One by one the Dolbyized voices in the next room signed off until only Dr. X 
and another gentleman were left, haggling about something desultorily, taking 
long breaks between volleys of tweeter-busting oratory to stoke pipes, pour 
tea, or whatever these people did when they were pretending to ignore each 
other. The discussion petered out rather than building to a violent climax as 
Hackworth had secretly, mischievously been hoping, and then a young fellow 
pulled the curtain aside and said, "Dr. X will see you now."