Unbeknownst to most Stereotypical Audiophiles, the Bay Area, while known for all sorts of music, was/is a hotbed of Freestyle, EDM, electronica, and house music. Moreover, some of this dance music actually originated from here. Such was the case, in early 1998, with M:G's "Sweet Honesty."

M:G stands for Maribel Gonzalez. Now Maribel LaLanne, she and her husband now run LaLanne Fitness, located right here in San Francisco, a few blocks south of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.

Anyway, on one Friday, some of the Hokubei interns and coworkers decided to go clubbing. Most went home and changed, but those in production and shipping typically worked until 8:30p. But that was still plenty early to go clubbing. The radio station which is now Wild 94.9 was hosting/DJing at one of the clubs. They played a so-called "Energy Box" mixing of "Sweet Honesty." It was a major crowd-pleaser. 4 of the Hokubei interns were tightly pressed against me. Other than large group settings, I don't recall ever dancing with 4 girls. Rubbing up against each other, I can still smell their smoky breath [they all smoked].

"Sweet Honesty" comes in a multitude of mixes. The most up-tempo, and thus most enjoyable, is the "Energy Box" series.

Sigh, also at this time, I converted from Kimber KCAG/4TC, to the disappointing Select series. The latter sounded too warm, boring, bloated, congested, and plodding. Those negatives were totally anathema to the killer "Sweet Honesty."

The good news is, if an audio products doesn't nail "Sweet Honesty," you now know that you can skip, pass, return, or eliminate that product.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

• Sweet Honesty