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Named after Cardea, Roman goddess of health, thresholds, and door hinges and handles, the Cardeas floorstanding speaker from German high-end maker Audio Physic befits what the poet Ovid said of its namesake—"Her power is to open what is shut; to shut what is open." In this case, the goal is to open the door to recorded sound's finest details and shut out any compromises.

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 2/5
Despite her best friend Wally's (Bateman) objections, smart, fun-loving single Kassie (Aniston) decides it's time to have a baby - even if it means taking matters into her own hands. But accidents happen and a rip-roaring drunk Wally has to switch her preferred donor's sperm with his own.

It’s happened to all of us at one time or another: You’ve just popped an action movie into the player, settled back on the couch with a cold one (meaning of course a cold slab of yesterday’s meat loaf) all prepared to crank the sound as high as possible until the subwoofer causes all the closet doors to rattle and buzz, when you suddenly realize, dang it—it’s 3:00 in the morning. Your two-week-old quintuplets just got to sleep after an epic struggle, your great-grandfather who lives in the attic has gout and any noise over a whisper causes him to cry out in agony, and the world-record house of cards you have set up on your dining-room table is scheduled to be examined by the certifying team from the Guinness Book the very next day. You have little choice but to either abandon your movie or go to plan B: headphones. 

Last year, I profiled the incredible Fenice speaker from Sonus Faber—a model that is now called "the Sonus Faber" due to a legal dispute over the name. Despite this name change, the company is applying what it has learned from that no-holds-barred flagship to other, more affordable models, such as the Amati Futura.