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In their second, considerably larger room at the Long Beach Show, AV Luxury Group International pulled out all the stops. Immediately catching eye and ear were Raidho Acoustics TD 3.8 3-way loudspeakers in Walnut finish ($117,000/pair). With a nominal impedance of 6 ohms, these babies can throw a huge, enveloping soundstage from as little as 50Wpc amplification.

In an extremely large 2nd floor room, products from two US distributors, Reference Components and Audio Skies, joined forces in a single, powerful all-analog system. Of special note, on the LP Paris, were the absolutely compelling soaring silvery highs that Hilary Hahn's violin produced as she flew through Prokofiev's first Violin Concerto.

Ensconced in one of the Hilton Long Beach's larger rooms, Tom Vu had intended to present an all-TriangleArt system until the Great Egyptian Shipping God in the Sky announced total displeasure at the state of the world. Demanding a sacrifice for our collective sins, GESGitS blew a gasket and chose as his victims TriangleArt's Metis loudspeakers ($59,999/pair), which never reached the Hilton Long Beach. Borrowed Usher speakers saved the day.

Jim Suhre, 86, is an independent speaker designer who for many years has brought his latest designs to audio shows. He didn't have a name for the speaker system he showed at Long Beach, which will go for $9000–$10,000/pair, but he did explain that his full system includes an integrated module with balanced interconnects and only one power cord.

Only as I was leaving this room did Theresa Merchant tell me that when she, her husband Sunil, and the Sunny Components team first encountered the abysmal acoustics in this room, they thought all was lost. Thanks to the set-up acumen of David Ellington, AudioQuest Director of Sales for Independent Dealers, and a bunch of acoustic paneling, the room was a major success.

"This has to be one of the best sounding rooms at T.H.E. Show," said self to self. Listening to Count Basie and his Orchestra's rendition of "After the Rain," the beauty, clarity, and absolute spot-on rightness of every single high-end parameter I could think of impelled me to write in my notes, "The price reflects the pedigree of the sound."