Escient
The FireBall E2-300 is Escient's highest-capacity digital music manager yet: 300 GB, which parks 4,500 hours of tunes in MP3 format at 128 kilobits per second (you can vary the bit rate) or 1,000 hours in the CD-quality FLAC format. But mass storage is just the beginning - you can also rip CDs in bulk from an external changer, move music to and from your PC, Macintosh, or Linux computer, stream music directly from the FireBall to a computer on your home network, and access Internet radio. A new internal Web server lets you operate the E2-300 from any networked computer just as you would from its own remote and wireless keyboard. Price: $3,999. escient.com, 800-372-4368
Samsung
Why tote just your music collection around when you can also bring along your TV shows, home videos, and photos? The PDA-size Yepp YH-999 Portable Media Center tucks a 20-GB hard disk inside a silver player with a 3 1/2 -inch color screen. Connected to a PC with the supplied USB cable, the YH-999 can download up to 80 hours of video, 5,000 MP3 or WMA songs, or thousands of JPEG images. Video files can be in the Windows Media Video (WMV), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, or DVR-MS (Windows Media Center) formats. The YH-999 comes with earphones, a remote control, a carrying case, a CD-ROM with software, and an A/V output cable for when you want to share your entertainment. Price: $550. samsungusa.com, 800-726-7864
Kreisen
The supplied table stand for the 32-inch Kreisen KR-320T flat-panel LCD TV set is removable, so you can mount it on a wall if you prefer. The widescreen panel, made by Samsung, has a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels, which means it can display high-definition images from an outboard HDTV tuner, digital cable box, or satellite receiver. A 70-channel analog tuner is built in. If you want to watch two programs at once, you can select picture-in-picture (with four positions for the inset image) or side-by-side display. Stereo speakers flank the screen. Price: $2,199. kreisen.com, 408-232-9887
PSB
You can add ba-da-boom even to a small home theater with the SubSonic 9 powered subwoofer, which PSB says approaches the performance of its top-of-the-line SubSonic 10, just in a smaller cabinet. The 14 x 21 x 18 1/4 -inch subwoofer has a 400-watt amplifier and dual 10-inch drivers mounted back to back for greater efficiency. Rated to produce tremors as deep as 28 Hz, the 53-pound SubSonic 9 is finished in a black ash or cherrywood veneer. Volume and crossover knobs are on the faceplate for easy access.
Price: $1,599. psbspeakers.com, 905-831-6555
NOTE All prices and product information are supplied by the manufacturers. Dealer prices may vary.
