage with images so well-separated and placed at distinct points in space. I wish you could’ve heard the chorus of voices in Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody—absolutely riveting. And this wasn’t even audiophile-grade material. Nor was the rest of the music I listened to, yet the system made every track sound utterly captivating.