If there's one thing I hate in a show report, it's a bunch of pictures of cost-no-object reference designs and pandering commentary to go with them. I cut off dozens of manufacturers who started to wax philosophical about their latest high-end designs with one simple question: "But how much does your entry-level product cost?"

So I strolled into the New York Hilton, home of this year's Home Entertainment 2002 show, with a clear mission: locate every cool piece of inexpensive gear on display that would interest the GoodSound! reader.  Here are the results.

Speakers

Playing at the show were Triangle's three-way Zerius ($1095/pair). Given the reasonable price for a floorstander of this size, a 92dB sensitivity, and excellent sound, my initial impressions of the Zerius were quite positive. Not on display were Triangle's similarly crafted but least expensive speakers, the Titus XS ($495/pair).

Budget favorite Meadowlark was introducing the Swift loudspeaker (left, $995/pair). With drivers from Vifa, DH Labs Silver Sonic internal wiring, Caddock resistors, and Sidewinder air-core inductors, the pedigree of the parts inside is certainly impressive for a sub-$1000 speaker -- as are claimed bass extension down to 35Hz and 89dB sensitivity.

This year's demo from Totem Acoustic of their Forest speakers ($3000/pair) was one of their best-sounding show setups ever, as noted by several veteran showgoers. Meanwhile, I was busy snapping a picture of their Dreamcatcher home-theater system (below right, $1695), which includes four of the 5" x 7" x 11" monitors (available separately at $550/pair), a center-channel speaker, and a compact 200W powered subwoofer.

The Odyssey/Symphonic Line room was notable in that all of the equipment in this demo was originally designed by a single person, Symphonic Line's Rolf Gemein. But I was more interested in the affordable Alain Corteau speakers like the Epiphany ($595/pair), which features a sloped front not very common in its price range.

This month will introduce the new Silver S series from Monitor Audio, updating the company's most affordable designs. Compared to the old Silver 3i, the new Silver S1 ($599/pair) uses a larger 6" woofer mated with the company's 1" gold-dome tweeter for a striking-looking compact monitor with bass down to 45Hz.

The price of an entry-level system from Linn has finally cracked the $2000 barrier. In usual fashion, the new Unik (that's pronounced "unique") loudspeaker ($195/ea) is an unorthodox wall-mountable design. Combining the Unik with Linn's Classik CD player/receiver ($1500) or in a home theater with the Movie System DVD/receiver combo ($2950) makes for a compakt, er, compact all-Linn system. Add the matching Afekt ($995) subwoofer for a full-range system.

I could only drool in the direction of the new Dynaudio C4 ($16,000/pair), which drops technology from their flagship Evidence into a comparably affordable speaker, so I didn't take a picture of it. Instead I noted that the Audience line of speakers is now available in a silver finish for an additional 10% cost, as shown on the Audience 42 (left, $699/pair in regular finish). And while they're not that new, I hadn't seen the Audience 42W before. This wall-mount version of the design, with a depth of only 18cm, is perfect for a smaller home theater. While using the same drivers as the regular 42, the port is moved to the front and the crossover is tweaked for wall-mount sound. Also introduced at the show are Dynaudio stands specifically matched to the Audience speakers.

More features at the same low price! PSB has upgraded its line of subwoofers. The updated Alpha SubZero i ($299) doubles the original's amplifier power to 100W, and includes revised cosmetics that move the unit's controls to the front. In July, a similar revision to the Alpha SubSonic 5i ($449) will double the power to 160W.

If you want to find a demo room with balls, there are always some of Anthony Gallo's at a show. The new Dué ($599/ea) includes the company's CDT tweeter and two woofer modules, giving response down to 60Hz and a notable sensitivity of 93dB, all in a compact design that's wall-mountable.

A German production line custom builds speaker drives for Kirksaeter, and the end result is a series of affordable but high-performance designs. Their new Prima 55 (right, $229/ea) includes a 5" coated-fiber woofer/midrange, a 1" silk-dome tweeter, and bass extension down to 45Hz.

There aren't many audiophile designs with coaxial drivers, but the half-sphere SoundSpot speakers featured in the Nova home-theater system ($999/system) from Morel manage a respectable 100Hz to 20kHz (-5dB) with a 6dB/octave crossover at 8kHz. The matching RS-10A SoundSub subwoofer in the package pushes response down to 30Hz.

