Mutine's Pascal Ravach was demonstrating the small, but striking, Duevel Planets omnidirectional speakers (CDN$1495/pair), The Planets consist of a floorstanding vented cabinet with an upward-firing 5" woofer and 1" horn-loaded tweeter. The drivers fire against reflective spheres, which disperse the sound.

The Planets sounded remarkably robust for a 5" two-way, so I asked Canadian distributor Ravach about them. "You know," he said, "I don't really believe in people reading about loudspeakers. No offense, but people should listen to loudspeakers and decide for themselves whether or not they love them. People read too much. They need to listen."

So how can people listen to the Planets?

"First, they should go to my website and read about our philosophy. Then find one of our dealers and listen for yourself. I only choose dealers I trust to let you discover for yourself what you like."

Well, all right then.