Roger DuNaier of KingSound had plenty of reason to smile. His King III full-range electrostatic loudspeakers ($12,000/pair) were sounding the best I've ever heard them. That means the music they produced sounded exceptionally smooth, warm, relaxed and inviting. How Roger managed this on the Mezzanine of the Doubletree, where rooms had a 10' air space above the ceiling that sucked the life of most active systems on the floor, is no mean feat.

Of course, you can bet that the associated components—Purity Audio Design Reference Series II linestage preamplifier ($11,495), Bob Carver Black Beauty 305 monoblock amplifiers ($12,900/pair), Oppo 3D Blu-ray disc player ($999), and Clarity cabling—Vortex power cords ($750/1.5m), Organic RCA interconnects ($1800/1.5m pair), and Organic speaker cables ($2500/1.5m pair)—had something to do with it. Roger didn't know what one of the tracks he played me was—no one he's shared it with has been able to identify it—but I really liked the sound of the piano and warmth of the midrange. I left the room thinking that if other rooms sounded as good as this, it was going to be a very, very good show.