This story has its origins at High End 2023 in Munich, Germany. That was my introduction to the galactic scale of the world’s largest audio show. For the first day, I was completely combat-ineffective, a country mouse experiencing the big city for the first time, so it was fortuitous that I stumbled into the room shared by Engström, Marten, and Jorma. As you can tell by my review of that room, I was captivated by these elegant tube amps and stunning speakers, and by the cables that tied everything together.
Two years later, at High End 2025, I was equally smitten by the Kroma Atelier speakers, which were driven by those same Engström amps. I was beginning to detect a trend. This time, I made sure to seek out Timo Engström with the intent of greasing him up so I could land a review amplifier. We had a good chat, and decided that the Eric Encore mono amplifiers that had blown my skirt up twice at High End were a touch too large for my room. We settled on the Arne integrated amplifier for my review, which made sense given that I already had experience with a similarly configured Fezz Audio Lybra amp.
Here’s where things get interesting. I had already formed a connection with Jason Melman, the owner of Boutique Audio Gallery, an extremely high-end audio emporium located in King City, Ontario, just north of Toronto. Melman has always been an audiophile, but Boutique Audio Gallery is a new enterprise—its soft launch took place in the spring of 2025. The genesis was Melman’s frustration that many of the brands that he found the most interesting and exciting weren’t being imported into Canada. Melman is very engaging, and I’ve visited Boutique Audio twice now, given that he stocks a ton of Ultra-worthy brands. It was on the second visit that I put the pieces together: Boutique Audio is the Canadian representative for Engström’s products.
So Engström shipped an Arne amp to Canada with my name on it, and I worked with Melman to arrange pickup. In the meantime, Melman had just received a pair of Zellaton’s newest speaker—the top-of-the-line Statement Ultra—the only pair in existence at that time. The previous week, Michael Schwab, the owner of Zellaton, had flown over from Germany to set up these impressive speakers, and Boutique Audio had hosted an event to celebrate their arrival. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend, having a prior family commitment that weekend.
Boutique Audio Gallery is situated on eight acres in a rural setting—a pastoral estate with two buildings. There’s a main building that houses three dedicated listening rooms, and another large showroom with two additional systems. The rooms are large, airy, well-treated, and extremely welcoming. Adding to that welcoming feeling is Melman’s other business, Heads & Tails Spirits Co., an importer of fine whiskies, cognacs, and other rare spirits, which is co-owned by his partner, Igor Kossov. There are always bottles available for sampling, but given how I have had to drive there and back, I’ve refrained from taking advantage.
I’ll only say this once, but it’s important: all of the brands that Boutique Audio Gallery represents are expensive. There’s nothing here designed for a price point. These are true boutique brands—low-volume, handmade products, lovingly designed and assembled by individuals with a vision. “I think of these product lines as carefully curated,” Melman told me.
Upping the level of customer service was paramount in Melman’s vision. He was careful to point out that the products he carries should sell themselves. There’s no point-of-sale terminal at Boutique Audio Gallery—Melman sees himself as a facilitator rather than a salesman. He merely presents the products and allows customers to determine their own preferences. “I only want to work with great people, and I believe clients at this level deserve and will appreciate the notion that they are supporting people and brands whose quality and dedication is commensurate with the cost,” Melman said with passion. “The initial sale is the start of the relationship with the customer. I’m looking to provide a holistic, multidimensional experience that includes the opportunity to meet, or at least communicate with, the manufacturer. More than that, for top speaker models and other select products beyond a certain price point, the manufacturer themself will travel to set up the system in the client’s home.”
About those brands: Boutique Audio Gallery’s offerings comprise a long list of high-end products I’ve never seen anywhere outside of the larger audio shows. JMF Audio and Spec Corporation electronics. Döhmann Audio turntables. SoundSpace Systems speakers. Schnerzinger cables. And yes, Zellaton speakers. The Engrström Arne was my prize for the day, but the Zellaton Statement Ultra would set the stage for me to experience that amp.
