The original Statue Of Liberty was built in France, and albeit on a smaller scale there are several models of the torch lady in Paris, one of which at Quai de Grenelle, near the Novotel, where “The Festival” took place, also not far from the famous Eiffel Tower.
Focal Scala Utopia loudspeakers
It so happens that French culture has a long history of creating beautiful solid things that stand the test of time, while also standing on their feet like Focal loudspeakers.
Riffaud Heritage - haute couture turntable
And those that merrily go round and round like Riffaud turntables.
Atoll SDA 200 DAC
Or resuscitate great artists like Piaf, Brel or Montand, making us believe they are in the room singing for us again like Atoll DACs and Devialet amplifiers.
The Ensemble Devialet 120 + Atohm GT1 loudspeakers, the sophistication of simplicity and high compatibility
Devialet was demonstrating the advantages of SAM technology. You can read our own opinion here.
Cabasse stream source that looks like a flying...saucer
Other very interesting consumer electronics gadgets and hifi components were exhibited at “The Festival” by French companies in a special window show under the designation Connect&Play.
Some are good examples of classical audiophile art, others seem inspired by art noveau, while technology is always an important asset to all that beauty on display.
Micromega MyAmp, a scaled down highend amplifier, that might have been inspired by the Statue Of Liberty replicas
They even kept their tradition of building perfectly functional downscaled models of hifi components without compromise like Micromega.
Jarre: hard to define audiophile modern art
Also shown by Jarre were a few weird things that for lack of a better definition one may call modern art.
Ceci n'est pas un tableau. What is it then?...
The active 'tableau' that turns into a video screen with integrated sound
There were even pictures at an exhibition of dissimulated video screens by Wolfgang Lynch. You can see how it works on the short video below.
All in all a very nice enlightening and romantic weekend spent in Paris (with my wife, mind you)
Merci, Jean-Marie! Au revoir...