CanJam 2010 • Hot Product

HiFiMAN's complete system -- source to headphones -- has audiophile features, like high-resolution digital playback and tubed output. The company's Player (right, $790) can accommodate 24-bit/96kHz digital files via its BurrBrown 1704 DAC. It comes with 2GB of internal memory and uses SD cards for additional storage. It has a coaxial digital input, so in addition to playing stored digital files it can also decode the output of an external source.

HiFiMAN's HE-5 ($599) and HE-5LE (above, $699) headphones use planar-magnetic drivers, which means that they are insensitive -- a claimed 87.5dB. But the EF5 headphone amp ($399), which uses a single 12AU7 tube, was up to the task of driving them.