All Home audio

The Bottom Line: The Sony STR-DN1000 offers solid sound and basic AV receiver features at a bargain price, but it's not nearly as good as last year's STR-DG920.

Specs: AV receiver, Surround Sound, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD decoder, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, Universal remote control (Infrared), Gloss piano black

The Bottom Line: The iHome iP1 may not sound great with all types of music, but this striking iPod/iPhone speaker system will appeal to listeners who gravitate toward pop, hip-hop, rock, and electronica.

Specs: portable speakers with digital player dock, 16.3 in x 8 in x 7 in, Black, Active

The Bottom Line: The Boston Acoustics iDS3 is a bit low on features but high on performance and sound quality.

Specs: Gloss black, Active

The Bottom Line: The Boston Acoustics iDS3 is a bit low on features but high on performance and sound quality.

Specs: White gloss, Active

The Bottom Line: The LG LHB953 combines Blu-ray, tons of streaming media content, and solid AV quality into an all-in-one home theater system that scores high on the value quotient.

Specs: Home theater system, Speaker system, Blu-Ray disc player / AV receiver, CD, DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, Surround Sound, 1000 Watt, Universal remote control

The Bottom Line: Samsung's HT-BD1250 home theater system has built-in Blu-ray, streaming media from Netflix and Pandora, and excellent audio and video quality, making it our top budget Blu-ray all-in-one system.

Specs: Home theater system, Speaker system, Blu-Ray disc player / AV receiver, CD, DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, Surround Sound, 1000 Watt, Universal remote control

The Bottom Line: Panasonic's SC-BT300 is a 7.1 home theater system with built-in Blu-ray and its tall-boy speakers help deliver very good sound quality, but it doesn't have the Netflix streaming found on some of its similarly priced competitors.

Specs: Home theater system, CD, DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, Surround Sound, 1250 Watt, Universal remote control

The Bottom Line: Panasonic's SC-BT200 is a 7.1 home theater system with built-in Blu-ray and solid sonics for the price, but it doesn't have the Netflix streaming found on some of its similarly priced competitors.

Specs: Home theater system, CD, DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, Surround Sound, 1000 Watt, Universal remote control (Infrared)

The Bottom Line: The Philips NP2500 offers many of the features available on more-expensive digital audio streamers for less money and has an attractive color display, but it's hard to see from a distance and playback has some occasional hiccups.

Specs: Network audio player, Stereo, Network audio player - AAC, PCM, WMA, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Remote control, 10 in x 1.3 in x 3.9 in, 16.2 oz

The Bottom Line: An excellent touch-screen remote and equally usable iPhone remote app breathe new life into Sonos' excellent multiroom digital-audio system.

Specs: 2 network audio players, Stereo, Network audio player - AAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, Remote control (Radio)