KEF X300APrice: $799.99 per pair

Website: www.kef.com

Hans said: That a product designed from the ground up by one of the most reputable speaker companies on the planet costs so little is an achievement. It just works so well and with such ease. Call it a gourmet computer speaker, a desktop hi-fi, or whatever you like -- just understand that this is the small beginning of something significant: the future of high-end audio.

Read the SoundStage! Access review.

The gist: Perhaps the shape and sound of things to come.