Outside the Eikon room at AXPONA, sharply projected onto the hallway carpet, floated the company's logo in bright white. I like to think I wasn't the only one who reacted to it like a little kid from Hamelin, powerlessly compelled to follow the music that was now within earshot.

Inside, I was invited to audition the just-launched Image .5 standmounts ($12,000/pair).

Lenbrook of Canada has several modern hi-fi brands under its "umbrella," and I had the chance to check out some of the latest wares from DALI, NAD, and Bluesound in room 729 at AXPONA.

Ah, domesticity. Just when I had the reference system sounding better than ever, the husband decided to relocate his electric keyboard and music stand, which had been positioned along the right wall of the detached music room, to the dining room in the main house. His reason was rational: While I did the reviewer thing in one space, he'd be free to practice keyboard and sing in another. But what was rational to him screwed with my reference sound and drove me to the brink of irrationality.

Are we truly moving closer to the alpha and omega of high-end audio, or are we still at the beginning of an ever widening—some would say deviating—path that now includes virtual reality 360° listening, Dolby Atmos, Apple Immersion, and so much more. All I know for certain is that showgoers who visited Quintessence Audio's Perfection Audio when Wilson Audio's Sasha DAW speakers ($39,000/pair) had their grilles on came away with only a partial sense of all this system could accomplish.

Of Morton Grove, IL dealer Quintessence Audio's three rooms at AXPONA, those in the ground floor Knowledge and Perfection showrooms remained. Since it's hard to imagine Perfection without Knowledge, reality cast the die to first cover a superb Knowledge set-up that mated Wilson Audio Alexx V speakers ($135,000/pair, or $151,000/pair in the show pair's special finish) with Audio Research electronics (see below), Clearaudio Master Innovation Wood turntable with TT-MI linear tonearm ($62,000) and Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement MC cartridge ($17,500), dCS's new Vivaldi Apex DAC/Clock/Upsampler system ($90,000), Transparent XL cabling with PWX power ($73,985 total), and Critical Mass Maxxum component stands ($75,000).