While not cheap, there's a lot of value in the new speakers from Estonian manufacturer Audes. The Soul ($1999/pair) and Blues ($1999/pair) both include tweeter and midrange drivers from SEAS matched to an Audes-manufactured 8" woofer. The Blues, featuring a side-mounted woofer and small footprint, combines excellent sound quality with cabinet construction and appearance normally associated with much more expensive designs.

Driving the Triangle speakers, the demo system from Cairn featured the Fog 24/192 (left, $1595) CD player with 4808-A (left, $1595) integrated amplifier. More exciting to me were the boxes near the bottom of the rack: a pair of their 80W Loco monoblocks ($495/ea) that feature balanced inputs and auto standby.

Unquestionably the cheapest commercial tube amp designs I've ever seen are the Wave Mono Power Blocks ($119), sold under the Antique Sound Lab name by Divergent Technologies. Joining them are the new Wave preamps, both in active and passive versions. Prices are still to be announced, but expect them to be in the same range as the amps, making for one of the least expensive all-tube systems ever.

Buyers of affordable home-theater separates should take a look at the new products from Outlaw Audio. The 950 7.1 Surround Processor ($899) includes all the 5.1- and 7.1-channel supports you'd expect from Dolby and DTS, along with Cirrus Logic's Extra Surround and 24-bit/192kHz DACs. The four analog outputs can all be switched to a bypass mode that avoids the signal passing through the unit's DSP, providing only volume control. Also interesting is the inclusion of the Cirrus Triple Crossover circuitry that can provide different crossover points for the left/right, center, and surround speakers. And when you're looking for a matching power amp, new 200Wpc multichannel amplifiers are available in the Model 770 (seven channels, $1799) and Model 755 (five channels, $1299).

Two reasonably priced multi-format players from Philips were on display in spiffy aluminum cases. The DVD962SA ($599) is a multichannel SACD player with a dual laser for CD-R and CD-RW compatibility. One nice feature is a dual YUV output so the unit can simultaneously display both 480p and 480i versions of the video on the disc, handy for people with line-doublers or similar equipment that want to have both versions available. The more upmarket SACD1000 ($999) provides the same basic set of features but with better video and audio quality through build improvements like differential DACs, multiple power supplies, and a toroidal transformer.

A new line of electronics from NAD includes several surround receivers, such as the 5 x 80W T752 ($899), 6 x 100W T762 ($1299), and the T742 ($649). NAD is also releasing updated DVD players, starting with T531 DVD/CD player ($499), and in order to distinguish themselves from the rest of the market, they're focusing on the best quality in the analog output section, making them more suitable for buyers not using the player's digital output. To top it off, the T531 will also play MP3 files recorded onto CD-R or CD-RW.

Unquestionably the weirdest gear to be found at the Hilton are the Music Pumps (right, $799/pair) from Blue Circle. These 25W mono amps are housed in everyone's favorite heels from Classic Pumps. A matching Music Purse preamp ($499) completes the outfit. Designer Gilbert Yeung tells me that these products are no joke -- he's sold over 35 pairs of pumps to discriminating foot-fetish audiophiles since the product's introduction.

You can usually count on the cable manufacturers to have unique demos to highlight how their cables sound, and Twisted Pair had a demo setup with an interesting, uh, twist. A pair of Grado's reference RS-2 headphones were modified based on suggestions from Joe Grado himself to input each channel with an RCA jack instead of Grado's usual cable. This allows you to plug a pair of interconnects, working as "speaker cable," into the headphones, which really lets you zoom in on how different cables sound. I abused their hospitality the second day by bringing in a bag full of my own cables from home to compare against their products. Their entry-level xHT interconnect ($42/1M pr) proved to be a very competent design, with an even sound rare in inexpensive cables and much better build quality than I've ever seen at this price point before. Also interesting is their Dms Game Junkie cable ($65/1M pr), a mini-jack-to-RCA design that's got to be the beefiest product I've ever seen for connecting your computer, video game console, or portable CD player to a home stereo. Twisted Pair wasn't a familiar name to me before this show, but they like to point out that their OEM designs include the manufacture of the speaker cable for Krell's speaker line.

With improved flexibility and more traditional styling, the updated Ultraconductor interconnects ($124/1m) from JPS Labs are the latest version of a budget reference cable.

I like to think I've got a pretty wacky portable audio system, but the people at Ellula have me beat. Their HotAir systems (right, $45 to $49) are inflatable, which means they travel light and compact. They're made out of material similar to a beach ball, using drivers with NXT technology, and running off batteries. Intended applications include portable game systems/laptops, trips to the beach, backpacking, and anywhere else you need unnaturally small speakers that expand for use.