New Products

DualIf you're looking to pump up your bass without puncturing your bank account, Dual's L10SW subwoofer might be able to help. The 10-inch sub packs a 100-watt amp and is rated to go as low as 34 Hz (±3 dB). Its crossover is adjustable from 50 to 150 Hz so you can mate it with a variety of speakers. You'll need to clear out some room for its 12 x 15 3/4 x 14 3/4-inch frame, but the black ash finish will help it blend in. It has a line-level input and push-terminal speaker connectors. Weight is 29 pounds. Price: $180. www.dualav.com, 866-626-7864

Gateway Waiting for DVD-recorder prices to come down before you junk your VCR? Gateway's AR-230 lets you record TV shows on write-once DVD+R or erasable DVD+RW discs for just $350. The deck can record from video sources connected to its composite- or S-video inputs, and you can transfer camcorder footage to DVD via the FireWire port. Depending on which of the four video-quality settings you choose, between 1 and 6 hours will fit on a disc. A progressive-scan output will ensure that your recordings are shown at the highest possible quality, and the recorder can also play discs with MP3 or JPEG files. Price: $349. www.gateway.com, 800-369-1409

Zenith You want a big-screen HDTV but think you don't have the cash, right? Hold on . . . what does that price tag say? Yeah, Zenith wants you to have a 40-inch rear-projection HDTV monitor for just under a cool grand. You'll still have to hook it up to a set-top HDTV tuner to see high-def programs, but that's why it has component-video and DVI inputs. The R40W46 upconverts standard-definition signals to high-def resolution, with 2:3 pulldown processing to compensate for the frame-rate difference between video and film. The chassis even has handles to ease lugging around its bulky frame. Price: $999. www.zenith.com, 877-993-6484

Niro As home theaters go, they don't get much more compact than Niro's 1.1 Pro system, which comprises a DVD player/receiver, a subwoofer, and a single speaker with five 3-inch drivers in place of separate satellites. Proprietary signal processing gives the effect of surround sound over what's said to be a wide sweet spot. The speaker connects to the player/receiver via a single cable. With an 8-inch driver, the subwoofer is said to shake things up all the way down to 20 Hz. Rated to deliver 30 watts to each driver and 50 watts to the sub, the player/receiver has a progressive-scan component-video output. Price: $799. www.niro1.com, 310-533-6000

SpeakerCraft Known for its in-wall models, SpeakerCraft has ventured into the land of box speakers with its Aim Monitor series. Like the company's in-walls, the center speakers in the new series use a Uni-Pivot baffle, which incorporates the tweeter and midrange into one pivoting module - handy for aiming movie dialogue toward the listening position. The Aim Four Center speaker (shown) has dual 8 1/2-inch aluminum/magnesium woofers, a 2 1/2-inch midrange driver, and a 1-inch tweeter. Price: $799. www.speakercraft.com, 800-448-0976

NAD Combining an AM/FM tuner and a preamplifier, NAD's T 163 has decoding for 6.1-channel Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES soundtracks along with Dolby Pro Logic II, Matrix 7.1, and DTS Neo:6 for 5.1/6.1-channel playback from stereo and four-channel sources. There's an eight-channel analog audio input, and all channels have 192-kHz/24-bit digital-to-analog converters. Three component-video inputs let you switch between high-def sources. The tuner has 30 presets and will display call letters and other Radio Data System (RDS) information from participating stations. A set of connectors on the back can send signals to a second zone. Price: $1,499. www.nadelectronics.com, 781-784-8586 Cambridge SoundWorksYou can listen to high-resolution, multichannel DVD-Audio discs just as easily as CD-Rs containing MP3 music tracks with the Cambridge SoundWorks MegaTheater 505, thanks to its multiformat DVD player/receiver. Dolby Pro Logic II processing can turn any stereo recording into a surround sound experience heard on the five MC50 speakers (each with a single 3 1/2-inch driver) and 8-inch BassCube 851 subwoofer. A progressive-scan video output gives the best possible image for DVD movies, while inputs for S-video and both optical and coaxial digital audio let you hook up external sources. Price: $550. www.cambridgesoundworks.com, 800-367-4434