To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Danish speaker maker Dynaudio released a special-edition model called the Sapphire in 2007. Limited to 1000 pairs worldwide, the final 30 will be wrapped in an exclusive gloss-blue piano-lacquer finish.

Recently, I posted an entry in the Ultimate Tech blog about a new type of tweeter called the Leading Edge Transducer (LET). In that article, I made some statements to which reader Noah Katz, a structural engineer and, presumably, an audiophile, took exception. At first, I was going to ignore him because he refused to engage in a dialog about it. But, being me, I couldn't resist digging deeper to uncover the truth. After all, one of my guiding principles as a technical journalist is to get the facts straight, and if I don't—which, as a human, is inevitable once in a while—I feel compelled to correct my mistakes.

Audiophiles know the name Mark Levinson well. After his eponymous first enterprise was purchased by Harman International—which means he can no longer use his own name on audio products—Levinson went on to found several other highly regarded audio companies, including Cello and Red Rose Music. Now, in a story exclusive to UAV, the audio designer, recording engineer, and professional musician is launching his latest venture from his adopted home country of Switzerland, calling it Daniel Hertz, S.A.—"Daniel" after his father and "Hertz" after his mother's great-uncle Heinrich Hertz, whose name is now used as the universal unit of measurement of frequency.

Transducers—devices that convert one form of energy into another—are among the most mature technologies in the audio world. The most common musical transducers are microphones, which convert the mechanical energy of acoustic sound waves into electrical signals, and speakers, which do exactly the opposite. Both have been around for a century or so, and despite a few innovations and variations, they haven't changed much in all that time.

I normally consider LP turntables to be squarely in Stereophile's bailiwick, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to profile these gorgeous vinyl spinners from Audiowood. The wood foundation of each one is handcrafted and unique, though designs such as the Barky pictured above can be replicated with relative ease since it's based on a slice from a log.

I've always had a certain fondness for Linn, a high-end audio company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Perhaps it's because the company is located in my namesake country, or maybe it's the clever, Ikea-like product names. More likely, it's because Linn has been making exceptional audiophile products for over 35 years, starting in 1972 with the Sondek LP12 turntable, which is now the longest-lived hi-fi component still in production. Of more recent vintage is the flagship Klimax speaker system presented here.

I'm on a quest to find the most expensive audio cables in the world—not to buy, mind you, but just to see what the market will bear. From what I've learned so far, the leading candidates come from Transparent Audio, whose Opus MM2 cables cost more than most automobiles, especially if you're buying enough to outfit an entire multichannel system.