Daedalus Argos v.2Price: $12,950 per pair

Website: www.daedalusaudio.com

Michael said: The Argos v.2s present a wide, open soundstage, a high level of fidelity and musicality, a realistic-sounding midrange, deep bass, and the ability to play loud when you want to let your hair down to boogie or rock out -- and all of this to a much higher degree than previous Daedalus models could do.

Read the SoundStage! Ultra review.

The gist: Manufacturer-direct loudspeaker that Michael thought was quite good.