"What speakers are these?"

"Those are the PSB Alpha B1s," I say.

"They look really great."

"They sound awesome, too."

"I noticed. How much do they cost?"

"Ha. Check this out. Remember John DeVore's speakers? I loved them. Two thousand dollars. The Totem Arros? Really good. Cymbals were sometimes too bright and piano notes sometimes seemed blurred, but, overall, a great and very flexible speaker. Twelve hundred dollars. These? Small, good-looking, great-sounding with all sorts of music. They don't go very loud and don't offer the deepest bass, but I'm getting the matching subwoofer soon, so we'll see how that changes things..."

I pause. She waits.

"Two hundred seventy-nine dollars!"

"Wow. If you buy any speakers, you should buy these."

I look at her incredulously.