The long-awaited successor to the MartinLogan CLS has finally arrived. The new CLX is a full-range, two-way electrostatic loudspeaker (starting at $20,000 USD/pair) that, according to a company representative, is "a CLS for the 21st century." The CLX reportedly has bass down into the 50Hz area and an impedance curve that will broaden your choice of partnering amplifier -- both improvements over the older CLS. The CLX will also play much louder than its predecessor, which was amply displayed in the demo we heard, and we both quite liked the way it looks. By all accounts, this appears that it will be a very successful loudspeaker for MartinLogan.

New from Electrocompaniet is the striking Nordic Tone Model 1. This three-way floorstander is reportedly the result of exhaustive research and development done on optimizing loudspeaker performance and features a complex cabinet that is formed from sand-cast aluminum panels that are joined together with tensioned metal rods. Cabinet vibration is further addressed with multiple internal damping materials sandwiched together. The speaker’s drivers are from SEAS and Scan-Speak. The Model 1s are quite the lookers and had sound quality that had crowds filing in. In fact, we were impressed enough with it that, like the MartinLogan CLX, we chose to make the system in which is was used a Standout. The price is 17,000 €/pair.

One company we've long been impressed with is Amphion. The company has now been around for ten years (has it really been that long?) and the name has become synonymous with waveguide-based designs. At High End 2008, Amphion launched the newest version of the Krypton loudspeaker; it's now called the Krypton². Although similar in appearance to the first version, there have been significant changes, including a new tweeter and waveguide material, as well as new midrange drivers. The Krypton² is a three-way design -- there's also a 10" Peerless Nomex-based driver on the side that you can't see -- and is priced at 12,800 €/pair. [www.amphion.fi]

The newest Gryphon Audio Designs amplifier, the Colosseum (32,000 € as stereo amp, 64,000 € for two mono amps), looks as good from the front as it does from the back. In fact, it looks the same! Well, almost -- the back (see right) has binding posts on the bottom. Complementing the beautiful industrial design is a sleek control panel on the top.

We were impressed by the versatility and convenience of this new Dali on-wall speaker, called the Motif and priced at 469 € apiece. The wall-mounting bracket not only allows the speaker to be mounted vertically as well as horizontally (think about the different ways you might want your mains, center and surrounds oriented), but also contains the speaker-wire connectors that go right into the back of the Motif. Denmark's Dali has created a clever design that makes for a clean install.

The Adam Audio Tensor Delta loudspeaker is a very large stand-mounted three-way that can be purchased in either fully active guise (above, $4800 €/each) or with only a powered bass section and passive midrange and tweeter (both are ribbon drivers). It's a pretty sophisticated design, particularly when you look at the back panel. But, there's more, including the sand-damped cabinet, which can be admired through the small windows on the rear panel of this speaker and and the more inexpensive Epsilon, which is part of the same line.