The last time Bose introduced a docking station was in 2004 (hard to guess how many dozens of iPod iterations we’ve seen in the interim.) It’s still the gold standard for many audiophiles. The new SoundDock 10 was three years in the making, and boasts 11 new patents, as well as a slew of Bose proprietary technology advances too secret to reveal even in patents. This is, Bose execs say, not just a superficial upgrade to satisfy the gadget gurus who flock to CES.

I’m no audiophile, but from what I heard in that sizable (roughly 25 feet wide, 40 feet long) satin-draped room, the sound quality was pretty remarkable. Starting with the dramatic acoustics of a raging thunderstorm, Bose executives ran through a variety of musical pieces, ranging from a fluttery soprano singing Lakme’s “Bell Song,” to Strauss’s “Polka Opus 43″ with its crashing explosive ending, to Wynton Marsalis’s rumbling “Ghost in the House,” to demonstrate the system’s three new primary new features: clarity of notes across the musical spectrum, concert hall volume, and the ability to produce deep low notes.