"Nuttin'" said Jeff Joseph. "Just the same Insiders ($2500/pair) you saw last year and a MJ Acoustics Reference 112 subwoofer ($3200 each). Sit down, listen—you don't even have anything to write about."

It was a good plan, jinxed only by how captivating the sound was. The Insiders, which are designed to be in-wall speakers but were simply hanging on the cubicle's walls, sounded amazing: engrossing, balanced, focused.

"Of course," Joseph said. "Infinite Slope technology was just made for an application like this."

His demo made the point nicely.