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German Brew, U.S. Bottle

Many home theater enthusiasts may be unfamiliar with the name, but among audiophiles during the 1990s, veteran German audio designer Joachim Gerhard achieved near-legend status throughout the world for his extensive and remarkably varied line of high-performance loudspeakers marketed under the Audio Physic brand.

Now that we've entered the "tweens" of the 21st century, we finally leave the "aughts" behind. It was an eventful decade for home theater, and I could wax rhapsodic about how far we've progressed in the last 10 years, but I'd rather focus on what's to come, especially since CES starts this week. What home-theater harbingers might we see in Las Vegas?

Way back in 1999, <A href="http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/1299manley/"><I>Stereophile</I> reviewed the Manley Laboratories Stingray 2-channel tube-based integrated amp</A>, whose shape inspired the late, great J. Gordon Holt, the magazine's founder, to suggest its name. Now, 10 years later, <A href="http://www.manleylabs.com">Manley Labs</A> has replaced the original Stingray with the Stingray iTube, which improves various elements and adds an iPod dock.