It has been a while since we've seen a new electrostatic enter the fray, so we were surprised at the range of offerings from King's, which ran the gamut from tiny desktop models to a huge baby called the King ($6000). King's has a new angle on 'stats—DC input. The normal technique of using amplified AC voltage caused problems with vibration and interference, they found, so they came up with an efficient DC-driven panel that can be used with as little as 2W.

The King uses multiple panels, which gives greater control over each of them. We were was impressed by the bass, which was taut and deep, but even more by the airiness of the top-end, which is an area where a lot of 'stats fall short.