When I arrived to pick up the Arne, we spent a short while listening to the SoundSpace Rossignol speakers driven by a Spec Corporation RSA‑EX1000, a juicy little integrated amplifier from Japan. I’ve heard these SoundSpace speakers several times now, and this was the best they’d sounded. I resolved to further investigate Spec Corporation’s electronics.
A short walk down a garden path, with a backdrop of snow-covered fields, led us to the showroom, a two-story building constructed in the same airy, light-filled manner as the main house. It’s a large space, with the main floor featuring a well-laid-out system fronted by a pair of Zellaton Reference Ultra speakers and built up from JMF Audio electronics. I’ve heard this system on previous visits, but today we walked downstairs into the even larger main studio where the Statement Ultra speakers were lurking.
Zellaton is a storied company, formed in Munich, Germany, in 1931. The company manufactures its own drivers, based on its original patents. Manuel Podszus, the grandson of Zellaton’s founder, continues to manage the company today.
Decked out in white-gloss lacquer, these huge towers were imposing presences. They’re not simple rectangles—they narrow slightly toward the middle, with the change in width reflected in the faceted sides. With a window directly behind each speaker, the light caught the facets beautifully, making some parts appear satin and others polished. This room was a dream to photograph—so much light coming in at cool angles, so much shiny gear.
The polished metalwork was superb. I mentioned this to Melman, and he explained that the base, trim rings, and supports are made by Rolls Royce. If the purchaser prefers a satin finish, Zellaton brings in a watchmaker who brushes it by hand. Depending on the chosen finish, it takes Zellaton up to one year to make a pair of these speakers. Having looked at them, that’s easy for me to believe.
Here is the only place I’m going to mention price in this article. The Statement Ultra speaker retails for US$738,000 per pair. There. I said it. Time to move onward.
Melman had set up the Statement Ultras with Spec electronics once again, this time their top-end RPA‑MG1000 monoblock amplifiers. The amps were combined with an RPA‑MGCEX, which isn’t exactly a preamplifier; it’s more like a controller that tells the amps what to do. Again, I need to investigate this company and its way-the-hell-outside-the-box thinking. Feeding the amps was an Ideon Audio Absolute DAC, with two daisy-chained Absolute Time reclockers, because why the hell not? Also in place and hooked up was a Döhmann Helix One turntable, but we didn’t end up using it—I got all carried away with the iPad, excited to sample as many tracks as I could.
When I encounter speakers that are this huge, this beautiful, this obviously powerful, I invariably want to throw on loud, aggressive music that has serious impact. This often surprises audiophiles and manufacturers, who tend to want to hear their products playing safe music that doesn’t take chances. Melman didn’t seem fazed when I cued up “Purple Hat” by Sofi Tukker. This cheeky techno track shook the room, proving that the Zellatons could obviously rock out. But that’s just so coarse. So crude. Next up I chose Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden, which simply hung there, without strain or etch. There was latent power pouring out of these speakers, a sense of weight, strength, and depth.
We cycled through a whole bunch of tracks, and I found myself leaning toward complex, multifaceted music such as John Zorn’s Book of Angels compositions and prog-rock staples such as Moroccan Roll by Brand X. The feeling of grip and control from the Statement Ultras exorcised any notion of caution from my musical choices.
After several hours of intense listening, I had to leave to meet the family for dinner, so Melman and I decanted the Engström Arne from its shipping crate, which gave distinct Ark of the Covenant vibes.
We removed all of the large black clips and the crate fell apart like a magic trick, revealing an inner cardboard box that looked much more manageable. We humped that box back up the garden path to my car and I said my goodbyes.
It was a fascinating visit. On the previous occasions that I’d visited Boutique Audio Gallery, Melman had been hosting events with manufacturers and customers—it was more of an audio show atmosphere. Having the place to myself was a unique experience, and I had made the most of it. In 2026, Boutique Audio Gallery will be hosting an ongoing series of events. Up first, the principals from Engström, SoundSpace, and Döhmann Audio will be visiting, possibly all on the same weekend, and I’m going to make sure I’m available for that.
. . . Jason Thorpe
jasont@soundstagenetwork.com
