Toshiba
Connect Toshiba's RD-XS52 DVD/hard-disk recorder to your TV by its digital HDMI output, and it'll upconvert standard-def video from TV programs, DVDs, and even camcorder footage to the 1080i or 720p HDTV formats. Its 160-gigabyte (GB) hard disk stores up to 135 hours of video from the built-in standard TV tuner, a camcorder connected to the front-panel FireWire input, or your cable box or satellite receiver (which you can control from the recorder via an infrared emitter). When you're recording to the hard disk or DVD-RAM, you can watch a program from the beginning while it's still being recorded — and you can pause the show. Dubbing from the hard disk goes at 12 x speed for DVD-RAM or a lightning-fast 24 x for DVD-R. Price: $600. tacp.toshiba.com, 800-631-3811

Hitachi
Want to jump right into HDTV? The Quick Start tuner onboard Hitachi's 57-inch UltraVision 57S715 HDTV automatically finds all of your high-def and analog channels at startup, integrating them into a single menu. The CRT rear-projection set displays images in the 1080i format using a new Super-Contrast lens system that's said to help produce a bright, razor-sharp picture on its wide 16:9 screen. The TV has a CableCARD slot for digital cable, an HDMI input, an optical digital audio output, and a USB port for viewing digital photos. Less than 2 feet deep, it weighs 205 pounds. A backlit remote control is supplied. Price: $2,700. hitachi.us/tv, 800-448-2244

B&W
The five M1 satellite speakers and AS2 subwoofer in B&W's Mini Theater 20 home theater speaker system are designed to take up minimal floor and shelf space while still providing serious bass for movie soundtracks and music. The 34-pound AS2, which comes in black or silver and has a 10-inch driver and 150-watt amplifier, is rated down to 32 Hz. Each M1 speaker has a 1-inch metal-dome tweeter and a 4-inch woofer with a woven fiberglass diaphragm. Height is 9 5/8 inches, which includes a built-in table/shelf stand — floor stands are optional. Speaker wire passes through either the stand or the supplied wall bracket, which helps hide it. Price: $1,499; floor stands, $125 each. www.bwspeakers.com, 800-370-3740

NOTE All prices and product information are supplied by the manufacturers. Dealer prices may vary.

Pioneer
Getting your system to sound just right is the No. 1 job of the Pioneer Elite VSX-56TXi. The THX Select-certified receiver, rated at 110 W x 7, features a Multichannel Acoustic Calibration System that can set bass management, speaker-distance compensation, and level independently for up to seven channels. Best of all, it does the job automatically unless you want to use the manual mode to tweak the settings yourself. The 56TXi upconverts composite- and S-video signals to component video so you can use just one connection to your TV. A FireWire port accepts multichannel digital audio from similarly equipped DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD players. The preprogrammed, learning remote control has an LCD readout. Price: $1,700. pioneerelectronics.com, 800-746-6337

Sonance
Do you get separation anxiety when you have to stop listening to your iPod? Now the music can go on — all over your house — thanks to Sonance's iPort in-wall docking station. The iPort can work with whole-house audio systems from any manufacturer, letting you select music from your iPod using an existing keypad in any room. (First-generation iPods and iPod Minis aren't supported.) The cradle also charges your iPod as you listen. An accessory kit with hardware and cables is included, but professional installation is recommended. Price: $598. sonance.com, 800-582-7777

InFocus
You won't see any rainbows with the ScreenPlay 777 DLP front projector, unless you're watching Leprechaun . Most Digital Light Processing projectors have just one chip with a color wheel, but the 777 uses a separate Texas Instruments Mustang HD2+ chip for each color (red, green, and blue). With a high-def native resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels, the projector converts other formats, including 1080i, to 720p for display on screens sized up to 15 feet (diagonal). A Faroudja DCDi processor converts interlaced video to progressive-scan for smooth, sharp images. There are three analog component-video inputs and one DVI input. The lamp is said to last 1,500 hours before it needs replacing. Price: $29,999. infocushome.com, 800-294-6400

NOTE All prices and product information are supplied by the manufacturers. Dealer prices may vary.

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.

Atlantic Technology
The slim-profile (just under 5 inches deep) FS-3200 satellite speakers are designed to mount on the wall next to and under a plasma TV. The left/right FS-3200LR has a pair of 4-inch woofers, a 1-inch tweeter, and a pair of 4-inch passive radiators to extend the bass down to a rated 80 Hz. The horizontal FS-3200C center speaker is the same except that the tweeter is centered and raised to help keep movie dialogue clear for listeners on either side. Rear-panel controls adjust treble and bass. Both straight-on and swiveling (up to 10°) wall-mount brackets are provided, and the center also comes with a rocker mount for placement on top of a TV or on a shelf beneath it. Available in silver or black. Prices: FS-3200LR, $900 a pair; FS-3200C, $500 each. atlantictechnology.com, 781-762-6300

