A Little High

This audiophile-worthy 2.1 speaker system is pricey, but it has the performance to back it up. To put it another way, your Bose SoundDock is a Honda, and the AUX Classic is a Ferrari. Made in Italy by concert sound experts Outline, the system features a unique, transforming case that lets you position the speakers in a number of ways. In our month of testing, we couldn’t believe how lively and easy to listen to the compact system was. The AUX is easily the best speaker system of this size we’ve ever heard. The system uses no sound trickery, naturally reproducing essential frequencies (from just below 30hz to just over 18khz) thanks to its built-in 400 watt amp and solid wood bass reflex design. The speakers are also completely self powered, so they’re a great partner for your AirPort Express or Sonos setup. The AUX classic is available in Competition Red ($2,250), Piano Black ($1,500; shown), Alpine White ($1,500), Leather ($3,000) and, our favorite, Stage Black ($1,300).

Let’s face it: As much motion-sensitive, board-stomping gaming fun as the Wii offers, it’s still damn enjoyable to download an old classic like Super Mario World and get to work. And the Super Famicom Classic Controller for Wii ($75) is the perfect tool for the job. Made by Nintendo to exact 1990 specifications, it’s the coolest Wii accessory yet.

Amazon’s latest generation Kindle trims the fat with a significantly thinner body and a much more user friendly design. The Kindle 2 also features a sharper greyscale screen, longer battery life (up to 4 days with wireless on, two weeks with wireless off), text-to-speech, 2GBs of storage, and external stereo speakers. Link: $360