No one would ever be willing or able to do this at home, but Rives Audio, XLO, RPG, and VAC put together two identical systems in two identical hotel rooms - but with one important difference. The second room was sonically and electrically treated to clearly demonstrate how important it is to account for the acoustics of the room when it comes to putting together your home theater system. Not only was the equipment/cable setup the same in both rooms, but the demo material was synchronized, as well, so they even took that variable out of the equation. The differences in performance were definitely not subtle.

After winning a RAVE award from us at Home Theater Magazine, the folks at Audioengine showed off their newest speaker, the Audioengine 2. It's a smaller version than the $349 Audioengine 5. Like its bigger brother, the new speaker is powered and has dual analog inputs. It'll sell for $199 per pair, and the Audioengine folks say it should be available in about three weeks. Off to the side was a prototype of an Audioengine 5 with a cabinet made from solid bamboo that will be available in the near future for around $699.

Sometimes the adulation of the thronging crowds is just too much. Video Editor, Geoff Morisson, followed by Audio Editor, Mark Fleischmann, ride down the escalator to sign autographs. It was just one of the many times the editors were mobbed by adoring fans (or maybe those were bill collectors...)

There was one sure way to beat the long cab lines outside the Grand Hyatt. It was a bit breezy and sometimes a little nerve-wracking, but I never had to wait in line to take a bicycle taxi to dinner during the Show. Lane markers evidently don't mean anything to these guys. At least the open seat conveyance did have a seat belt. It's hard to get a receipt for your expense account, though.

There wasn't anything brand new in the way of announcements or products - just great sound and video. Meridian's room featured the company's DSP3100, DSP3100C, and SW1600 digital loudspeakers with the G91A DVD/controller/tuner and DVP1080MF video processor along with an unnamed plasma TV. The Meridian gear totalled about $20,000, which makes me remember why I need to make more money. In the back of the room was a static display of one of Meridian's custom install speakers.

The MI6 is Britain's equivalent of the CIA. The M16, on the other hand, is a floorstanding speaker from Epos that will sell for $1600/pair. An M8 center will be available for $600, an M SUB will complete the system, and of course you're at liberty to use any of the company's sterling monitors as surrounds.

Surround electronics were thin on the ground at HES but Krell did display the S-1000 pre-pro ($6500) and S-1500 multi-channel amp. The latter can operate with five, six, or seven channels and sells for $6000-7000 depending on configuration. Both shipping now. Krell also showed an iPod dock.

Would you like to base your surround system on a pair of slim towers, like the Silverline Preludes, at $1200/pair? Or would you prefer something smaller like the Minuet, at $600/pair? In either case, you can buy them one by one and please yourself. The Chinese silk dome tweeters kept cymbals from getting spitty and the 3.5-inch paper midwoofers mustered a surprisingly well-proportioned and tuneful string bass.

The soundmatters SLIMstage40 packs 170 watts from eight amplifiers into a 39-inch-long bar that sits below a video display. At $899, this speaker bar may be the simulated-surround solution for you. For more bass, check out the low-profile SUBstage200 ($399) or basketball-size SUBstage250Cube ($449).

Simaudio chose HE2007 to unveil three of its newest components. In this not-so-great photo, the MOON CD-1 CD Player is shown under the new MOON i-1 Integrated Amplifier (50 watts x 2 into 8 ohms or 100 watts x 2 into 4 ohms). Each piece of gear will sell for $1,349 and will be available in the Fall of 2007. Also in the booth was the MOON LP3 Phono Preamplifier, a smaller version of the MOON LP5.3, which sells for $499.

The TAD room was definitely one of the three busiest rooms that I've seen so far during HE2007. Inside the room, TAD's director of engineering, Andrew Jones, energetically explained the inner workings of the brand new TAD R-1 speakers with concentric beryllium dome tweeters and midranges. Make sure your Visa card has around a $26,000 limit, though, before you start moving the furniture around in your room to make space for a pair.

I asked the folks at Usher if their Be-718 monitor, sold for $2500/pair, would be available in odd-numbered surround configurations like five or seven. "What a great idea!" they enthused archly. Much hard work went into tuning the beryllium-oxide tweeter from which the speaker gets its name. It will ship soon with complementary center and sub. And at 87-88dB sensitivity, the system should run well with a good receiver.

Sometimes the secret to a great speaker is in the stand. The folks at CT-based Proclaim Audioworks say their spherical speakers (not shown) boast their best time-domain response when you arrange them on this versatile stand so that the output of each driver hits "the tip of your nose" at the same time. Pricing is $25,999 for, uh, a speaker or two or five.

Swedish patriots used Crown Princess Madeleine to lure showgoers into their demo room. Inside I found the QM-10 studio monitor which is expected to sell for $1850/pair starting soon and can of course be bought in a surround configuration with forthcoming sub. No, subs. The company thinks a system fit for a princess should have somewhere between two and four of them. Subs, that is, though the little monitors had an impressive amount of bass by themselves.

Four terrified pillows huddle on a windowsill as three-inch-thick speaker cables from Magnan swarm on the floor. The nearby Gershman speakers are acting dignified and trying to ignore the reptile mating dance. It all sounded fab.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but Logitech's $299 Squeezebox wins the prize here for the coolest looking display on a product. You can pick other display layouts, but the one with the digitally simulated analog VU meters dancing back and forth warms my cockles. (And let me tell you, they've been pretty cold lately...) The fact that it's a great device to use to propagate digital music throughout the house doesn't hurt, either. The $2,000 Transporter (the Squeezebox's audiophile big brother) was in the next room, but I was afraid to get too close for fear I'd like it too much and have to buy one.

On a separate note, the Logitech folks assured me that the rumors of a Harmony remote with voice recognition were just that (and the executive who mused out loud about the feature has been gagged and bound and won't be let out until Logitech has a 99% market share).

Totem's Tribe is the company's first on-wall speaker at $1500 each (or $750-900 for smaller configurations). Hand model Anthony Chiarella shows off the heavy-duty basket that holds the drivers.

Andrew Lipinski makes last-minute adjustments to a surround system based on the L-707 stand-mount horned speaker with amplification built into the stand. It sounded big and transparent, with effortless bass, and for $35,035 it had better be. The company will soon replace another manufacturer's external sub amp with its own.

Le Sphère from Cabasse was warm and natural with the sweet midrange of choral music and most impressive with the deep pitches of pipe organ. Bel Canto electronics clearly helped. Still, I couldn't get over the feeling of being watched. Pricing not announced; expect something stratospheric.

This is not a picture of the DCM Cinema package. It's more of a sat/sub kind of thing. But I saw a picture of it and for $399 it's intriguing, especially given the company's stated policy of timbre-matching every model to every other model, no exceptions, period. Look for a review soon.