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Unfortunately, Jeff Joseph’s shipment of gear was delayed due to a short FedEx strike which occurred in Paris. Joseph was understandably tired and frustrated, but he hadn’t lost his great sense of humor.

“I can still play the speakers,” he said with a straight face.

I thought for a moment that he would employ some powerful new wireless technology; Joseph was an early proponent for computer-based audio.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. What would you like to hear?”

He covered his face with the press release for his lovely Pulsar ($7000/pair) and began to sing.

I can’t remember what song we listened to, but it really was like hearing live music. There was almost nothing separating us from the song.

These two kitty-clad women have been following me all over the show. They’re here to promote Cambridge Audio’s new Minx series of mini-speakers, made to match a small, stylish design with true high-quality sound.

Genius.

“You two are so hot, you should be illegal,” I told them.

They laughed.

“What did you just say to them?” Rosemarie asked.

“I told them they were so hot they should be illegal.”

“God, you’re such a guy.”

“Danke!”

The controls on these sleek Audiolab 8200 Series components were pure pleasure; I could have played with them all day long. The 8200CD CD player uses the Sabre 32-bit DAC from ESS Technology&#151hot. The 8200Q preamp’s six line-level inputs respond to remote control, but you’ll want to caress this thing; the volume knob is a motorized potentiometer for precise tracking, while a separate gain control enables sensitivity to be matched to different power amps and source components. Finally, the clean, simple 8200P power amp provides 100Wpc into 8 ohms.

I was drawn to the smoky, nearly sunburst finish of the Luxman D-30u CD player, which offers a choice between solid-state and ECC82 vacuum tube playback. The matching SQ-30u vacuum tube integrated amp offers 30Wpc and has a selectable MM/MC phono stage; MC cartridges are handled by a step-up trannie. Cool.

Luxman had a small, attractive, vintage-inspired system on display: The 12Wpc NeoClassico Series SQ-N10 vacuum tube amp (which includes a moving-magnet phono stage), a D-N10 CD player (not shown here), and lovely minimonitors made to match.

Here I am, whispering sweet nothings to PSB’s outstanding Alpha B1 ($279/pair)&#151only moments earlier, I was totally making out with it&#151one of my very favorite standmounted loudspeakers and our 2007 "Budget Product of the Year".

I’ve owned a pair of these overachievers for several years now, but mine are in a more modest black ash&#151not quite as sexy as this new high-gloss white finish. (I want it!)

“Oh, these are cute!” Rosemarie exclaimed.

She was immediately attracted to PSB’s new Imagine Mini ($700/pair), which made its debut at January’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Can you blame her? These loudspeakers are small, powerful, attractive, and fun. (And they match Rosemarie’s outfit.)