Another room exhibiting an EverSolo product was that of IsoAcoustics, which used a DMP-A8 streamer/DAP/DAC/preamplifier ($2700) to feed a pair of 350W PS Audio Stellar M700 monoblocks ($4500/each) and Aspen FR10 speakers ($13,999/pair)—two pairs, actually, one on regular spikes, the other on IsoAcoustics Gaia 2 isolation feet ($349.99/pack of 4), to allow for an A/B demonstration.

You want big-toned, vivid, seemingly effortlessly dispersed sound with a knack for delivering some of the most stable and incisively air-sculpted, but not fatiguing, imaging I've heard at the show?

This was one of my favorite demos at the show. It sounded so well balanced, it seemed to deliver everything in the right proportions. Bold but not in-your-face; tonally ripe but not too warm; detailed but not stringent; effortless but weighty, and so on.

An ancient connection: Monitor Audio began in 1972 when John Bartlett, founder of the innovative retail chain Audio T, introduced me to Mike Beeny, manager of an Audio T branch near Cambridge, and Mo Iqbal, a local electronics wizard. Mike suggested that Mo and I join him to start a loudspeaker company. Monitor was a fashionable hi-fi term, and I suggested we name it Monitor Audio Ltd. Each director put £300 into the company account. It was registered as a PLC at an address in Teversham, Cambridgeshire. We rented an upper floor office in a warehouse close to Mo's home, since Mo worked all hours. There was additional workspace in his huge double garage. Mike directed sales, Mo was responsible for production management and accounts, and I took the position of technical director for research and development. I also helped supervise production. Lorna Parker was our office secretary.

After launching a handful of increasingly viable designs, we reached a then-astonishing turnover of £1 million in our first year and enjoyed a very successful showing at the Paris Festival du Son. But by this point, I was close to an overwork-related breakdown and reluctantly resigned.