The story of how the Epique CBT24 came to be was unlike any other at the show.

The tale beguns underwater, where the U.S. Navy was trying to get a consistently coherent signal out of semi-spherical communications equipment. The answer was something called a constant beamwidth transducer. Fast forward some years and designer Don Keele Jr. has turned the now declassified research into the CBT24.

The arc-shaped speaker, an echo of the semi-spherical naval communications gear, divides its twenty-four 2.5-inch full-range drivers into three driver banks, each one receiving a different "shading" or attenuation to achieve even coverage. Walk around the room and there is virtually no change in the musically coherent tonal balance.

Why does such a remarkable (not to mention large) speaker sell for just $1500/pair? Because the company behind the Epique brand is Parts Express, also known for its affordable Dayton amps. In fact, buy the product as a kit and the price goes down to $900/pair.

But the speaker does require a saddle-shaped equalization curve and the EQ hardware is not built in. The demo used Dayton's miniDSP, which adds $205 to the price. You can also use the high- and low-pass filters in a surround processor or receiver. Though the little drivers are said to reach down to 45 Hz, they do benefit from a sub, which in this case was Dayton's 15-inch Ultimax ($150 for passive version, a little more with amp).