GearNuts's seasoned pro audio experts may have seen (and heard) it all, but every once in a while a product comes along that shatters the conventional price-to-performance paradigm. Enter the CK-6. It's a large-diaphragm cardioid FET condenser microphone that looks and sounds expensive, but it's not. That's the idea behind Avantone's Cabernet Series mics, that, performance-wise, go toe-to-toe with microphones costing much more. If you only saw its price, you might assume that cut corners somewhere. You'd be mistaken. First off, the CK-6 is built for the long haul, with a body and capsule assembly of precision-machined brass.