Bose
You can hear the effects of Moore's Law — according to which the number of transistors that can fit on a silicon chip doubles every 18 months or so — in Bose's Wave music system. Thanks to newly compact electronics, the latest Wave has room for two 26-inch acoustic waveguides, which are said to enable it to produce half an octave deeper bass than previous models. Also onboard are proprietary signal processing for improving sound clarity from the 2 1/2 -inch drivers and a Talk Radio mode that compensates for the annoying low-frequency boosts some AM stations use. CDs load through a slot, and the Wave can play discs with MP3 files. The austere front panel has no controls — they're all on the supplied credit-card-size remote. Choose between platinum white or graphite finish. Price: $499. bose.com, 800-444-2673



Bang & Olufsen
And you thought Pam Anderson had nice curves! The oval design of Bang & Olufsen's BeoCenter 2 DVD player qualifies it as a potent head-turner, and you just may fall in love when its doors glide open like wings at the touch of a button. This beauty plays CDs with MP3 files, measures just 14 5/8 inches wide, and has an AM/FM tuner, too. Cable clutter is reduced because all the connectors are on a separate, proprietary “socket unit.” Add a pair of BeoLab 3 speakers, and the package becomes a space-age minisystem. Each aluminum speaker cabinet holds a 3/4 -inch tweeter and a 4-inch woofer plus two 4-inch passive radiators (one on each side), which help the speaker move more air for those deep bass notes (down to 50 Hz). Prices: BeoCenter 2, $4,100; BeoLab 3, $3,000 a pair. bang-olufsen.com, 866-520-1400

Sony
Hanging on the wall alongside your plasma TV, the speakers of Sony's DAV-LF1 Dream System make a stylish, modern statement. And that statement is clear and uncluttered thanks to a technology dubbed DIAT (Digital Infrared Audio Transmission), which allows the surround speakers to be wireless. The system's DVD/Super Audio CD player (right front) transmits uncompressed audio to both of the rear satellites, though you still have to plug them into a power outlet (they're wired together to share the juice). They also have binding posts in case you want to make direct connections. The subwoofer, which isn't wireless, has a 7-inch driver and a 170-watt amplifier. Only 7 inches thick, the player/receiver loads discs vertically, so you can hang it on the wall just like the speakers. Mounting hardware is included. Price: $2,000. sonystyle.com, 800-222-7669

RCA
Move over, plasma — RCA's latest rear-projection TV is actualy thin enough to mount on a wall. Special optics and a new DLP engine in the 61-inch Scenium Profiles HD61THW263 help keep its depth to just under 7 inches. There's still room in the chassis for an HDTV tuner, though, as well as a slot for a CableCARD, which you lease from your cable provider to unscramble premium high-def channels like HBO. Once you hook up the set to your broadband modem via the Ethernet jack, you can use the convenient Web browser to surf the Net during commercials. And the free TV Guide OnScreen interface makes it easy to find your favorite shows. High-def inputs include HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), component video, and dual two-way FireWire ports. Wall-mounting hardware is optional. Price: $9,799. rca.com, 800-336-1900

Samsung
A progressive-scan hookup from your DVD player to your TV is usually the best a player can offer, but the component-video cables still carry only analog signals. Samsung's DVD-HD941 has an HDMI output that will feed your high-def TV an all-digital signal, upconverted to HDTV format. The connector will also pass Dolby Digital and DTS signals, so you need only one cable to your TV or receiver, as long as it has an HDMI input. For its next trick, the HD941 plays DVD-Audio discs and Super Audio CDs as well as MP3 or JPEG files on CD. Price: $350. samsungusa.com, 800-726-7864

Mirage
Using the same technology as the company's popular Omnisat speakers, the Mirage Nanosat will stick out only about 6 inches when you mount it on a wall or ceiling. Each Nanosatellite teams a 2 3/4 -inch polypropylene driver with a 3/4 -inch titanium tweeter. Both drivers use Omniguide acoustic reflectors to disperse sound uniformly in every direction, which Mirage says is more like live music. An 8-inch subwoofer completes the 5.1-channel system. With a 75-watt amplifier, the 11 5/8 x 13 1/2 x 13 1/2 -inch sub is rated to rumble down to 30 Hz (±3 dB). You can choose a finish to match your plasma TV (platinum), your other gear (black with platinum trim), or your walls (white). Mounting hardware for the satellites is included. Price: $800. miragespeakers.com, 416-321-1800

NAD
No one said home theater has to be complicated. Certainly not NAD, whose L 53 integrated DVD player/receiver combines two key components into a single, simple package. Made for places where surround speakers aren't an option, the L 53 has a stereo amplifier rated to deliver 50 watts to each channel and uses SRS virtual surround sound processing to add dimension to movie soundtracks. There's an optical digital audio output in case you want to connect an external Dolby Digital or DTS decoder. The player/receiver has a progressive-scan video output and comes with a backlit learning remote. Price: $599. nadelectronics.com, 781-784-8586

