Flat and Phat at CES

As if beset by some weird techno-bipolar disorder, CES audio products competed to see which was flattest, and which was phattest. In particular, it seemed like electronics had to be as thin as the TVs they accompanied, while subwoofers had to be huge.

The Philips Ambisound HTS-8100 entertainment system ($999 — shown above) packs all the audio bits (except the sub) into one long module that's wall-mounted, fitting neatly underneath your display. This futuristic boombox is as flat as your flat-panel TV but packs a built-in DVD drive with 1080p upscaling HDMI output, AM/FM tuner, speakers, and virtual surround. The amps are built into the external sub enclosure.

The Polk DSW4000 MicroPRO ($1,780) shows that even a lowly subwoofer can be cool. The largest sub in Polk's new Micro lineup, the DSW4000 has a digital amp rated at 1,200 watts driving a very beefy front-firing 12-inch driver. There's also a bottom-mounted square passive radiator for added deep bass. Packing DSP hardware and proprietary software, this sub adjusts volume, phase, and crossover digitally. It also uses digital EQ and a supplied microphone to measure response peaks and to optimize its response according to room placement. And, because you just don't have enough of them on your coffee table, it comes with a remote. — Ken C.Pohlmann