I had been impressed by the sound Classic Audio were producing from their T1.3 Reference speakers at last March's Axpona Show in Florida. In Colorado, the Michigan-based company was using the smaller T3.4 speakers, which still use a field-coil–energized 15" woofer and Fostex horn tweeter, but with slightly smaller, Tractrix-flare midrange horn crossing over at 300Hz rather than 250Hz. The speakers were being driven by Atma-Sphere M60 tube monoblocks and an MP-1 preamplifier.

LP front-end was a Tri-Planar tonearm fitted with a VdH Grasshopper Gold phono cartridge and mounted on a Kuzma Reference turntable, but the music playing when I was in the Classic room was B.B. King and Jimmie Vaughan dueting on "Rock Me Baby" from the first Eric Clapton: Crossroads DVD, courtesy of an Esoteric DV-50 universal player. The jump factor was to die for.