Mark Fleischmann

This could be one of those large jars of formaldehyde in a mortician's lab, or a really cool fish bowl, but in fact is the first liquid-cooled power amplifier: the Von Gaylord Uni Signature. Mustering 200 watts per channel, each mono-block comes with a separate boxy power supply. The four pieces retail for $59,000 (goldfish not included).

At this moment in the Anthony Wilson Nonet's performance, the guitarist and bandleader had just triggered a guitar sample, over which he then soloed. It was eerie and moving and that's why I've chosen this ludicrously out-of-focus picture—because it was the greatest moment of HES 2006. If you want to share moments like this, you'll just have to come to HES 2007.

The Consumer Electronics Show doesn't start till next week but news is already leaking out. The first dual-format DVD player, handling both Blu-ray and HD DVD, will be announced by LG. Solving the same problem from another angle, Warner will announce a hybrid disc covering both formats, so you early adopters with single-format players needn't fall on your swords (if other studios fall in line). Perhaps the best news of all is that non-portable audio sales may be recovering after a long period of sitting in their room and moping. November figures from the Consumer Electronics Association show home component sales rising a whopping 54.9 percent, beating the 27.2 percent increase of iPods and other portables.

President-elect Obama has been turned into a fuzzy iPod dock with bobbing head. This is what he gets for delaying the DTV transition. If he delays it long enough, we'll turn him into a power strip.