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One of the best things about big trade shows like CES is running into old friends. I was glad to get the chance to catch up with Definitive Technology founder Sandy Gross, who recently parted ways with the company that he founded in 1990 (and...

The Sony SS-AR1 has been around since 2006 but we didn't notice it till this show. The three-way, four-driver floorstander features a chambered enclosure with a baffle of Hokkaido-grown maple and side panels of Finnish birch, both of which the designers prize for their "generous reverberation." Drivers include aluminum woofers, sliced-paper midrange, and a tweeter backed with six concentric neodymium magnets. Pricing in mid to high four figures. This is the kind of thing a big manufacturer will do just to prove it can. But don't scoff. We've reviewed other Sony SS-series speakers in the distant past and they were, in fact, superbly musical.

We maintain that a well-voiced sat/sub system can be a thing of joy and Epos is one good place to look for one. The 8VS 5.1 system includes a satellite that looks smaller than its 9.25-inch height with matching center and sub. Tweeter is aluminum, woofer is kevlar, and price is $1750. Nice black gloss finishes too.

We are maxi. We would prefer to be mini but that would imply a life without pastries and beer. AktiMate, however, inhabits both modes of being with the Maxi and the Mini. Both of these 60-watt active speakers have a cool iPod dock that can fold down into the enclosure when not in use. Both have three line ins, USB in, and ethernet connectivity; the Maxi, a small fraction of an inch taller, adds internet and FM radio plus wi-fi. Maxi: $1000. Mini: $650.