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Barry Willis sorts out the plusses and minuses fo the <A HREF="/surroundsoundpreampprocessors/1003parasound">Parasound Halo C 2 and Halo A 51 surround processor & 5-channel power amplifier</A>. BW notes, "Five years in development, the company's Halo C2 surround processor is a brilliantly executed piece of technology."

Hey, we're not making this up as we go. We're on a crusade to unearth the best box sets of the holiday season. And here they are - not in any particular order, but simply the ten coolest treasures on DVD and CD. Is your friend's home theater starting to seem like a temple of gloom? Do you and your girl keep going out on, shall we say, bad dates?

<I>Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Janis Paige. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English), 1.0 (French). 117 minutes. 1957. Warner Home Video 62251. NR. $19.90.</I>

The relatively small German company Audio Physic has had remarkable success among audiophiles worldwide with its line of mostly slim, relatively expensive, high-performance speakers. For two decades now, music lovers have responded to the brand's fast, detailed sound&mdash;a sound that places a premium on re-creating a musical event along with the music itself. Audio Physic speakers are best known for pulling a sonic disappearing act by producing holographic, 3-dimensional images and dramatic 2-channel soundstages, but communicating music's emotional content has always been paramount to founder and chief designer Joachim Gerhard. In my opinion, he's succeeded: My current reference speakers are Audio Physic Avanti IIIs; before that, I owned a pair of the original Virgos.