Price: $13,990 per pair

Website: www.audiophysic.de

Jason said: The Audio Physic Virgo 25 is an impressive speaker, and I have no doubt that it’s easily worth $13,990/pair. It’s made with care, integrity, and pride, and is finished to an extremely high standard. If you really want to hear what’s going on in your music, and you want a pair of speakers that look stunning and that you can be proud of, I suggest you give the Virgo 25s a listen.

Read the SoundStage! Hi-Fi review.

The gist: Fitting celebratory speaker for AP's 25th anniversary.

Price: $23,990 per pair

Website: www.tidal-audio.com

Jeff said: The Tidal Piano Cera is one terrific-sounding loudspeaker. It’s transparent and quick, and plays with more weight and depth in the bass than you would ever suspect from a glance at its driver array. In fact, looking at this speaker either on paper or in photos will give you no hint of the performance lurking beneath its rather simple but elegant appearance. There is a ton of clever engineering inside, and that technical expertise translates into audible results.

Read the Ultra Audio review.

The gist: Tidal is here to stay as a force in high-end loudspeakers.

Price: $38,950 per pair

Website: www.magico.net

Jeff said: The Magico Q3 is a standard setter that liberates music from the impediments inherent to typical loudspeakers. It is for those of you who don’t like speakers but do love music. The experience of hearing the Magico Q3 is something truly unique. Folks, the Q3 is a bona fide state-of-the-art loudspeaker -- one that doesn’t cost a hundred grand a pair, or even close to it. Magico might just take over the loudspeaker world after all.

Read the Ultra Audio review.

The gist: Super-speaker performance without the super-high price.

Price: $18,000 per pair

Website: www.yg-acoustics.com

Uday said: . . . given its level of engineering, heroic construction, excellent fit’n’finish, and terrific sound, that price doesn’t seem out of line. I haven’t had a chance to hear YGA’s Anat Reference III or Kipod II, both of which cost significantly more, but given their published specifications, I’m confident that most of the differences between them and the Carmel will be heard in the lower octaves. The fact that the Carmel achieved a level of performance near that of its big brothers at this price is one impressive accomplishment.

Read the Ultra Audio review.

The gist: Don't be fooled by the size.