By Bruno de Lorimier
There’s an impressive, new destination for audiophiles and music lovers that you may not have heard of in the city of Ottawa, Canada. That’s because they only officially opened a short while ago, in the summer of 2022. If you’re in the market for some serious, high-performance, hi-fi gear, you have to add Bliss to your list!
Bliss Acoustics is a labor of love for Dragan Reljic, a lifelong audiophile and music lover. His home-based business is located in an area referred to as “The Glebe”, situated near The National Historic Site and the Rideau Canal. His mission is to provide one-of-a-kind, personal experiences while representing some of the finest audio brands on the market. His collection of beautifully crafted, impeccably designed, analog and digital components includes both well-established and up-and-coming brands that share one commonality: changing the landscape of the musical experience.
I first met Dragan in person last summer when Nordost VP, Michael Taylor, and I traveled to Ottawa to perform our two-day intensive Certified Nordost Specialist training, during which Dragan received Nordost’s highest level of intensive product training. Both Michael and I were greeted with a warm welcome and given a tour of the facility. Up until that point, I had never seen such an impressive and extensive in-home setup. In no less than four, very tastefully designed listening rooms, Dragan had an impressive number of products on display, hooked up and ready to be demonstrated. All the hits are waiting for you to hear when you visit Bliss: Nordost, Alluxity, AudioNec, Audio Vector, Aurender, ClearAudio, Dynavector, Focal, The Gryphon, Harbeth, JSIKORA, Karma, Kroma Atelier, Leben, Luxman, Magico, MSB, Nagra, Naim, Pilium, Shindo, Riviera, Vivid, and more!
Even though he is a relatively new hifi dealer, he is far from a novice to audio! Dragan has been around music from a very early age, and he will impress you with the knowledge he has cultivated over the years. Throughout high school and university, Dragan DJed at student clubs and alternative venues. Initially, he was a guest DJ and volunteer, doing it for the love of the music rather than the money. Then, as a side project, he started making “First Date Tapes” which developed a cult following. Those soon evolved into Encore Tapes of The Comedy Cafe, the second-largest standup comedy club in London, that he enthusiastically started managing during his studies.
In the beginning, despite his love for music, Dragan pursued a different career path. Born in Sarajevo, he began studying veterinary medicine and earned his first degree as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. He subsequently moved to the UK and completed his masters in London at the Royal Veterinary College. Then, about 30 years ago, he moved to Canada where things became a little more academically and politically complicated for him to pursue his Ph.D., encouraging him to take a different path.
With his experience bartending, DJing, and managing clubs in his youth, Dragan figured, why not do the same here? A new era began when he started running a very nice brewpub in the 90s, followed by an Italian restaurant in the ByWard Market, Mamma Grazzi’s, which he ran for over 25 years. As a side business, he also began investing in real estate, renovating, renting, and selling properties…all the while never losing his passion for high-end audio.
Dragan had often entertained the idea of procuring personalized high-end experiences for music enthusiasts in the nation’s capital, and it was thanks to the amazing support and the blessing of his wife Anastasia, a devoted music lover in her own right, that beautiful Bliss Acoustics was founded in the summer of 2022.
If you are a hi-fi enthusiast, please give Dragan a call and make an appointment to visit him. I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.
Bliss Acoustics
20 Third Ave
Ottawa, ON
K1S 2J6
Phone: (613) 415-4475
Email: info@blissacoustics.com