Rob Sabin

Although I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, I was a high-school A/V geek. Some kids go out for track or baseball, others for student theater. But I, along with my (still) best friend Burt, found my haven in a small interior office full of rolling TV carts and overhead projectors.

It's no secret to regular readers that watching an HDTV on its default factory settings is like buying a high-performance car and never taking it out on the highway to let 'er rip.

Mention the word "headphones" to the average audiophile geek, and the name Ultimate Ears is hardly the first to come to mind. In fact, it probably won't come to mind at all.

Now that Blu-ray Disc has vanquished HD DVD after a nearly 2-year battle in the marketplace, the dust has finally settled - right into the eyes of everyone who put off buying a high-def disc player. Understandably, many of these dawdlers will be squinting first at the more affordable Blu-ray prospects in the entry-level $400-to-$500 range.