CES 2008

"Any source components?" I asked Cayin importer and VAS Audio maven Sze Leung.

"Wes, I have a whole line—and check this out, they come in classic wood cases, just like the McIntosh, Marantz, and Scott used to!"

They do look nice—in either gloss black lacquer or rosewood. The SP-cd300 CD player ($1695) is transformer coupled and seems to be the only solid-state component in the line. The monoblock 8W SP-20M ($3995/pair) employ 300B SE tubes, the 60Wpc SP-40 stereo power amplifier uses KT88s, and the 35Wpc SP-10A integrated uses four EL34s, two 12AU7s, and a 12AX7 ($1695). Actually, you can buy the SP-10A with 6l6s for 18Wpc or KT88s for 50Wpc—prices vary, based on configuration.)

That's four products with six configurations?

"Oh no," said Leung. "I can supply pretty much any tube you need for any of the base models. You know me, Wes—I like to play with hi-fi.."

Indeed he does.