LATEST ADDITIONS

Bose You can hear the effects of Moore's Law - according to which the number of transistors that can fit on a silicon chip doubles every 18 months or so - in Bose's Wave music system. Thanks to newly compact electronics, the latest Wave has room for two 26-inch acoustic waveguides, which are said to enable it to produce half an octave deeper bass than previous models.

At first glance, Harman Kardon's AVR 7300, the latest flagship receiver from the venerable American brand, looks little different from its predecessors. And in a lot of ways, it is the same.

One highlight of the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association's annual Expo is the Garden of High Definition Delights. Flagship HDTVs from nearly every manufacturer are lined up in this large, darkened space, all displaying pristine high-def images. You can call up programming on any set to compare performance with identical source material.

Although flat-panel LCD TVs have been hanging around even longer than plasma models, their small-size screens have garnered less attention. But things changed in the past year: LCD TVs started zooming up in size, undoing the myth that the technology is good only for small displays in the kitchen, bedroom, or office.