soundmatters
You've got your TV and speakers up on the wall — why not the subwoofer, too? But if you can't find a spot for soundmatters' SUBstage, its 3 3/4 -inch-thick cabinet will be just as unobtrusive if you lay it underneath your recliner. Rated to rumble down to 35 Hz, the SUBstage uses proprietary FlatMagic technology, which combines a 6 1/2-inch driver with a pair of 6 x 6-inch “moving walls” — passive radiators that are said to couple with the driver, effectively creating a single 14-inch driver. It's magnetically shielded, so don't worry about getting it too close to your TV. The onboard digital amplifier is rated to deliver 100 watts, and phase is continuously variable from 0° to 180°. An optional décor kit ($49) includes a table pedestal. Price: $329. soundmatters.com, 800-698-7662

SpeakerCraft
Your sound will be right on target when you have SpeakerCraft's AIM LCR speakers built into your walls. Their woofers and tweeters can be independently aimed so you can tweak the sound like never before. Each baffle pivots either up and down or side to side, while the tweeter pivots on its own axis. The AIM LCR Three (shown) has a 1-inch tweeter and dual 5 1/4-inch aluminum/magnesium woofers rated down to 50 Hz. Switches on either side of the tweeter fine-tune the bass and treble — put them in the “+” position for a boost. You'll have to carve out a 14 1/4 x 7 1/2 -inch hole in your wall to give the Three a home, and its depth is 4 inches. Price: $999 a pair. speakercraft.com, 800-448-0976

Martin Logan
The Vignette on-wall satellite speaker follows in the stylish footsteps of MartinLogan's Fresco, which won a 2004 Reviewer's Choice Award. A slim, 4 1/2-inch profile and the supplied pivoting wall bracket help the Vignette partner with your flat-panel TV. In lieu of a tweeter it sports a proprietary Advanced Thin Film (ATF) transducer, which suspends an ultra-thin diaphragm between two electromagnets that push and pull on it to produce sound. A pair of 4-inch woofers rated down to 78 Hz enable it to mate with most subwoofers. You can select a silver or black grille. Price: $649 each. martinlogan.com, 866-605-6596

NOTE All prices and product information are supplied by the manufacturers.  Dealer prices may vary.

LG
Expect size envy from neighbors you invite over to gape at your MW-71PY10 plasma HDTV monitor. With a nearly 6-foot screen (71 inches diagonal) and a lush resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, it blows away punier plasmas. Besides upconverting 1080i and 720p HDTV programs to 1080p quality, the TV uses LG's XD Engine video processor to minimize distortion and video “noise” in analog programs while enhancing details and colors. High-def-capable inputs include DVI, HDMI, VGA, and two component-video. You can watch an inset image (picture-in-picture) from a second source, choosing among several window sizes and positions. Price: unavailable at press time. www.lgusa.com, 888-865-3026

Infinity
The flagship of Infinity's Total Solutions home theater speaker systems, the TSS-4000 includes four SAT-4000 speakers (left) for the left/right front and surround channels and the identical but horizontally oriented Center-4000 center speaker. Each three-way satellite has four 3 1/2 -inch woofers, dual 3 1/2 -inch midrange drivers, and a 3/4 -inch tweeter, all using Infinity's anodized-aluminum Metal Matrix Diaphragm, or MMD. The Sub-4000 powered subwoofer has a 12-inch MMD driver plus a 400-watt amplifier. The 23-inch-tall left/right satellite can comfortably cozy up to your plasma TV — a swiveling wall bracket is supplied (floor stands are optional). Prices: satellites, $549 each; subwoofer, $1,249. infinitysystems.com, 516-674-4463

M-Design
If you feel something move as you watch that action-packed DVD, it's not your imagination — it's the couch. The Centra Action Couch 1000 contains a 300-watt amplifier and four transducers to convert audio signals into bass vibrations. You can adjust how much shakin' you want goin' on, and you won't have to worry about tripping over wires in case you're launched from your seat — the Action Couch connects wirelessly to your A/V receiver by a supplied 900-MHz transmitter. A cup holder is built into the fold-out armrest. Price: $6,000. mdesignlife.com, 866-563-6388

Powergrid Fitness
Why let your thumb get all the exercise while you play videogames when you could be getting a whole-body workout? Kilowatt Sport, a shoulder-height joystick connected to an aluminum plank you stand on, forces you to use your muscles as you play Grand Theft Auto, Halo 2, or any other game on a PlayStation, PS2, Xbox, or GameCube. A USB port even lets you use it with PC or Mac games. The plank can absorb the hundreds of pounds of torque generated when you move the joystick against a resistance bar, and an LCD screen shows your workout time, pounds lifted, and current resistance level. Towel not included. Price: $800. powergridfitness.com, 800-266-6775

NOTE All prices and product information are supplied by the manufacturers. Dealer prices may vary.