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Stepping up to the Red Octane Ignition dance pad hooked up to the Dance Dance Revolution game on an Xbox at the entrance to Best Buy's San Francisco store, I'm drawn into a pleasure palace of electronic entertainment. In the center aisle, rows of CDs fan back to the left, facing identical rows of DVDs on the right.

Ticket prices at the box office may be at an all-time high, but the cost of admission for good home theater continues to plummet. Case in point: the three home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) systems gathered here. While enthusiasts might find one of these nice for a bedroom or summer home, they're just the ticket for those getting in the game.

Let's face it: compared with lust-inducing gear like big-screen plasma TVs, feature-filled digital surround receivers, and 7.1-channel speaker systems, power accessories are about as sexy as dentistry. But if your house should ever get hit with a huge voltage surge, you might find having a tooth or two pulled a lot less painful than replacing your gear.