Featured Gear

Photos by Tony Cordoza Modern consumer electronics is so modular in design and construction that you could almost invent a new component category using the old Chinese-restaurant formula: choose one technology from column A and another from column B.

Photos by Tony Cordoza When the DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD formats were launched, critics bemoaned the start of yet another format war, knowing that when incompatible formats compete, consumers often don't buy either one. Instead, they wait to see which format is left standing.

Photos by Tony Cordoza Up against the wall! That's the marching order being given to speaker designers by companies that want to offer systems to complement flat-screen TVs. With cabinets barely exceeding the 3- to 4-inch average depth of most plasma or LCD sets, some new speakers incorporate this directive literally.

Photos by Tony Cordoza