January 8 - Part 2

Ayre's new MX-R mono amplifiers look small but deliver 300W each. They are, in true Ayre style, fully balanced, zero-feedback designs. The entire CNC'ed chassis of each amp acts as a heatsink. Projected price is $15,000 per pair, with delivery beginning in a few months.

Also new from Ayre is the L-5xe power conditioner (price to be announced). With its new speaker cables and power cords, Ayre can now offer consumers every part of an audio system except speakers (and music).

Part of Opera Audio's Forbidden City line are the Calaf dual-mono, 200Wpc, hybrid integrated amp ($3200)...

...and Turandot CD player ($2400). The styling won't be for everyone, but we sort of liked it.

The Halcro DM88 mono amps ($40,000 per pair) replace the DM68s -- and look identical, at least to our untrained eyes. High resolution is still their sonic calling card.

Isoclean's immense product line has grown by three with the Supreme Focus power cord ($3800), SF-102 speaker cable ($3600/eight-foot pair), and...

...Zero Ohm audiophile-grade breaker box ($3995), which uses nine 32A gold-plated, polished breakers. Needless to say given what the pictures show, these products look serious.

SAP Audio's Tempo ($10,000-$12,000 without tonearm or cartridge) has a three-layer plinth that comes in any custom color and a choice of 12 different wood trim pieces. The stainless-steel clamp weighs nearly four pounds.

Cabasse debuted the La Sphere four-way active loudspeaker. Featuring a 1" dome tweeter, a 5" midrange, an 8" midbass, and a massive 22" woofer all in a coaxial configuration, this fully powered 220-pound ball of sound is imposing.

US retail is set at $75,000 per pair. The stands in the picture are not representative of the production versions, according to the company.