Scott Wilkinson

In most high-quality A/V products, form follows function, but in the case of the Gramophone speaker from Swedish maker <A href="http://www.aesthesis.se">Aesthesis</A>, form and function are intertwined, arising together during four years of development. Standing nearly four feet tall, this hand-made, carbon-fiber speaker makes a bold design statement while offering impressive specs.

Doug Farrow

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm not what you'd call a sports fan. The only sports I watch at all are some of the Olympics, and then mostly for the great high-def images. The closest I've come to football was as the drum major of my high-school band, when I had to ask a clarinet player what was happening on the field so I could call up the appropriate music ("Yay, something good happened!" or "Boo, something bad happened!").

Earbuds may be all the rage these days, but audio connoisseurs know that private listening sounds best with circumaural headphones, which cover the outer ear and offer larger drivers for deeper bass than most buds can produce. Among the finest headphones in the world come from Germany's <A href="http://www.ultrasone.com">Ultrasone</A>, including the new top-dog <A href="http://www.edition-headphones.com">Edition 8</A>.