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British loudspeaker maker B&W is moving into the home theater market in a big way with its new affordable CDM NT series. Four high-performance models include a center channel, freshly designed surround speakers, and two new full-range stereo pairs.

Do you want your home theater system to have that "sucker punches in your gut" feel you got at your local cinema when T-Rex stomped his way through San Diego? Do you need your pant legs to flap with each bass line, just as they did at the recent Metallica concert? Want to be as emotionally attached to the recorded version of Beethoven's Fifth as when you heard the cellos and timpani pound out that familiar triplet live at the concert hall? Would you like James Earl Jones' voice-over for CNN to sound less like Mickey Mouse and more like, well, Darth Vader? If so, it's time for you to invest in a subwoofer.

What Dreams May Come . . . The new Sony DVD Dream System is a bargain that's almost too good to be true.

Far be it for me to expound the simplicity of a system's hookup. My home system is a wreck, with wires running hither and thither that I trip on almost daily. Oh what a tangled web I've woven! Yet my M&K THX speakers sound excellent, and my video system (a Panasonic DVD player and an RCA 36-inch TV) is a godsend. This is my main system, and my conscience would be partly cloudy with a slight chance of regret if I were to bring another system into my house (especially into my bedroom). But when Sony sent me the DVD Dream System (which is perfect for a second system), the trumpets sounded, and I suddenly found myself wearing a red cape and spandex outfit with the letters "EHW" scrawled across the front. I was, for a short while, Easy Hookup Woman (and I don't mean that lewdly, men in the audience).

The market for DVD recorders is expected to explode in the near future, and major manufacturers are positioning themselves to benefit. In mid-July, Japanese electronics firms <A HREF="http://www.sharp.co.jp/">Sharp Corporation</A> and <A HREF="http://www.pioneer.co.jp/">Pioneer Corporation</A> announced an alliance to cooperate on the development of new digital products, in particular DVD recorders.