Stories about: Audible

The Yamaha Soavo 2 speakers have a bookshelf design, but you'll need some very spacious shelves to accommodate these monsters. They sound very balanced, and, while they may not be the best choice for music lovers, they would excel as part of a surround sound setup.

A headphone amplifier like Lehmann Audio's Black Cube Linear amplifier is a necessity if you're using high-end, demanding headphones like AKG's K701. However, this amplifier will still offer greatly improved sound quality with mid-range headphones.

Sharp's XL-UH2080H hi-fi system is small but it packs quite a punch. The little component system is user-friendly and simple to set up (despite being slightly restrictively cabled) and has plenty of inputs. The system doesn't have the volume to fill a large room effectively, but for smaller rooms and reasonable listening levels it provides a well-metered sound.

The budget brother of BenQ's W5000 and W20000, the W500 has great specs for its price. It's not as colour-perfect as its brethren and not as easy to set up, but it's still a great option to be the backbone of a budget home cinema.

For a while now people have been waiting for a refresh of Creative's popular ZEN series of players; at last it has happened in the form of the ZEN X-Fi. This time around Creative has managed to pack in its popular X-Fi soundcard technology, along with Wi-Fi connectivity.

Here's an interesting idea. Millions of people make VoIP phone calls over the Internet from their PCs, or using special handsets, so why not do the same thing with a humble mobile phone?

For a typical office environment, a machine that's capable of running multiple applications simultaneously is essential. For this, multi-core CPUs are extremely handy, and that's why this $699 HP business desktop is appealing. It features a triple-core AMD Phenom CPU, so you know it will be able to handle office applications with ease.

YouTube stars gather in Boston, a laptop is gone in 90 seconds, a look at new robots, a tearful farewell to Bill Gates and a look inside a cable laying ship.

There are plenty of poor PC speakers on the market, but Edifier's S730 2.1 system provides good quality speakers that deliver good sound, particularly for games.

Although Magellan's Maestro 4250 suffers from some flaws, it can be recommended as a slightly cheaper alternative to high-end Garmin or TomTom GPS devices.

B&W's latest compact surround sound home theatre speaker system, the VM6, is a set of five slimline speakers paired with B&W's PV1 subwoofer. The speakers are priced far higher than even the most expensive pre-made home theatre systems, but they do offer noticeably superior sound. You'll need an amplifier or A/V receiver to power the system, which is an additional blow to the wallet.