Not to complain too loudly, because in the old days we had typewriters, but whoever is responsible for making sure the 4th estate can do their job should be fired. The press room is full of hardwired Dell laptops (I mean, I'm a Windows guy and even I won't use a Dell, for Lord's sake) and there are precious few empty tables for people who brung their own. On top of that, there's no "supported," a.k.a. working, wireless connections. Granted, wireless introduces problems too, but hardwired Dells and brown shirts walking around making sure you don't unplug the Ethernet cable and put it into your laptop isn't helping anyone get their job done.

Michelle Kessler who covers technology for USA Today has a great little (short) read on price sensitivity in today's electronics marketplace. It's not how high of a mountain you shout from after all. It's how far the people listening are willing to tilt back to hear you.

English speaker manufacturer Tannoy made their name with concentric driver arrays, but technology and nostalgia were combined in their Prestige line that pays homage to their past. The Kensingtons ($11,000/pr) are two way speakers in gorgeous wood cabinets. The drivers and cabinets are handmade in England. I rapped on them and they are solid and tight. The side by side vertical slots that run top to bottom along the corners of the speaker (not visible in this shot, unfortunately) are the vents for the bass. Powered with a Manley Amp Stingray integrated tube amp and driven by a Denon CD player, the sound was really quite good, even amongst the aural clutter that is the show floor.

With most of the same goodies found the $5,500 flagship RX-Z11 I recently reviewed in Home Theater magazine, this $2,700 receiver from Yamaha is a killer bargain! The below black and above white clipping Kris Deering noted in the review has been corrected in the new models (including newer Z11s). You get Internet radio, 140 watts x 7 channels, Rhapsody streaming, XM/Sirius readiness, and web-browser control, five HDMI inputs, two outputs, and scaling up to 1080p.