I seem to hear and read less about electrostatic speakers than I used to.

Montreal retailer Studio du Son's room was a blast from the past, complete with peace-sign door beads, a 50s-style wood-framed Black & White TV—okay, technically it was a blast from at least two different pasts—vintage photos of old-school rock stars, and a fat-knobbed radio and record player console. Oh, and KLH speakers.

You want sound that's narcotically intimate? Seductively expressive? Molecularly textured?

I never really got the sound of Klipsch speakers at past shows, but I did this time, in a big way, in the Capital Sound room, where the Klipsch La Scala III ($17,500) was making seductive, sophisticated music.

Maybe the earth-toned, smoke-spewing phallus standing in the back of the room had something to do with it.

You want magic? I'll give you magic. It won't cost you your soul, but it may touch it.

The Music First room was playing some tasty music with eye-popping gear, including the Hungarian-made Bayz Audio Courante loudspeakers ($60,000/pair US with carbon fibre construction), a unique, patented, omnidirectional design.