The Morning After: Sony made a $3,700 Walkman

Sony has released two ultra-high-end Walkman MP3 players aimed squarely at audiophiles -- and no-one else. The headliner, the $3,700 NW-WM1ZM2 (pictured left), combines an S-Master HX digital amp with "fine-tuned" capacitors, thick Kimber Kable (to link the amp to the headphone jack) and a 99.99 percent pure gold-plated, oxygen-free copper chassis. It'll have 256GB of expandable storage. A lower-cost model, the $1,400 NW-WM1AM2 (shown right), offers similar functionality to the ZM2, but in an aluminum alloy body with'just' a low-resistance oxygen-free copper cable. You'll also have to make do with 128GB of expandable space. Both Walkman models are available now.