Cambridge SoundWorks
Plug-and-play satellite radio tuners can shuttle between your car and your home system, but if you still want to listen when you're not close to either, a transportable boombox like Cambridge SoundWorks' PlayDockXM will ensure you're never parted from your heavenly streams. The player acts as a docking station exclusively for XM radio's Roady and Roady2 tuners. Outdoors, the high-gain antenna attached to the 13-pound boombox should do just fine, but 20 feet of antenna cable is supplied in case you can't get a clear line of sight to the satellite. You can set the speaker drivers to Wide mode for a more spacious stereo image, and a 4-inch woofer helps take things down low. The built-in rechargeable battery is said to last 10 hours. Price: $200. cambridgesoundworks.com, 800-367-4434

Sonos
Turn your home computer network into a home music network with the Sonos Digital Music System. All you need is a ZonePlayer for every room you want music in plus a handheld Controller (right). Each ZonePlayer can access music on your PC or Mac via an Ethernet connection — playing MP3, WMA, AAC, and WAV files as well as Internet radio stations. You browse songs on the Controller's 3 1/2 -inch color LCD screen with the iPod-inspired scroll wheel, selecting the ones you want to hear. It communicates to the players wirelessly, and it even works through walls. Each player has amplifiers to deliver 50 watts per channel to a pair of speakers, plus line-level inputs/outputs and a subwoofer output. Prices: ZonePlayer, $499; Controller, $399; package with two ZonePlayers plus Controller, $1,199. sonos.com, 800-680-2345

Verbatim
New dual-layer DVD+R discs from Verbatim unleash the full potential of DVD. Putting data on two layers expands disc capacity from 4.7 gigabytes to 8.5 gigabytes. Of course, you'll need a DVD burner in your computer that can record on the discs — no standalone recorders can burn dual-layer DVDs yet. To ease your transition to dual-layer media, Verbatim offers a Solution Kit that includes one dual-layer DVD+R disc, eight single-layer DVD+R discs for high-speed (8x) recording, and one 4x rewritable DVD+RW disc. Price: $30. verbatim.com, 800-538-8589

Dynaudio
If George Lucas can do it with his Star Wars movies, why can't speaker makers come out with “special editions”? Dynaudio's Audience 72 Special Edition (SE) includes a few features above and beyond the standard model, such as a resonance-damping chamber behind the tweeter to improve treble clarity, a pair of high-performance 6 3/4 -inch polymer woofers, and a redesigned crossover to accommodate the new drivers. The 38-inch-tall speaker is rated for deep bass (down to 28 Hz ±3 dB), and its sensitivity is spec'd as 86 dB. Real wood veneers come in maple (right), rosewood (left), cherry, or black ash. The enclosure is ported, but port plugs are supplied. Price: $2,500 a pair. dynaudio.com, 630-238-4200

Maxx
Fifty inches of plasma for just under 7,000 bucks? That's only about $140 an inch, dawg — not a bad deal for Maxx's TruVision 50HD widescreen plasma TV. The set displays video at 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution, and sources are converted to match. Contrast ratio is rated as 3,000:1, which means deep blacks should have the darkness they crave. HDTV signals can connect to the monitor through its DVI (Digital Visual Interface), VGA, and component-video inputs. There's also a VGA output for hooking up an external computer monitor. The 50HD is only 4 inches thick, but the supplied table stand is 10 1/2 inches deep. Price: $6,995. maxxproducts.com, 866-410-9751

Sanyo
A swarm of transportable satellite-radio tuners have hit the market, including Sanyo's CRSR-10 (inset), which receives Sirius radio's 120-plus channels (a subscription costs $12.95 a month). It comes with cradles for both your home and your car, and you can get an optional, take-anywhere boombox (top, $100) that's designed specifically for the tuner. The CRSR-10's built-in FM transmitter lets you listen to Sirius's channels through any FM radio, although it also has line-level outputs for a direct connection. There's enough room on the display to show the artist, song, channel name, number, genre, and time simultaneously. Price: $150. sanyo.com, 818-998-7322

Key Digital
Much more than just an HDTV tuner, Key Digital's HD Hanna video processor will adjust high-def signals to any one of nine formats that best matches your display. All outputs are simultaneously active, so Hanna can send plain 480i to an analog set even while it converts the same signal to super-high-def 1080p resolution. There are two antenna inputs as well as one VGA and two S-video inputs, and BNC-style connectors for the two component- and two composite-video inputs. Outputs include VGA, component/RGB+HV, and DVI, plus two bidirectional FireWire ports. A programmable remote control is supplied, and the RS-232 port will help Hanna get along with your whole-house system. Price: $2,500. keydigital.com, 718-796-7178