When your company is called Muse, I guess some product names just suggest themselves. When Kevin Halverson needed a moniker for his CD, DVD-A/V, and SACD player, he thought of Polyhymnia, the muse of sacred poetry, geometry, mime, meditation, and agriculture. Halverson says, "It means 'many voices," which it also does.

The Polyhymnia is based on Muse's Modular Audio-Video Platform (MAP), which went through three generations. Upgrades to the MAP platform for the Polyhymnia include: a dual laser OPU, support for all PCM data rates and types, and optional attenuator , ultra-high-end analog, and input modules.

We asked Halverson to give us his sales pitch. "It doesn't suck," he said.

No, really Kevin, you can do better than that. "It really doesn't suck—and anybody who knows me will know that that's a rave when it comes from me."

MSRP is $4900; the high-end analog module adds $1500.