I had been frequenting Keith Yate's brick audio show room for several weeks.
Each week Keith had one set of speakers in the large audition room. I had
heard a number of the best speakers of the day over my visits.
One day, when I entered, Keith wasn't there with his customary glass of red
wine. That turned out not to be the only thing out of the ordinary. This day, I
heard real music. Someone was playing a piano nearby. There was no
mistaking the sound with any hi-fi I had ever listened to.
Set on angle, some twelve feet apart, were two blonde cloth panels looking
like anything but a speaker. I walked up to one on perchance it was a
speaker. The piano concert sounded somewhere in the distance. I walked
behind, and the sound didn't change. No matter where I was in the room, I
heard the piano, always some distance away.
There was an open door. I went there, expecting to see Keith listening to a
piano recital in an adjoining room, but no. The sound went away.
Walking back into the sound room, I chanced upon Keith's prized Goldmund
turntable. It was spinning a record. I suddenly felt faint, realizing those
panels were indeed speakers. By some magical spell, they produced not a
sound, but a performance that remained real sounding from any listening
point.
Later I learned the speakers were Apogee Scintillas. I fell in love.
