Veteran readers of Stereophile Guide to Home Theater and Stereophile will know that my longtime reference speaker for 2-channel playback has been the Energy Veritas V2.8—it's capable of dominating a room in a way that few other speakers in its price range can. For years now at trade shows, I've badgered Energy to produce a suitable center-channel and surrounds, but what Energy has had in the works the last few years were not additional models to fill out a home-theater setup based on the V2.8, but a complete new Veritas line. Everything about the current flagship of that updated and expanded range, the Veritas V2.4—from drivers to cabinet—is new, and many of those new developments are carried over to the full Veritas line.

Kenwood's new Sovereign line features three DVD players. The DV-5700, a 5-disc carousel model, is compatible with most consumer-format 5-inch optical discs: DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, CD, and MP3. SACD is the most obvious omission, but not much else is left out. There are onboard Dolby Digital and DTS decoders for that shrinking group of consumers without such decoders in their surround processors or A/V receivers.

Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Clarke Duncan, Estella Warren, Paul Giamatti. Directed by Tim Burton. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround (Spanish), THX. Two discs. 124 minutes (film). 2001. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 24543 02896. PG-13. $29.98.

Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Colm Feore, Alec Baldwin. Directed by Michael Bay. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French), DTS 5.1 (English), Dolby Headphone. THX-certified. Two discs. 183 minutes (film only). 2001. Touchstone Home Video 2388903. PG-13. $29.99.