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My favorite LP-hunting story takes place in a Lower Manhattan store sometime in the 1980s. For several years I had been looking for The Compleat Dancing Master, a compilation of English Morris dance tunes charmingly mingled with spoken-word material. The only copy I'd ever seen was an unsealed one and I wanted a virgin sealed copy. So there I was in this record store, when a guy walked in and asked the manager if the very album I was seeking was in stock. The manager said yes and I went into a collector's frenzy. I had one advantage over the competing shopper--I knew what the jacket looked like, with its distinctive graphics against a hunter-green background. I began scanning the tops of the rows of LPs, looking for a slim stripe of hunter green. It took me less than a minute to find my prize, a sealed copy with a price sticker that read $2.49 (a lot less than online prices today). As I took it to the cashier, I made no attempt to lock eyes with my vanquished rival. Actually, I was half triumphant for my accomplishment and half embarrassed for my greed, if the truth be known. But I still remember that day whenever I see that hunter-green spine on my shelves. Perhaps we live in a better world now, a world where shoppers needn't compete for collectibles because downloads can reach vast numbers of people if the artist is lucky. But this item remains hard to find in any form--and downloads are never this much fun.

Unlike many high-end manufacturers that concentrate on one type of product, MBL casts a wider net. For three decades, this German company has developed super-sophisticated—and super-expensive—speakers, power amps, preamps, integrated amps, optical-disc players, and D/A converters. At the top of its speaker heap is the 101 X-treme, a stunning sonic and visual masterpiece.

Massive plasma screens aren't just for CES anymore. This afternoon, Bang & Olufsen unveiled the 103-inch BV103 at the Audi Forum in New York City. This huge beastie of an HDTV comes packed with all of the features B&O could think of,...