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With technology changing so fast these days, dropping more than a grand on an A/V receiver like Denon's AVR-2807 ($1,099) seems a risky proposition. But the HDTV powers appear to have pretty much settled on HDMI as the connector of the future, and this guy definitely has that covered.

Speaker engineers have turned to a lot of different materials over the years to make their creations sound better, but JVC's come up with a new one: sake. By soaking sheets of birch wood in Japanese rice wine, the labcoats at JVC were able to press them together to make wooden drivers, said to improve sound quality because of their natural acoustic properties.

Right now is a great time to buy an HDTV. Why? Because prices have dropped to where many people can actually afford one. Another reason: the explosion of choices brought on by recent advances in technology. From compact flat-panel TVs with 20-inch screens to expansive rear-projection sets with 70-inch or larger displays, there's an HDTV out there custom-made for you. But which one?